SACT: a tool for automating semi-structured organizational communication

Abstract

To cope with a highly specialized environment, organizational workers specialize in different areas of knowledge (e.g., taxation). Communication plays a very important role in performing organizational tasks that require multiple specializations. In fact, research data shows that managers and professionals spend about 70-80% of their time in communication. To alleviate the time organizational workers spend in communication, some of their communication should be automated. In this paper, we propose a communication tool for this purpose. This tool can be used essentially in the same way that an expert system shell is used. The function of this tool is to collect data needed for performing a task in an open system. In order to do so, the two communicating parties must understand what each other wants. The speech act taxonomy developed by Searle, then modified by Reiss, is useful for this purpose. However, their taxonomy is intended for general communication. We have to select the appropriate subset of it that is suitable for automating organizational communication and have to operationalize the theory behind it into a computer-based communication tool.