The Experts below are selected from a list of 25572 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Daniel A Levinthal - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
when two bosses are better than one nearly decomposable systems and Organizational Adaptation
Organization Science, 2018Co-Authors: Daniel A Levinthal, Maciej WorkiewiczAbstract:Organizations, as is true with social systems more generally, tend to be nearly, not fully, decomposable. However, analyses of nearly decomposable systems have tended to be at a single level of analysis and have generally neglected the vertical element of nearly decomposable systems. Critical to the notion of nearly decomposable systems is the property that the details of a particular subproblem may be encapsulated and captured by more aggregate parameters and that those subproblems interact in an aggregate way. We explore these issues in reference to the role of three canonical Organizational structures in facilitating Adaptation in the presence of near decomposability: a traditional hierarchy in which a subordinate reports to a single boss, an autonomous form in which the subordinate does not have a direct reporting relationship, and a multiauthority structure in which the subordinate reports to multiple bosses. Despite the ubiquity and potential benefits of multiauthority structures in coordinating highly interdependent tasks, our understanding of the mechanisms that determine the performance of those structures is still relatively modest. Scholars have noted conflicting empirical findings and have called for a more rigorous approach to study these Organizational forms. To help address these issues, we develop an agent-based computational model that compares the performance of these three canonical types of Organizational forms in settings characterized by different degrees of complexity and near decomposability. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1177 .
-
are two heads better than one the multi authority form and Organizational Adaptation
Social Science Research Network, 2015Co-Authors: Daniel A Levinthal, Maciej WorkiewiczAbstract:The multi-authority form is a type of organization where subordinates report to multiple superiors and superiors share authority over their subordinates. While those forms are quite common among modern organizations, research on such forms offers conflicting findings. These conflicting findings, in turn, suggest the need for greater understanding of the mechanisms through which these complex hierarchies operate. We create an explicit agent-based model where Organizational Adaptation is guided by a coupled search, with superiors integrating efforts of interdependent Organizational units and their subordinates pursuing specialization within those units. We identify the specific mechanisms which make the multi-authority form the preferred option when specialization and integration are both important. The traditional hierarchy is, in turn, shown to be superior at integrating interdependent units, but at a cost of local specialization.
-
three facets of Organizational Adaptation selection variety and plasticity
Organization Science, 2015Co-Authors: Daniel A Levinthal, Alessandro MarinoAbstract:When considering the adaptive dynamics of organizations, it is important to account for the full set of adaptive mechanisms, including not only the possibility of learning and Adaptation of a given behavior but also the internal selection over some population of routines and behaviors. In developing such a conceptual framework, it is necessary to distinguish between the underlying stable roots of behavior and the possibly adaptive expression of those underlying templates. Selection occurs over expressed behavior. As a result, plasticity, the capacity to adapt behavior, poses a trade-off as it offers the possibility of adaptive learning but at the same time mitigates the effectiveness of selection processes to identify more or less superior underlying roots of behavior. In addition, plasticity may mitigate the reliability with which practices are enacted. These issues are explored in the context of a computational model, which examines the interrelationship among processes of variation, selection, and plasticity.
-
myopia of selection does Organizational Adaptation limit the efficacy of population selection
Administrative Science Quarterly, 2007Co-Authors: Daniel A Levinthal, Hart E PosenAbstract:This paper develops and tests a model of the effectiveness of selection processes in eliminating less fit organizations from a population when organizations are undergoing adaptive change. Stable o...
-
myopia of selection does Organizational Adaptation limit the efficacy of population selection
Administrative Science Quarterly, 2007Co-Authors: Daniel A Levinthal, Hart E PosenAbstract:This paper develops and tests a model of the effectiveness of selection processes in eliminating less fit organizations from a population when organizations are undergoing adaptive change. Stable Organizational traits, such as a search strategy or routine, do not imply that an organization's performance will remain stable over time or that cross-sectional differences in performance will persist. These properties create the possibility that population-level selection processes will be inefficient in that organizations with potentially superior long-run performance will be selected out. We theorize that Organizational-level Adaptation often results in fluctuations in current performance across time. These fluctuations may attenuate the degree to which current performance differences among organizations are indicative of future performance. As a consequence, search strategies that generate systematically different performance trajectories, even if they share a common long-run outcome, will generate differing survival rates. These ideas are explored using a formal simulation model employing the framework of NK performance landscapes. Our central finding is that selection may be systematically prone to errors and that these selection errors are endogenous to, and differ markedly across, firms' search strategies.
Kathleen M. Carley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
an agent based simulation study for exploring Organizational Adaptation
International Conference on Advances in System Simulation, 2009Co-Authors: Yu Zhang, Catherine W Spence, Steven B Hall, Kathleen M. CarleyAbstract:Agile enterprises with different Organizational structures manifest different Organizational behaviors when responding to environmental changes. In this paper, we use a computational model to examine Organizational Adaptation on four dimensions: Agility, Robustness, Resilience, and Survivability. We analyze the dynamics of Organizational Adaptation by a simulation study on the interaction between tasks and organization in a sales enterprise. The `what if' analyses in different scenarios show that more flexible communication between employees and less hierarchy level with the suitable centralization can improve Organizational Adaptation. The developed simulation model supports the exploration of the parametric space that defines alternative organizing processes for the optimal strategy given the specified environmental dynamics.
-
Organizational Adaptation in volatile environments
2001Co-Authors: Kathleen M. CarleyAbstract:This work was supported in part by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), United States Navy Grant No. N00014-97-1-0037 and by the National Science Foundation NSF IRI9633 662. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Office of Naval Research or the U.S. government.
