Learning-Supported Decision-Making: ICTs as Feedback Systems

Abstract

The biggest challenge for any organization is managing the disperse nature of knowledge across a diverse set of knowledge carriers. The role of ICTs in supporting and extending the organizational memory is of particular concern. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the challenges the Digital era presents us by proposing a socio-technical framework, which emphasizes feedback as the critical link connecting social systems and technical structures The main thrust of the framework is the alignment of social structures and social actors in ways that seek to integrate different modes of learning with different models of decision-making. This integration is to be supported by a range of decision-learning structures (in ICT systems), which create different feedback levels. These feedback levels are the main focus of the chapter which makes a valuable contribution in extending debates of learning, decision-making and their relationship demonstrating the inherent challenges of the digital era in using ICTs as social as much as technical tools.