Dynamics of Organizations: Computational Modeling and Organizational Theories [Paperback]

Erik R. Larsen (Editor), Alessandro Lomi (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001 | Series: American Association for Artificial Intelligence

An organization is more than the sum of its parts, and the individual components that function as a complex social system can be understood only by analyzing their collective behavior. This book shows how state-of-the-art simulation methods, including genetic algorithms, neural networks, and cellular automata, can be brought to bear on central problems of organizational theory related to the emergence, permanence, and dissolution of hierarchical macrostructures. The emphasis is on the application of a new generation of equation- and agent-based computational models that can help students of organizations to reformulate their basic research questions starting from assumptions about how to link--rather than separate--different levels of organizational analysis.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Erik R. Larsen is Professor of Management at City University Business School, London.

Alessandro Lomi is Professor of Organizational Theory and Behavior at the School of Economics, University of Bologna.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262621525
• ISBN-13: 978-0262621526
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,287,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting future for organizational analysis!, November 29, 2001

By 

Howard Aldrich (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dynamics of Organizations: Computational Modeling and Organizational Theories (Paperback)

Lomi and Larsen recruited an outstanding set of authors to explain and apply a new generation of agent-based computational models to the problem of organizational change. Using state-of-the-art simulation methods, with clear explanations and superior examples, the various chapters show how principles from genetic algorithms, neural networks, and cellular automata can be applied to the emergence, persistence, and disbanding of organizations (and other hierarchical macrostructures). I particularly liked their well-considered decision to emphasize multiple levels of analysis within the same models. This is a sourcebook that advanced students of organization studies should have on their shelf.