It is difficult for developers of information systems to acquire the user's requirements. This paper proposes a system to support communications between developers and users under the development of information systems for the work fields with no definitely-defined processes. It supports their communications by making the user's requirements visible. First, the users represent their requirements using object icons. Next, they input “functions” and “the reasons why they are needed” to the cards corresponding to these objects. We classify the objects in terms of their characteristics and the relations between these objects. By this classification and keywords that are defined according to the relations, the support system can check the adequacy of the representations as the user's requirements. The developers can identify the user's requirements in early phases and get the requirements specification automatically. We evaluated and examined the support by implementing a prototype of this system.

This thesis is concerned with the participation factor model on information sharing activities. The objective of this research is to propose the model for analyzing human participation factors on information sharing activities. The participation factor model is developed in order to uncover the way to improve and activate the information sharing activities from the point of human participation factors. The participation factor model is described by the following three standpoints. (1) The most basic standpoint is concerned with the human needs on substances, where substances are the components of the informational environment on information sharing activities, and where each need is related to the corresponding substance. (2) The second standpoint is concerned with the aspects of information, where each aspect of information interacts with the corresponding substance. (3) The third standpoint is concerned with the stage in the interaction between each aspect of information and the corresponding substance. Through integrating these three standpoints, each human need is connected with the stage in the interaction between each aspect of information and the corresponding substance.

This paper proposes a computational model for cooperative knowledgeable activities in an organization. The model is developed based on the research of intelligent agents in distributed artificial intelligence and aims at integrating the concepts of knowledge business management, computer supported cooperative work, and organizational learning activities. In the model, we assume that the agents exchange only their partial knowledge via incomplete communication, and then we examine how cooperative problem solving and learning is pragmatically carried out in the model. To validate the effectiveness of the model, firstly, we apply the model to organizational decision making problems, simulate the dynamic behaviors of their decision making and learning, and also apply the model to organizational cooperative search problems. Based on the experimental results, we discuss new viewpoint for approaching to improve the knowledgeable activities, integrating business knowledge management, computer-supported cooperative work, and organizational learning methods.

An effect of accounting auditors' belief on their infomation processing has occupied the attention of many accouintg researchers. But the results of researches have not been consistent: some researches have demonstrated the contrast effect but others have demonstrated the assimilation effect. This Note will try to integrate such seemingly contradictory results by paying attention to their research method. And it will also discuss the future direction of the research.

Software business is rapidly growing and affecting the whole IT business. A lot of IT products have been delivered through traditional supply chain in Japanese marketplace. However it is to be transformed. Developers, marketers, and buyers involved in supply chain, demand new power balance among the firms. This power balance may be determined by three factors, core value, leverage and power drivers. This paper describes about the determination factor of the power balance between the firms in the new paradigm of the value chain.