-
modeling Organizational Adaptation as a simulated annealing process
Sociological Methods & Research, 1996Co-Authors: Kathleen M. Carley, David M SvobodaAbstract:Organizations can be characterized as complex systems composed of adaptive and intelligent agents. Organizational Adaptation occurs through restructuring and learning. Organizations can be modeled using a dual-level model in which restructuring is modeled as a simulated annealing process and individual learning is modeled using a stochastic learning model and boundedly rational agents. Such a model is presented, and its behavior is illustrated using a virtual experiment where the type of Organizational Adaptation is varied. Results suggest that the Organizational design and performance relationship may be chaotic, despite the simple rules of change. Simple restructuring rules lead to a wide range of emergent Organizational structures that increases with individual Adaptation. Organizations locate good designs (through chance and slow change) regardless of the agents' intelligence; however, emergent designs depend on adaptability. Design features are not systematically related to performance; rather, small initial differences in design and environment can affect the emergent behavior.
-
modeling Organizational Adaptation as a simulated annealing process
Sociological Methods & Research, 1996Co-Authors: Kathleen M. Carley, David SvobodaAbstract:Organizations can be characterized as complex systems composed of adaptive and intelligent agents. Organizational Adaptation occurs through restructuring and learning. Organizations can be modeled using a dual-level model in which restructuring is modeled as a simulated annealing process and individual learning is modeled using a stochastic learning model and boundedly rational agents. Such a model is presented, and its behavior is illustrated using a virtual experiment where the type of Organizational Adaptation is varied. Results suggest that the Organizational design and performance relationship may be chaotic, despite the simple rules of change. Simple restructuring rules lead to a wide range of emergent Organizational structures that increases with individual Adaptation. Organizations locate good designs (through chance and slow change) regardless of the agents' intelligence; however, emergent designs depend on adaptability. Design features are not systematically related to performance; rather, small...
Torben Schubert - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
the impact of captive innovation offshoring on the effectiveness of Organizational Adaptation
Research Papers in Economics, 2015Co-Authors: Elisabeth Baier, Christian Rammer, Torben SchubertAbstract:We analyze the effects of captive offshoring of innovation activities on the ability of the firms to adapt their Organizational structures. Basing our arguments on complexity theory, we use three consecutive waves of the German part of the Community Innovation Survey to test our hypotheses. We find an inverted u-shape of innovation offshoring on the effectiveness of Organizational adaptability, implying an optimal threshold value of innovation offshoring. This value is 11% for share of offshored R&D, 15% for downstream innovation activities such as local market Adaptation, and 34% for design activities. We also analyze several contingency variables. In particular, we show that the costs of innovation offshoring in terms of reduced Organizational Adaptation are increased by a regional dispersion of the offshoring activities and strong embeddedness in onshore networks. We also show that smaller firms find it easier to deal with the management complexity induced by geographical dispersion of innovation activities.
-
the impact of captive innovation offshoring on the effectiveness of Organizational Adaptation
Journal of International Management, 2015Co-Authors: Elisabeth Baier, Christian Rammer, Torben SchubertAbstract:We analyze the effects of captive offshoring of innovation activities on the firms' ability to adapt their Organizational structures. Basing our arguments on the complexity theory, we use three consecutive waves of the German part of the Community Innovation Survey to test our hypotheses. We find an inverted u-shape of innovation offshoring on the effectiveness of Organizational adaptability, implying an optimal threshold value of innovation offshoring. This value is 11% for the share of off shored R&D, 15% for downstream innovation activities such as local market Adaptation, and 34% for design activities. We also analyze several contingency variables. In particular, we show that the costs of innovation offshoring in terms of reduced Organizational Adaptation are increased by a regional dispersion of the offshoring activities and strong embeddedness in onshore networks. We also show that smaller firms find it easier to deal with the management complexity induced by geographical dispersion of innovation activities. 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Less)
David Svoboda - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
modeling Organizational Adaptation as a simulated annealing process
Sociological Methods & Research, 1996Co-Authors: Kathleen M. Carley, David SvobodaAbstract:Organizations can be characterized as complex systems composed of adaptive and intelligent agents. Organizational Adaptation occurs through restructuring and learning. Organizations can be modeled using a dual-level model in which restructuring is modeled as a simulated annealing process and individual learning is modeled using a stochastic learning model and boundedly rational agents. Such a model is presented, and its behavior is illustrated using a virtual experiment where the type of Organizational Adaptation is varied. Results suggest that the Organizational design and performance relationship may be chaotic, despite the simple rules of change. Simple restructuring rules lead to a wide range of emergent Organizational structures that increases with individual Adaptation. Organizations locate good designs (through chance and slow change) regardless of the agents' intelligence; however, emergent designs depend on adaptability. Design features are not systematically related to performance; rather, small...
David M Svoboda - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
modeling Organizational Adaptation as a simulated annealing process
Sociological Methods & Research, 1996Co-Authors: Kathleen M. Carley, David M SvobodaAbstract:Organizations can be characterized as complex systems composed of adaptive and intelligent agents. Organizational Adaptation occurs through restructuring and learning. Organizations can be modeled using a dual-level model in which restructuring is modeled as a simulated annealing process and individual learning is modeled using a stochastic learning model and boundedly rational agents. Such a model is presented, and its behavior is illustrated using a virtual experiment where the type of Organizational Adaptation is varied. Results suggest that the Organizational design and performance relationship may be chaotic, despite the simple rules of change. Simple restructuring rules lead to a wide range of emergent Organizational structures that increases with individual Adaptation. Organizations locate good designs (through chance and slow change) regardless of the agents' intelligence; however, emergent designs depend on adaptability. Design features are not systematically related to performance; rather, small initial differences in design and environment can affect the emergent behavior.