Collaborative organization design: a synergy of groupware and Web-based infrastructures and technology

With GroupOrga (Groupware Based Organization Design), we present a "thinkable" application environment and framework for distributed and collaborative organization design. The relationship between collaboration and organization structure is touched by addressing the question of how people in an organization can collaboratively design constantly evolving organization structures. After specifying the term collaboration in the context of GroupOrga, we discuss how collaboration technology can support global organizations. With the GroupOrga architecture we present a technological layer for a deeper understanding of collaboration in general. This framework is not restricted to a specific technology, such as the World Wide Web, but considered to be an open architecture. Despite this fact, we look at two collaboration technologies in comparison: groupware and the Web. The question which technology is flexible enough for which requirements is one aspect. Another aspect is that of concrete Web- and groupware-based applications in the GroupOrga project. Our experiences from selected case studies and test implementations is the concluding topic.

[1]  Amit P. Sheth,et al.  On Transactional Workflows , 1993, IEEE Data Eng. Bull..

[2]  Werner Esswein,et al.  Das Rollenmodell der Organisation: Die Berücksichtigung aufbauorganisatorischer Regelungen in Unternehmensmodellen , 1993, Wirtschaftsinf..

[3]  K. Schmidt,et al.  Issues of supporting organizational context in CSCW systems , 1993 .

[4]  Carsten Huth,et al.  Einsatz von Java Applikationen für ds Organisationsdesign virtueller Unternehmen , 1988, Interaktion im Web.

[5]  S. Bradley,et al.  Globalization, Technology, and Competition: The Fusion of Computers and Telecommunications in the 1990s , 1993 .

[6]  Bericht Sl.  Die Integration der Aufbauorganisation in Workflow-Management-Systeme: Konzeption eines Metamodells und Entwicklung eines Prototyps , 1997 .

[7]  Hans-Jörg Schek,et al.  Merging application-centric and data-centric approaches to support transaction-oriented multi-system workflows , 1993, SGMD.

[8]  Ludwig Nastansky,et al.  Groupware technology for a new approach to organization design systems , 1998, Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[9]  Vasant Dhar,et al.  Assumptions Underlying Systems that Support Work Group Collaboration , 1989 .

[10]  Walter Rupietta.  Organization and role models for workflow processes , 1997 .

[11]  Umeshwar Dayal,et al.  A Transactional Model for Long-Running Activities , 1991, VLDB.

[12]  Abbe Mowshowitz,et al.  Virtual organization , 1997, CACM.

[13]  Margrethe H. Olson,et al.  Technological Support for Work Group Collaboration , 1989 .

[14]  Bill Curtis,et al.  Process modeling , 1992, CACM.

[15]  R. Keesing.  Explorations in role analysis , 1975 .

[16]  Stefan Kirn.  Organisatorische Flexibilität durch Workflow-Management-Systeme? , 1995, HMD Prax. Wirtsch..