Abstract
In this paper I consider work processes as complex customer-performer relations. From this point of view I identify the cooperation network carrying on a work process and analyse the cooperation forms of its members. I show how cooperative work is primarily characterized by the complexity of the inter-actions constituting it, and how it is possible to measure the transaction costs of a work process generated by its complexity.
Moreover, I analyze the factors affecting the transaction costs of a work process, and I discuss how one of them, the threshold of sustainable complexity of its participants has a particular relevance, as it defines a limit that cannot be overcome through organizational means.
CSCW systems are finally discussed as computer-based tools that can enhance the threshold of sustainable complexity of a cooperative network. This view allows us to evaluate CSCW systems, as well as any computer based system, within a well defined categorization.
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De Michelis, G. (1995). Computer Support for Cooperative Work: Computers Between Users and Social Complexity. In: Zucchermaglio, C., Bagnara, S., Stucky, S.U. (eds) Organizational Learning and Technological Change. NATO ASI Series, vol 141. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79550-3_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79550-3_17
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