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Presents the thoughts on decision processes of Chester I. Barnard, one of the century’s greatest management theorists. Includes his classic article, “Mind in everyday affairs”; his unpublished book, “The Significance of Decisive Behaviour in Social Action”; his correspondence with Herbert Simon, and significant comments found in his personal papers.

Bateson's model of classifying different types of learning will be analyzed from a logical and technical point of view. While learning 0 has been realized for chess playing computers, learning I turns out today as the basic concept of artificial neural nets (ANN). All models of ANN are basically (non linear) data filters, which is the idea behind simple and behavioristic input‐output models.

The paper will discuss technical systems designed on the concept of learning 0 and I and it will demonstrate that these models do not have an environment, i.e. they are non‐cognitive and therefore “non‐learning” systems.

Models based on Bateson's category of Learning II differ fundamentally from Learning 0 and I. They cannot be modeled any longer on the basis of classical (mono‐contextural) logics. Technical artifacts which belong to this category have to be able to change their algorithms (behavior) by their own effort. Learning II turns out as a process which cannot be described or modeled on a sequential time axis. Learning II as a process belongs to the category of (parallel interwoven) heterarchical‐hierarchical process‐structures.

In order to model this kind of process‐structures the polycontextural theory has to be used – a theory which was introduced by the German‐American Philosopher and Logician Gotthard Günther (1900‐1984) and has been further developed by Rudolf Kaehr and others.

In Bateson's theory of mind, the adaptation of Russell's theory of logical types is of key importance. Korzybski represented the type‐logical difference between language and reality as the metaphorical distinction between map and territory. The confounding of logical types generates cognitive, and logical problems, which Bateson reflected in his theory of schizophrenia. In Wittgenstein's philosophy, this type‐logical distinction is of equal significance.

The present paper, through the elucidation of the concept of language‐game and its relationship with grammar, demonstrates the proximity of Wittgenstein's and Bateson's understanding of language, which allows for a productive improvement of possible therapies of insanity.

For Bateson, schizophrenia is the attempt to escape from a pathogenic learning context, within which the map of thought has become malformed. Insanity can thus be understood as transformed grammar and can additionally be illuminated by both Wittgenstein's and Kant's conception of insanity. Wittgenstein's idea that in madness the lock is not destroyed, only altered is further reflected in connection with Bateson's theory of schizophrenia. On the basis of this conception of language, we develop an understanding of language that allows us to interpret “insanity” as deviating cognition originating in a family's system of communication.

On account of the “reality‐constitutive” character of language, it can be shown that “insane” thinking is based on a change of grammar. Therefore, the aim of therapy must be the change of pathological language‐games and the creation of bridges between inconsistent self‐interpretations of the patient by means of inventing new language‐games (stories).

We wish to produce a new way in which managers can look at how they manage themselves and their team. We have called the approach Mapping Managerial Styles because it is possible for each person to assess their own approach to work and look at how it compares with other people's. This is particularly important for every manager.

Identifying the fundamental characteristics of meaning and deriving an automated meaning‐analysis procedure for machine intelligence.

Semantic category theory (SCT) is an original testable scientific theory, based on readily available data: not assumptions or axioms. SCT can therefore be refuted by irreconcilable data: not opinion.

Human language involves four totally independent semantic categories (SC), each of which has its own distinctive form of “Truth”. Any sentence that assigns the characteristics of one SC to another SC involves what is termed here “Semantic Intertwine”. Semantic intertwine often lies at the core of semantic ambiguity, sophistry and paradox: problems that have plagued human reason since antiquity.

SCT is applicable to any endeavour involving human language. Research applications are therefore somewhat extensive. For example, identifying metaphors posing as science, or natural language processing/translation, or solving disparate paradox types, as illustrated by worked examples from: The Liar Group, Sorites Inductive, Russell's Set Theoretic and Zeno's Paradoxes.

To interact successfully with human language, behaviour, and belief systems, as well as their own environment, intelligent machines will need to resolve the semantic component/intertwines of any sentence. Semantic category analysis (SCA), derived from SCT, and also described here, can be used to analyse any sentence or argument, however complex.

Both SCT and SCA are original. Whilst “category error” is an intuitive notion, the observably precise nature, number and modes of interaction of such categories have never previously been presented. With SCT/SCA the rigorous analysis of any argument, whether foisted, valid, or obfuscating, is now possible: by man or machine.

