Partial Deductive Closure: Logical Simulation and Management Science

This research is part of a larger effort to build machine-based tools for developing scientific theories. In analogy with the research process in empirical research, we describe a logical cycle of theory development: 1 starting with an informal version of a theory, 2 then moving to its formal representation, 3 applying formal logic to investigate this representation, and 4 using the results as feedback for the update/revision of the original theory. A central aspect of the logical cycle is the detection of the hidden implications of a theory called "partial deductive closure". In this paper, we present an algorithm that performs the partial deductive closure for a relevant class of theorems, while filtering out trivial results. The algorithm is applied to an important organization theory, Organizational Ecology, and is shown to generate new theorems of interest.

[1]  Hemant K. Bhargava,et al.  Editor's introduction to the special issue on logic modeling , 1994, Decis. Support Syst..

[2]  Gábor Péli,et al.  The logic of propagation strategies : Axiomatizing a fragment of organizational ecology in first-order logic , 1997 .

[3]  Zhisheng Huang,et al.  ALX, an Action Logic for Agents with Bounded Rationality , 1996, Artif. Intell..

[4]  A. R. Turquette,et al.  Logic, Semantics, Metamathematics , 1957 .

[5]  Michael Masuch,et al.  Organization, Management, and Expert Systems: Models of Automated Reasoning , 1990 .

[6]  J. A. Kamps,et al.  Qualitative Reasoning beyond the Physics Domain: The Density Dependence Model of Organizational Ecology , 1995 .

[7]  Imre Lakatos,et al.  Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge , 1972 .

[8]  Zhisheng Huang,et al.  A case study in logical deconstruction: Formalizing J.D. Thompson's Organizations in Action in a multi-agent action logic , 1996, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[9]  Allen Newell,et al.  Human Problem Solving. , 1973 .

[10]  J. A. Robinson,et al.  A Machine-Oriented Logic Based on the Resolution Principle , 1965, JACM.

[11]  W. Salmon.  Four decades of scientific explanation , 1989 .

[12]  J. Forrester.  Industrial Dynamics , 1997 .

[13]  James D. Thompson.  Organizations in Action , 1967 .

[14]  R. Burton,et al.  Designing efficient organizations : modelling and experimentation , 1986 .

[15]  Maarten Marx,et al.  Chapter 4. Formalizing Organizational Theory: A Knowledge-Based Approach , 1990 .

[16]  Michael X Cohen,et al.  A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice. , 1972 .

[17]  M. Masuch,et al.  Applied logic : how, what and why : logical approaches to natural language , 1995 .

[18]  Breanndán Ó Nualláin,et al.  Mixing metafor , 1993, Logic Programming and Automated Reasoning.

[19]  Massimo Warglien,et al.  Artificial Intelligence in Organization and Management Theory: Models of Distributed Activity , 1992 .

[20]  Ronald M. Lee,et al.  Logic modeling: A tool for management science , 1988, Decis. Support Syst..

[21]  Jeroen Bruggeman,et al.  Niche width theory reappraised , 1997 .

[22]  R. Jeffrey.  Formal Logic: Its Scope and Limits , 1981 .

[23]  Jeroen Bruggeman,et al.  A logical approach to formalizing organization ecology , 1994 .

[24]  M. Hannan,et al.  Structural Inertia and Organizational Change , 1984 .

[25]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  The Structuring of Organizations , 1979 .

[26]  Richard M. Burton,et al.  Devising expert systems in organization theory: The Organizational Consultant , 1990 .