Semantic Computing for Organizational Effectiveness: From Organization Theory to Practice through Semantics-Based Modelling

TL;DR

The paper addresses coordination and cooperation challenges in complex organizations by introducing a semantics-based approach that grounds dependencies in an ontology formalized with first-order logic. The core method includes a formal conceptual model of epistemic, outcome, and reward dependencies implemented in Z3 and mirrored as an OWL ontology, enabling inferable dependencies, explainable risk pathways, and actionable intervention insights. The approach is validated through a real-world municipal infrastructure use-case, demonstrating how dependency structures can reveal coordination and cooperation risks and guide organizational design changes. The work highlights the potential for semantics to operationalize organization theory, providing a decision-support capability that translates theoretical constructs into tangible improvements in complex projects.

Abstract

A critical function of an organization is to foster the level of integration (coordination and cooperation) necessary to achieve its objectives. The need to coordinate and motivation to cooperate emerges from the myriad dependencies between an organization's members and their work. Therefore, to reason about solutions to coordination and cooperation problems requires a robust representation that includes the underlying dependencies. We find that such a representation remains missing from formal organizational models, and we leverage semantics to bridge this gap. Drawing on well-established organizational research and our extensive fieldwork with one of North America's largest municipalities, (1) we introduce an ontology, formalized in first-order logic, that operationalizes concepts like outcome, reward, and epistemic dependence, and their links to potential integration risks; and (2) present real-world applications of this ontology to analyze and support integration in complex government infrastructure projects. Our ontology is implemented and validated in both Z3 and OWL. Key features of our model include inferable dependencies, explainable coordination and cooperation risks, and actionable insights on how dependency structures within an organization can be altered to mitigate the risks. Conceptualizing real-world challenges like incentive misalignment, free-riding, and subgoal optimization in terms of dependency structures, our semantics-based approach represents a novel method for modelling and enhancing coordination and cooperation. Integrated within a decision-support system, our model may serve as an impactful aid for organizational design and effectiveness. More broadly, our approach underscores the transformative potential of semantics in deriving tangible, real-world value from existing organization theory.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Simplified conceptual model. subClassOf relations are shown as dashed arrows.
• Figure 2: Partial representation of case study scenario assertions.