1 The Evolution of Organisational Semiotics - A Brief Review of the Contribution of Ronald Stamper 1 Henk Gazendam † Kecheng Liu ‡ † Groningen University P.O. Box 500, 9700 AV Groningen The Netherlands henk@gazendam.net ‡ University of Reading, Informatics Research Centre P.O. Box 225, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AY, United Kingdom K.liu@reading.ac.uk , www.irc.rdg.ac.uk Abstract. Organisational Semiotics is a young discipline which emerged from the late 1980’s, for which Ronald Stamper’s contribution is significant and essential. This paper is to mark his role and contribution to this field of study. The paper is based on an interview with Ronald Stamper and research of relevant papers. It reviews briefly the history of the evolution of Organisational Semiotics; summaries key contributions from Ronald Stamper; and reports his personal thoughts and guidance on the research directions and important issues in the further development of the field. 1 The Emergence of Organisational Semiotics Ronald Stamper’s service in the army gave him the first real experience in an organisation. His conclusion was that an authoritarian organisation such as the army would not allow the proper use of individual’s talent, though the organisation could be efficient. After the military service, he went to read mathematics and graduated from the University College of Oxford University, followed by a postgraduate study in statistics in the same college. Ronald Stamper joined the Oxford Regional Hospital Board 1958 as an Assistant Statistician, where he was a pioneer in the use of computing and operational research. He worked for the steel industry in Ashorne Hill from 1960 as a project team member, the project leader, and a member and then a senior member of the Directing Staff. To remedy the industry’s desperate shortage of specialists, he created the first UK course in systems analysis (for information technology based information systems) geared to improving organisational performance rather than for computer 1 This paper is based on an interview with Ronald Stamper on the 22 nd December 2003, and research of relevant papers.