Toward Formal Representations of Search Processes and Routines in Organizational Problem Solving: An Assessment of the State-of-the-Art

Abstract

This paper presents a critical overview of some recent attempts at

building formal models of organizations as information-processing

and problem-solving entities. We distinguish between two classes of

models according to two distinct objects of analysis. The first class

includes models mainly addressing information processing and learning;

the second class includes models focusing upon the relationship

between the division of cognitive labor and search process in some

problem-solving space. The results begin to highlight important comparative

properties regarding the impact on problem-solving efficiency

and learning of different forms of hierarchical governance, the dangers

of lock-in associated with specific forms of adaptive learning,

the relative role of online vs. offline learning, the impact of the

cognitive maps which organizations embody, the possible trade-offs

between accuracy and speed of convergence associated with different

decomposition schemes, the (ambiguous) role of organizational memory

in changing environments.