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Foundations in Systems Integration
(Hedman and Kalling 2003; Shaw 2007); within the dynamics of supply
chains (Jitpaiboon 2005); for services firms (Ray 2003); and for complex software development organizations (Bodenstaff 2010).
We refer to the class of integration as an abstraction integration (or “cognitive
integration”)—that is, two things connected conceptually and cognitively
considered as entities in object or process thinking. The abstraction conceptualizations could be tempered by temporal or cost constraints, influenced
by requirements, or limited by project scope without necessarily considering
either the procedures needed to carry out the ideas or the representations of
those ideas or procedures. It is necessary to think about the objects that are
to be built, the functions that are to be delivered, and the actions of the users
without knowing how to set in place or document those procedures. By
example, reading is an abstraction of visual processing of data taken from a
book. Intentions are abstractions, as are feelings, emotion, theorizing, thinking, interpreting, and questioning. Abstraction integration portrays (and
structures) objects and processes within the context of the observer’s thought
structures, but without needing anything more than other abstractions.
Abstractions can be used to correlate objects and processes.
Similarly, the concepts involved when playing a game that requires a full
deck of cards are representative of integration by abstraction. Removing and
not returning any card to the deck destroys the physical “deck”—the deck no
longer being fit for use in the game. A deck is a deck, except when it is not a
deck. Yet, for the purposes of the game, the deck is still considered a deck in
an abstraction sense. The physical and temporal aspects of the location of the
cards are accepted conceptually as indicative of the rules of the game, and
therefore an abstraction. In this case, the deck is defined as four individual
suits (or types of cards) that each have 13 separate cards with the same
denomination, for a total of 52 cards. The cards are integrated by abstraction
for game-play as determined by the observer’s context for their individual
cards, according to the rules of the game.
Social Classification of Integration
A second class of integration is termed as social integration, the integration
focused on the procedures (or social mechanisms (Moody and White 2003;
Reed 2008)) of carrying out the cognitive issues of process and the physical
realization of the objects and procedures as a means of documenting the
ideas. Unlike integration by abstraction (which is to achieve meaning by cognitive association) and model integration (which is based on the things that
represent the product or service), social integration relates the general sociological issues (including economics, political science, and social behaviors)
through activities, events, and physical entities. The ways of acting out
abstract cognitive thoughts or the involuntary responses to stimuli are considered behaviors. Social integration captures the dynamics of how the products are used by people and how the context and content of communication
Foundations in Systems Integration
(Hedman and Kalling 2003; Shaw 2007); within the dynamics of supply
chains (Jitpaiboon 2005); for services firms (Ray 2003); and for complex software development organizations (Bodenstaff 2010).
We refer to the class of integration as an abstraction integration (or “cognitive
integration”)—that is, two things connected conceptually and cognitively
considered as entities in object or process thinking. The abstraction conceptualizations could be tempered by temporal or cost constraints, influenced
by requirements, or limited by project scope without necessarily considering
either the procedures needed to carry out the ideas or the representations of
those ideas or procedures. It is necessary to think about the objects that are
to be built, the functions that are to be delivered, and the actions of the users
without knowing how to set in place or document those procedures. By
example, reading is an abstraction of visual processing of data taken from a
book. Intentions are abstractions, as are feelings, emotion, theorizing, thinking, interpreting, and questioning. Abstraction integration portrays (and
structures) objects and processes within the context of the observer’s thought
structures, but without needing anything more than other abstractions.
Abstractions can be used to correlate objects and processes.
Similarly, the concepts involved when playing a game that requires a full
deck of cards are representative of integration by abstraction. Removing and
not returning any card to the deck destroys the physical “deck”—the deck no
longer being fit for use in the game. A deck is a deck, except when it is not a
deck. Yet, for the purposes of the game, the deck is still considered a deck in
an abstraction sense. The physical and temporal aspects of the location of the
cards are accepted conceptually as indicative of the rules of the game, and
therefore an abstraction. In this case, the deck is defined as four individual
suits (or types of cards) that each have 13 separate cards with the same
denomination, for a total of 52 cards. The cards are integrated by abstraction
for game-play as determined by the observer’s context for their individual
cards, according to the rules of the game.
Social Classification of Integration
A second class of integration is termed as social integration, the integration
focused on the procedures (or social mechanisms (Moody and White 2003;
Reed 2008)) of carrying out the cognitive issues of process and the physical
realization of the objects and procedures as a means of documenting the
ideas. Unlike integration by abstraction (which is to achieve meaning by cognitive association) and model integration (which is based on the things that
represent the product or service), social integration relates the general sociological issues (including economics, political science, and social behaviors)
through activities, events, and physical entities. The ways of acting out
abstract cognitive thoughts or the involuntary responses to stimuli are considered behaviors. Social integration captures the dynamics of how the products are used by people and how the context and content of communication