KMOWL: theory development

The theory to be developed will be bounded by the following key assumptions:

- A1. While inherently different in structure, human and organizational mind present capabilities that are comparable in function,

- A2. It is possible to map the structure of organizational processes comparable in function to the mental processes of perception, cognition, emotion and sense of a collective self,

- A3. The processes mentioned in A2 exist at various levels in organizations, i.e., individual, groups and organization. The structure of those processes is constructed upon the similar capabilities of the groups and individuals that constitute it, and

- A4. Organizational intelligence, learning and creativity are phenomena that emerge from organizational processes of perception, cognition, emotion and collective self. Improving former phenomena requires interventions in the latter processes to remove impairments.

As a consequence of these assumptions, more specific research questions can be formulated including:

• How is organizational perception structured? How does the organization choose the “objects” and events, external and internal, that it should collectively pay attention to? How does organizational attention constrain the ability of the organization for influencing what is happening inside and outside its boundaries? What kind of perception impairments may the organization display? How can those impairments be removed?

• How collective cognition is structured in organizations? How organizational members produce thoughts together? How do the used tools guide decision and action of the organization? How is collective experience stored and retrieved? Which stimuli drive the attention of organizational members? How specific languages develop in organizations? What kind of cognition impairments may the organization display? How can those impairments be removed?

• How does the organization develop automatic responses to competent stimuli (emotions)? What kind of automatic responses are commonly developed by organizations? What kind of problems are automatic responses causing to the organization? What automatic responses should be forgotten and what new automatic responses should be implemented?

• How is the sense of a collective self structured in an organization? How this collective sense of the self permits the knowledge of a collective past and an anticipated future, and enables the organization to stay alert to the surrounding world? What kind impairments in self- and metarepresentational capabilities may the organization display? How can those impairments be removed?