Beyond Automation : A Framework for Supporting Cooperation
Jürgen Englert, Torsten Eymann, Sönke Gold, Thomas Peter Hummel, Detlef Schoder · 1996
This paper concentrates on opportunities to support cooperation processes by means of information technology (IT). Cooperation in an organizational context grounds on communication. We describe a layer framework for cooperation adapted from the framework developed by Malone/Crowston. This approach describes the relationships between coordination, cooperation, communication and communication media in a top-down manner. Beyond automation we propose a method of supporting cooperation by supplying employees with a toolbox of appropriate communication media which will improve communication and, thereby, indirectly contribute to cooperation. The paper concludes with an example of the initiation of a cooperation process which, in our view, requires functionalities not supported by existing communication media. 1