Agent-Based Simulation of Organizational Behavior

Agent-Based Simulation of Organizational Behavior

Davide Secchi Martin Neumann Editors Agent-Based Simulation of Organizational Behavior New Frontiers of Social Science Research 123

Editors Davide Secchi COMAC Research Cluster Department of Language and Communication University of Southern Denmark Slagelse, Denmark Martin Neumann Institute for information systems Koblenz University Koblenz, Germany The Editors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behavior (AISB) in developing this volume. ISBN 978-3-319-18152-3 ISBN 978-3-319-18153-0 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-18153-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015945340 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www. springer.com)

Preface This book is the product of a workshop on Modelling Organisational Behaviour and Social Agency, hosted by Bournemouth University, January 27 28, 2014, and sponsored by the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behavior (AISB). The event sought to examine the applications, structure, how-to, potentials, and philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of agent-based models (ABM) as they apply to organizational behavior and social agency. We had one day and a half of paper sessions, with social and networking activities. Participants came from seven countries, including the UK, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Canada, and Italy. The workshop was extremely valuable and all who participated agreed that it delivered more than promised. We spent two interesting days sharing ideas, establishing fruitful research relationships, and learning a lot from each other. This was an attempt to see how ABM can be used to enhance social sciences and, in particular, the study of social agency and organizational behavior. The fruits of that workshop are now collected in this book. The discussions of the two days enabled true cross-disciplinary fertilization and inspired us to start and progress with the idea of this volume. We are extremely pleased that some of the spirit of those two days is now reflected into this book. Both editors of this volume share a keen interest in computational and mathematical simulation models. Martin is more experienced in ABM and comes from a more sociological background, while Davide came in contact with ABM simulation in 2010 and conducts his work on organizational behavior. Besides ABM and despite (or because) we come from different disciplinary backgrounds, we found ourselves very much aligned on two points, at least. First, we are both interested in understanding distributed cognitive processes and believe that ABM provides a very powerful frame to study them. Second, we both agree that cross-disciplinary efforts are extremely important for the advancement of science, despite contemporary academia does not seem to value or encourage them. A few words should be spent to describe the process we used to collect and edit this project. After the workshop, we invited participants to submit full papers based on their presentation. All presenters but two agreed to submit their work. We then v

vi Preface asked every author to review two chapters in a single-blind peer-review process. This means that reviewers knew who the authors of the two chapters were, but the authors did not know who reviewed their work. We collected reviewers reports and had another round of reviews; for a few chapters a third round was necessary. As it usually happens when articles fall under an academic niche (such as ABM), we experienced a phenomenon of self-selection so that all chapters submitted were rigorous and up to a good academic standard. The review process improved them all and we are extremely happy with each and every contribution of this volume. Of course, we could not have done this without the help of the many people who supported us. First and foremost, we wish to thank all the authors for their time, enduring support, and bright contributions. We were thrilled by the high standards of the chapters and especially of the reviews we received. Mutual respect increased reviewers engagement to address common intellectual puzzles. Sometimes we do not see such detailed, clear, and intellectually challenging reviews from top journals! We really appreciated all of their dedication to this project; indeed, thank you very much. Among everyone, Stephen Cowley deserves a special thanks from us. He originally created the contact between the two of us and has been a true inspiration, constructive critic, and friend to both of us. We know this book could have not been done without you: Thanks a ton! We also wish to thank Yasemin Erden from AISB, who believed in our project and supported our workshop and the book project. Nick Philipson and Nitza Jones-Sepulveda from Springer New York showed an incredible level of enthusiasm for our project since the very beginning. Their support, both professional and personal, remains unmatched compared to other publication experiences. It is so good to work with you that we wish we could only publish books! Seriously, you need to know that you do a great job. Thank you so very much. Davide s wife Claudia also deserves a special mention in this book. Her patience, loving care, and understanding for a husband who works for too many weekends can only be reciprocated with Davide s endless love. Finally, we have enjoyed working with each other very much and we hope to continue working on ABM and other related projects. We hope you will be pleased by what follows as much as we have enjoyed working together and with all the authors. Have a pleasant read. Slagelse, Denmark Koblenz, Germany Davide Secchi Martin Neumann

Contents 1 Exploring the New Frontier: Computational Studies of Organizational Behavior... 1 Martin Neumann and Davide Secchi Part I Perspectives 2 Emergent Organizations... 19 Guido Fioretti 3 Cognition Beyond the Body: Using ABM to Explore Cultural Ecosystems... 43 Stephen J. Cowley Part II Modeling Organizational Behavior 4 The Effects of Disorganization on Goals and Problem Solving... 63 Dinuka Herath, Davide Secchi, and Fabian Homberg 5 Constructing Agent-Based Models of Organizational Routines... 85 Cara H. Kahl and Matthias Meyer 6 CoopNet: A Social, P2P-Like Simulation Model to Explore Knowledge-Based Production Processes... 109 Gian Paolo Jesi and Edoardo Mollona 7 Conceptualizing and Modeling Multi-Level Organizational Co-evolution... 137 Dermot Breslin, Daniela Romano, and James Percival 8 Exploring Aspects of Coordination by Mutual Adjustment in Fluid Teams: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach... 159 Svend E. Thomsen vii

viii Contents 9 Boundary Conditions for the Emergence of Docility in Organizations: Agent-Based Model and Simulation... 175 Davide Secchi Part III Philosophical and Methodological Perspectives 10 Intervening via Chance-Seeking... 203 Emanuele Bardone 11 Exploring Social and Asocial Agency in Agent-Based Systems... 221 Sabine Thürmel 12 Towards Nonlocal Field-Like Social Interactions: Oscillating Agent Based Conceptual and Simulation Framework... 237 D. Plikynas and S. Raudys 13 Analytical Approaches to Agent-Based Models... 265 Raffaello Seri Part IV Macro Aspects of Organizational Behavior 14 Modeling Social Agency Using Diachronic Cognition: Learning from the Mafia... 289 Martin Neumann and Stephen J. Cowley 15 Water Controversies Between Conflict and Cooperation: Agent-Based Models for Non-traditional Security... 311 Stefania Paladini 16 Open Innovation Networks and the Role of Intermediaries: An Agent-Based Simulation... 329 Enrico Secchi Index... 345