Multi-layer topic maps to support management-systems by structured information

Appropriate information is a challenge for management systems within organizations. These information have to be documented, managed and published to support processes efficiently. Because of complex and heterogeneous information these tasks are not trivial. The required documentation leads to a complex system characterized by hierarchical structures. Beyond this, organizations are faced with several stakes characterized by various levels of influence, which have to be included into the management-system. This chapter introduces a concept for structured capturing, modeling and processing of heterogeneous information and data. For this purpose Topic Maps are used as a concept of knowledge management and semantic networks. Altogether this chapter describes an instrument for hierarchical structuring and processing of information to enhance the efficiency of a management-system. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.