Programmable Decisions for Business Organizations: An Actor-network Approach to Ai-driven Innovation

This book focuses on an integrated design sciences approach in developing an AI decision-support model to enhance an organization’s decision-making function(s) and capabilities. In doing so, it elaborates on the programmability of decisions in the context of an AI culture (as embedded in the principles of Actor-Network Theory), and illustrates how AI technologies can bring profound societal changes, while balancing social and technical objectives given that AI cannot operate independent from human involvement.

Research in the book spans multiple disciplines, drawing insights from academic literature and industry experts across various business functions, including finance, logistics, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, infrastructure, and technological development.

With this, the book adopts an elaborated action design research (eADR) approach as its guiding framework, which employs a systematic, iterative approach for diagnosis and design to develop a decision-support model artifact in the context of programmable decisions. The empirical study included in the book involved data collection through interviews with senior managers, group discussions with middle management, and consultations with other industry experts.

Egbert Steyn is an Associate Chartered Management Accountant and recently obtained his PhD (Management Accountancy) at the Applied Research in Management Cybernetics research entity at the North-West University, South Africa.

Merwe Oberholzer is a Professor in Accounting Sciences at the North-West University, South Africa, currently employed in the Applied Research in Management Cybernetics research entity at the North-West University, South Africa.

Matthew Mullarkey is a Professor and Director of the Doctor of Business Administration program at the Muma College of Business, University of South Florida. He is also an extra-ordinary professor in the Applied Research in Management Cybernetics research entity at the North-West University in South Africa.

Pieter Buys is a Professor and Research Director of the Applied Research in Management Cybernetics research entity at North-West University, South Africa. He holds professional and postgraduate qualifications in management accounting and industrial engineering.