A system for organizational learning using cognitive maps

Organizations learn by interacting with their environment, or by observing other organizations interact with similar environments. Learning occurs as organizational actions lead to environmental responses, which are interpreted by individuals who share their interpretations and form a collective organizational action-response map based on cause-effect relationships. This paper describes the requirements for a computer-based system to support organizational learning, and briefly reviews facilities in existing Group Decision Support Systems. Cognitive mapping is suggested as the means for representing action-response beliefs. A prototype distributed system, called COCOMAP, which supports both individual maps and a collective map is presented. The methods for joining and distilling maps are presented in detail.