Schumacher recognized that we separate the economic system from natural and social systems at our peril. Following Schumacher's alternative “economics,” my purpose is to understand economics differently by engaging alternative ways of perceiving and knowing. Can we conceive of an economics that embodies the requisite social and environmental values, and can the associated accountings hold the responsible actors justly accountable? I compare the premises and characteristics of Schumacher's Buddhist economics with the prevailing neoclassical formulations, illustrating the narrowness of the current perspective and highlighting the critical issues. I consider the Social and Environmental Accounting project and the extent to which it has been, and potentially will be, able to move accounting, business, and society toward a more holistic conceptualization of accounting and accountability. Assimilating the two economic perspectives in developing a more holistic and integrated accounting is offered as a path to consider on our journey toward an accounting “as if people mattered.”

The recent scientific observation that human information processing involves four independent data types, has pinpointed a source of fallacious arguments within many domains of human thought. The species-unique ability to assign observable characteristics to purely conceptual entities has created beautiful poetry and literature. However, this ability to generate “Semantic Intertwine” has also created the most incomprehensible paradoxes and conundrums. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Semantic Intertwine can be created between, or within, Semantic Categories; and in either case it then lies at the heart of fallacious, yet often very persuasive, reasoning.

This paper describes how to detect mathematically related Semantic Intertwine in erroneous arguments involving: operands (VIII), mathematical induction (VIIA), orthogonal axiom sets (VIIB), continuous functions (VIIA), exclusive disjunction (VIIA), propositional calculus (VI) and the hitherto thorny problems arising from ambiguous intra-category use of “infinity” (VIIB).

The applications of Semantic Category Analysis (SCA) are manifold. Determine the Semantic Categories involved in an argument and their modes of combination, and any Semantic Intertwine revealed pinpoints erroneous reasoning. SCA can be applied to any domain of human thought.

This paper is concerned with two questions: 1 What are the kinds of skills and other qualities in managers that contribute to managerial success and performance in various forms? 2 To what extent are these acquired by learning, and what are the sources of such learning? The aim is to propose and test a general framework or taxonomy describing what managers might need to learn, and to understand from where existing managers have acquired the skills and qualities they currently use. This further allows us to draw some conclusions about the part played by deliberate training and education activities, in comparison with ‘natural’ ones, in the development of managers. The paper considers and reports in turn on existing theories and research relevant to managerial qualities, a hypothetical model of such qualities, an empirical test of the models, and the results of a study of the sources involved in the acquisition of specific qualities contributing to successful management actions in a sample of managers.

Designing efficient XML schemas is essential for XML applications which manage semi‐structured data. On generating XML schemas, there are two opposite goals: to avoid redundancy and to provide connected structures in order to achieve good performance on queries. In general, highly connected XML structures allow data redundancy, and redundancy‐free schemas generate disconnected XML structures. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate by experiments an approach which balances such trade‐off through a workload analysis. Additionally, it aims to identify the most accessed data based on the workload and suggest indexes to improve access performance.

The paper applies and evaluates a workload‐aware methodology to provide indexing and highly connected structures for data which are intensively accessed through paths traversed by the workload.

The paper presents benchmarking results on a set of design approaches for XML schemas and demonstrates that the XML schemas generated by the approach provide high query performance and low cost of data redundancy on balancing the trade‐off on XML schema design.

Although an XML benchmark is applied in these experiments, further experiments are expected in a real‐world application.

The approach proposed may be applied in a real‐world process for designing new XML databases as well as in reverse engineering process to improve XML schemas from legacy databases.

Unlike related work, the reported approach integrates the two opposite goal in the XML schema design, and generates suitable schemas according to a workload. An experimental evaluation shows that the proposed methodology is promising.

The main aim of this paper is to develop a CRIS systems search profile that would enable CRIS users to perform unified and semantically rich search for the records stored in the CRIS systems.

Prior to the search profile construction, diverse representative types of the scientific research data store systems (CRISs, digital libraries, institutional repositories, and search portals) were analyzed versus available search modes, indexes and query types.

The new SRU/W standard based search profile (CRIS profile) for the purpose of searching scientific research data was proposed, that supports search for all types of data identified through an exhaustive analysis covering all major scientific and research data store systems.

Constraints of the proposed profile could appear from the fact that data identified in analyzed systems do not comprise all scientific research data recognized by CERIF standard which, in turn, could call for the profile extension.

Search profile has been verified on the data in the existing CRIS systems at the University of Novi Sad. The CRIS search profile enables unified and semantically rich search for the data stored in heterogeneous distributed scientific research data store systems.

The new SRU/W-based search profile extensively supports the search domain of scientific research data in CRIS systems. Commitments to SRU/W and CQL standards enable interoperability among heterogeneous, distributed scientific research data sources.