Henk W.M. Gazendam
University of Groningen
Network
Latest external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Publication
Featured researches published by Henk W.M. Gazendam.
5th Workshop on Organizational Semiotics | 2003
Henk W.M. Gazendam
This chapter explains how models function as the glue that keeps organizations together. In an analysis of models from a semiotic and cognitive point of view, assumptions about evolutionary dynamics and bounded rationality are used. It is concluded that a model is a coherent sign structure, consisting of a network of a diversity of signs, and used by an actor for understanding or constructing a system of application. People use models because they are coherent, cognitively manageable units of knowledge. By their efficient organization, these knowledge units enable the development of flexible and adequate habits of action.
Semiotica | 2009
Martin Helmhout; R.J.J.M. Jorna; Henk W.M. Gazendam
Abstract A semiotic actor creates, uses and transfers or communicates meaning with the help of signs in order to interact with other actors and society. For a complete understanding of the cognitive and social phenomena related to this process, we state that social science and cognitive science cannot stay in their own arenas. The use of social constructivism or construction sheds light on the relationship and interaction between the individual (cognition) and society. The semiotic actor is not merely a stimulus response actor that exchanges signs; it has a cognitive system that creates new signs, modifies (the meaning of) signs, and forgets signs (cognitive limited semiosis). Secondly, the semiotic actor has the capability to incorporate and influence the environment (semiotic Umwelt or “outer” world) as part of its cognitive “inner” world. And thirdly, linguistic capabilities allow it to socially construct and share meaning with others, thereby empowering itself and others to create social structures and express social behavior (e.g., reciprocity, empathy). The contribution of our work is to emphasize that social construction needs to be grounded in cognitive science, i.e., the semiotic actor or homo semioticus enables us to reason that signs in social science are represented as signs in cognition and the other way around (semiotic resonance).
computational intelligence in robotics and automation | 1998
Henk W.M. Gazendam; R.J.J.M. Jorna
This paper studies the plausibility of theoretical choices in the construction of multi-agent systems. A main problem in the construction of psychologically plausible computer agents is the integration of response function systems with representational systems. Philosophically, one has to choose between realism and constructivism. Organizationally, the ecology, topology and coordination mechanisms based on language and knowledge offer the most intriguing perspective.
Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems | 1997
J. van den Broek; Henk W.M. Gazendam
In a social situation actors need to cooperate in order to achieve their goals. Instead of using a fixed collection of rules to model social knowledge this paper investigates the process of dynamic acquiring and developing social knowledge by actors. Based on the Soar architecture actors develop a world representation that encompasses models of other actors and preferable action patterns for social cooperation. The multiactor virtual experiment shows the feasibility of this approach and demonstrates the emergence of collaboration deadlocks and the role world representation plays in solving these deadlocks.
8th Annual Organizational Semiotics Workshop | 2007
Henk W.M. Gazendam
The current chapter explores the possibilities of an improvement of the interaction of an ACT-R actor with its environment including other actors. This is done in the framework of a project aiming at a multi-actor simulation enviromnent based on the ACT-R architecture. Two objections against traditional cognitive architectures like Soar and ACT-R, namely the lack of physical grounding and the lack of symbol grounding, are explained. For a possible improvement of this situation, organizational semiotics and simulation of emotion seem to offer promising perspectives. Organizational semiotics offers us concepts for the encoding of the environment in the form of affordance signs, social constructs, and social norms. This leads to new declarative chunk types in ACT-R. An emotion subsystem can maintain an emotional state that encourages task performance, learning, and social behaviour. An awareness subsystem enables task switching based on the emotional state and the selection of those social constructs and norms that are applicable to the current situation.
Virtual, Distributed and Flexible Organisations | 2004
Martin Helmhout; Henk W.M. Gazendam; R.J.J.M. Jorna
In this paper we sketch a framework for multi-actor simulation of organisations. This framework elaborates the interaction and cooperation of actors based on social constructs. Because of the demands of the task environment, in which tasks often cannot be done alone, actors have to cooperate. Cooperation is only possible based on intertwined habits and mutual commitments that are expressed in sign structures, such as agreements, contracts and plans. At a semiotical level of description, these sign structures are seen as social constructs. Social constructs guide the formation and reinforcement of habits of individual actors that are aimed at cooperation, coordination and socially accepted behaviour. In contrast to many approaches to multi-actor simulation, we design the actors as cognitively plausible actors. We use the cognitive architecture ACT-R for modelling the individual actors. This cognitive architecture implements a part of Simon’s bounded rationality. In the recent discussion about bounded rationality, fast and frugal heuristics play an important role. Some of these heuristics will be included in the simulation model as a compensation mechanism for the limits to rationality.
Journal of Decision Systems | 1992
Henk W.M. Gazendam; Wim M. de Jong
ABSTRACT The authors have participated in the information management of a Government Agency during a period of more than five years. In this period, an explicit review of information management took place, and a new DSS-oriented approach to computerization was developed. In this article, they describe why an information management policy aimed at an equilibrium of centralized coordination and decentralized management failed to be implemented. Because of this failure, two competing strategies emerged: the centralistic bureaucratic computerization strategy and the decentralistic DSS-oriented computerization strategy. Based on their experiences, the authors demonstrate that several objections against DSS-oriented computerization are invalid. Furthermore, they show that DSS-oriented computerization leads to a significantly lower computerization cost level than bureaucratic computerization.
The annual research report | 1998
Henk W.M. Gazendam; R.J.J.M. Jorna
5th Workshop on Organizational Semiotics | 2003
Henk W.M. Gazendam; R.J.J.M. Jorna; R.S. Cijsouw
Archive | 1998
Henk W.M. Gazendam; John L. Simons