Abstract
Algorithmic methods of translation are increasingly used by organizations for routine tasks. But translation methods, broadly conceived, are not simply tools used by organizations for these workaday activities – they can also serve to structure them and to characterize what counts as “knowledge” within them. With the incorporation of insights from cognitive science (which includes theories of situated cognition) as well as computational modeling, translation methods can be used in knowledge management systems to widen the goals and activities of organizations. For example, these methods can: 1) provide the basis for dialogical interaction that may serve as the basis for reasoning used in decision making, 2) use principles of embodied cognition that capture the spectrum of human expressions found in faces as well as bodily movements, and 3) develop complex simulations that aid in understanding not only how disparate cultural groups will act within organizations but also how institutions will interact with each other and in broader social and political contexts. Translation methods in their broadest sense can also help define knowledge representations, or ontologies, of organizations. Furthermore, extending the procedures of translation to processes associated with other “trans” concepts (such as “transmutation” “transmission”, and “transformation”) can provide an additional opportunity to consider what counts as knowledge in an institutional domain. Translation methods therefore allow us to understand the relationship between knowledge - as information – and structures that organize aspects of socioeconomic life.
Presenters
David VampolaEmeritus Faculty, Computer Science Department/Cognitive Science Program, SUNY - Oswego, New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Organizations as Knowledge Makers
KEYWORDS
Translation, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Representation, Organizational Change
