ENHANCING THE COMPUTATIONAL CAPABILITIES OF ORGANIZATIONS

摘要

The biological information-processing infrastructure of organizations manifests itselfrnessentially through the accomplishments of human intelligence. It allows organizations tornachieve complex goals even in the face of uncertain, sometimes turbulent environments.rnHuman intelligence has even created computing machines that augment its ownrncomputational capabilities. On the basis of these machines, information technology (IT)rnprovides a means of extending not only the computational capabilities of individuals, butrnthose of organizations as systems as well. The function-support framework for therndevelopment of information systems uses principles and strategies of informationrnprocessing that are vital to the achievement of this goal and provides tools and methodsrnfor their application. But what is the biological information-processing infrastructure ofrnorganizations and how can IT be directed to extend its computational capabilities in anrneffective manner? In this paper we describe and illustrate how the application of thesernprinciples facilitates the development of information systems that effectively enhance therncomputational capabilities of organizations. In the context of two different types ofrnapplications we show how, on the basis of these principles, IT can be used inrnorganizations in a manner that effectively enhances their biological informationprocessingrninfrastructure.