Abstract not found

Knowledge management (KM) represents a topic of considerable current interest. However, the majority of extant KM research treats knowledge as a static object that can be acquired, stored and retrieved through information technology. Two fundamental problems emerge from this current majority view: (1) many scholars view knowledge as distinct from information, and (2) very little attention is paid to the dynamics of knowledge—a phenomenon which many scholars term “knowledge flows. ” In this article we build upon a steady stream of research in computational organization theory to develop agent-based models of knowledge flows. Such models draw from emerging theory for multidimensional representation of the knowledge flow phenomenon, and they enable the dynamics of enterprise knowledge flows to be formalized and simulated through computational models. We illustrate this research approach and modeling environment through formal representation and simulation of knowledge flows from the domain of information systems design. 1.

this paper, we motivate and report simulation experiments within a canonical task environment to assess the benefits from introducing richer organizational structures to control essentially simple but fallible robot-type agents. The sort of situation we have in mind would be a team of robots cleaning the floor and at the same time monitoring inside a museum during the night (such robots, at least as single systems, exist). Each of them can sense and act in a variety of ways and work independently. Each robot has a map of the museum but is "responsible" for a particular area,

Knowledge is power. As the U.S. Navy is working to revise its strategy and tactics through knowledge-centric warfare, it is apparent that knowledge flow is key. However, our current state of understanding does not address the phenomenology of knowledge flow well, nor do we have the benefit of knowledge-flow theory and its application to very-large enterprises such as the Navy. Without such basic understanding, one cannot expect to design effective systems and processes for network-centric warfare. The basic research program proposed here addresses this deficiency directly through its three-pronged technical approach: 1) develop and refine a model of knowledge-flow theory, emphasizing the very-large enterprise (e.g., Navy, Department of Defense); 2) develop a contingency model for matching the most-appropriate process and system designs to enterprise knowledge-flow patterns; 3) assess the performance effects of alternative knowledge systems and processes through simulation (e.g., of naval warfare, personnel processes). Informed by the basic science of knowledge-flow theory, this work can propel knowledge management toward the methods and tools commonly used for engineering work—a quantum shift from the current state of affairs. This, basic research also directly supports ongoing, priority ONR projects (e.g., Sailor-21, advanced command and control, artificially-intelligent systems and decision aids) and should contribute to development of network-centric warfare concepts, systems and operations. i

Simulation modeling provides a powerful methodology for advancing theory and research on complex behaviors and systems, yet it has been embraced more slowly in management than in some associated social science disciplines. We suspect that part of the reason is that simulation methods are not well understood. We therefore aim to promote understanding of simulation methodology and to develop an appreciation of its potential contributions to management theory by describing the nature of simulations, its attractions, and its special problems, as well as some uses of computational modeling in management research.

Organizations are occasionally faced with technology-based and accident-triggered crises that may cause costly disasters if not handled properly. Questions arise: How should organizations, with their complex processes and human involvement, be designed if they are to perform well in such crises? Would organizations benefit from structural changes during crises? From a neo-information processing perspective that views organizations as composed of cognitively restricted, socially situated, and task-oriented actors, we argue that the causes and consequences of crises may be better understood through the systematic examination of both environmental and organizational factors. We address our research questions using a rather unique approach: a matched analysis of 80 real organizational cases and 80 computer-simulated organizations. The findings show that a crisis can present critical challenges to organizational performance both externally and internally, and that there is no design guarantee that a high-performing organization will continue to perform well during a crisis situation. In addition, when organizations restructure to adapt to crisis situations, they often face the serious challenges of having to understand not only the external environment, but also organizational design traps. Key words: organizational performance; organizational design; computational modeling; real-crisis cases Whether theories of organization can be applied to nonconventional events or crisis situations has largely been assumed but certainly not fully explored (Carley

Virtual informal communication networks are widely recognized as an important part of corporate knowledge management (KM). Unfortunately, most practices of community-engineering are characterized by intuitive actions from KM managers rather than systematic network development based on detailed analysis. Therefore, as part of a larger research framework, this paper addresses topological structures as action variable of communityengineering. A dynamic computer-based simulation model is introduced and applied to real-life data from over 800 students and staff of the Economics and Business Administration Department at Frankfurt University, Germany. Several metrics of networks performance are developed and illustrated using different exemplary actions of community-engineering.

Knowledge is power. As the U.S. Navy is working to revise its strategy and tactics through network-centric warfare, it is apparent that knowledge flow is key. However, our current state of understanding does not address the phenomenology of knowledge flow well, nor do we have the benefit of knowledge-flow theory and its application to very-large enterprises such as the Navy. Without such basic understanding, one cannot expect to design effective systems and processes for network-centric warfare. Imagine trying to develop useful electronic devices such as amplifiers or integrated circuits without a good understanding of electrical flow. Or imagine the difficulty of developing useful aircraft devices such as engines or wings without thoroughly understanding air flow. Likewise, how can one expect to develop useful enterprise devices such as knowledge amplifiers or knowledge engines without understanding knowledge flow? Informed by advances in knowledge-flow theory, this work can propel knowledge management toward the methods and tools commonly used for engineering work—a quantum shift from the current state of affairs. The present article takes a step in this direction. It is intended to serve a something of a navigational chart, to help guide communities of practice as they seek out new knowledge to facilitate naval knowledge flow. i

This study explores the organizational impact of a variety of important promotion systems commonly practiced in organizations including up-or-out systems, absolute merit-based systems, relative merit-based systems, and seniority-based systems. Through the computer simulation of organizations in a distributed decision making setting, the results indicate that the effectiveness of any promotion system is dependent on a range of factors including the nature of the task environment, the design of the organizational structure, the frequency of monitoring, the criteria of performance, and the transferability of task knowledge. This study has implications not only for understanding organizational promotion systems from the contingency perspective, but also for bridging the fields of strategic human resource management and computational organization theory.

Abstract: While several areas of organizational research have benefited from the use of games to study interaction between individuals, one area that has not done so is the study of organizational coordination. This is in spite of the large game-theoretic literature on coordination games and solutions to coordination problems. This paper brings the two approaches together, showing how simple games can be used to represent different problems of organizational interdependence and how game-theoretic solutions to coordination problems are related to organizational solutions. I.