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Tools for Inventing Organizations: Toward a Handbook of Organizational Processes

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas W. Malone

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • Kevin Crowston

    (Center for Science and Technology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York)

  • Jintae Lee

    (University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii)

  • Brian Pentland

    (School of Labor and Industrial Relations, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, Michigan)

  • Chrysanthos Dellarocas

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • George Wyner

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • John Quimby

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • Charles S. Osborn

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • Abraham Bernstein

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • George Herman

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • Mark Klein

    (Center for Coordination Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • Elissa O'Donnell

    (Fidelity Investments, Boston, Massachusetts)

Abstract

This paper describes a novel theoretical and empirical approach to tasks such as business process redesign and knowledge management. The project involves collecting examples of how different organizations perform similar processes, and organizing these examples in an on-line "process handbook." The handbook is intended to help people: (1) redesign existing organizational processes, (2) invent new organizational processes (especially ones that take advantage of information technology), and (3) share ideas about organizational practices. A key element of the work is an approach to analyzing processes at various levels of abstraction, thus capturing both the details of specific processes as well as the "deep structure" of their similarities. This approach uses ideas from computer science about inheritance and from coordination theory about managing dependencies. A primary advantage of the approach is that it allows people to explicitly represent the similarities (and differences) among related processes and to easily find or generate sensible alternatives for how a given process could be performed. In addition to describing this new approach, the work reported here demonstrates the basic technical feasibility of these ideas and gives one example of their use in a field study.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas W. Malone & Kevin Crowston & Jintae Lee & Brian Pentland & Chrysanthos Dellarocas & George Wyner & John Quimby & Charles S. Osborn & Abraham Bernstein & George Herman & Mark Klein & Elissa O'Do, 1999. "Tools for Inventing Organizations: Toward a Handbook of Organizational Processes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(3), pages 425-443, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:45:y:1999:i:3:p:425-443
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.45.3.425
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dave Ulrich & Bill McKelvey, 1990. "General Organizational Classification: An Empirical Test Using the United States and Japanese Electronics Industries," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(1), pages 99-118, February.
    2. Jintae Lee & Michael Gruninger & Yan Jin & Thomas Malone & Austin Tate & Gregg Yost & other members of the PIF Working Group, 1996. "The PIF Process Interchange Format and Framework," Working Paper Series 194, MIT Center for Coordination Science.
    3. Chrysanthos Nicholas Dellarocas, 1996. "A Coordination Perspective on Software Architecture: Towards a Design Handbook for Integrating Software Components," Working Paper Series 193, MIT Center for Coordination Science.
    4. George Wyner & Jintae Lee, 1995. "Applying Specialization to Process Models," Working Paper Series 187, MIT Center for Coordination Science.
    5. Malone, Thomas W., 1993. "Tools for inventing organizations : toward a handbook of organizational processes," Working papers #88-93. Working paper (Sl, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    6. Kevin Crowston, 1997. "A Coordination Theory Approach to Organizational Process Design," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 157-175, April.
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