Using Agent Based Simulation and Game Theory Analysis to Study Knowledge Flow in Organizations

Author(s):  
Richard Jolly ◽  
Wayne Wakeland

Knowledge sharing in organizations, especially the impact of sharing freely versus not sharing, was studied using game theoretic analysis and a Netlogo agent-based simulation model. In both analyses, some agents hoarded knowledge while others shared knowledge freely. As expected, sharing was found to greatly increase the overall amount of knowledge within the organization. Unexpectedly, on average, agents who share acquire more knowledge than hoarders. This is in contradiction to the conclusion from the prisoner’s dilemma analysis. This is due to the synergy that develops between groups of agents who are sharing with each other. The density of the agents is important; as the density increases, the probability increases that an agent with a large amount of knowledge to share happens to be organizationally nearby. The implications are that organizations should actively encourage knowledge sharing, and that agent-based simulation is a useful tool for studying this type of organizational phenomena.

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
Niels Lasse Martin ◽  
Ann Kathrin Schomberg ◽  
Jan Henrik Finke ◽  
Tim Gyung-min Abraham ◽  
Arno Kwade ◽  
...  

In pharmaceutical manufacturing, the utmost aim is reliably producing high quality products. Simulation approaches allow virtual experiments of processes in the planning phase and the implementation of digital twins in operation. The industrial processing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) into tablets requires the combination of discrete and continuous sub-processes with complex interdependencies regarding the material structures and characteristics. The API and excipients are mixed, granulated if required, and subsequently tableted. Thereby, the structure as well as the properties of the intermediate and final product are influenced by the raw materials, the parametrized processes and environmental conditions, which are subject to certain fluctuations. In this study, for the first time, an agent-based simulation model is presented, which enables the prediction, tracking, and tracing of resulting structures and properties of the intermediates of an industrial tableting process. Therefore, the methodology for the identification and development of product and process agents in an agent-based simulation is shown. Implemented physical models describe the impact of process parameters on material structures. The tablet production with a pilot scale rotary press is experimentally characterized to provide calibration and validation data. Finally, the simulation results, predicting the final structures, are compared to the experimental data.


Author(s):  
Ardeshir Raihanian Mashhadi ◽  
Behzad Esmaeilian ◽  
Sara Behdad

As electronic waste (e-waste) becomes one of the fastest growing environmental concerns, remanufacturing is considered as a promising solution. However, the profitability of take back systems is hampered by several factors including the lack of information on the quantity and timing of to-be-returned used products to a remanufacturing facility. Product design features, consumers’ awareness of recycling opportunities, socio-demographic information, peer pressure, and the tendency of customer to keep used items in storage are among contributing factors in increasing uncertainties in the waste stream. Predicting customer choice decisions on returning back used products, including both the time in which the customer will stop using the product and the end-of-use decisions (e.g. storage, resell, through away, and return to the waste stream) could help manufacturers have a better estimation of the return trend. The objective of this paper is to develop an Agent Based Simulation (ABS) model integrated with Discrete Choice Analysis (DCA) technique to predict consumer decisions on the End-of-Use (EOU) products. The proposed simulation tool aims at investigating the impact of design features, interaction among individual consumers and socio-demographic characteristics of end users on the number of returns. A numerical example of cellphone take-back system has been provided to show the application of the model.


2020 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 8-28
Author(s):  
Rimvydas Laužikas ◽  
Darius Plikynas ◽  
Vytautas Dulskis ◽  
Leonidas Sakalauskas ◽  
Arūnas Miliauskas

The impact of cultural processes on personal and social changes is one of the important research issues not only in contemporary social sciences but also for simulation of future development scenarios and evidence-based policy decision making. In the context of the theoretical concept of cultural values, based on the system theory and theory of social capital, the impact of cultural events could be analyzed and simulated by focussing on the construction/deconstruction of social capital, which takes place throughout the actor’s cultural participation. The main goal of this research is the development of measuring metrics, and agent-based simulation model aimed at investigation of the social impact of cultural processes.  This paper provides new insights of modeling the social capital changes in a society and its groups, depending on cultural participation. The proposed measurement metrics provide the measurement facility of three key components: actors, cultural events and events flow and social capital. It provides the initial proof of concept simulation results, - simplified agent-based simulation model showcase. The NetLogo MAS platform is used as a simulation environment.  


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erma Suryani ◽  
Rully Agus Hendrawan ◽  
Umi Salama ◽  
Lily Puspa Dewi

Several studies have been conducted regarding save energy in consuming the electricity through the simple changes in routines and habits. In the case of electricity consumption, consumer behavior might influenced by several factors such as consumer profession, season, and environmental awareness. In this paper, we developed an Agent Based Model (ABM) to analyze the behavior of different agents in consuming the electricity energy for each type of profession (agent) as well as their interaction with the environment. This paper demonstrates a prototype agent based simulation model to estimate the electricity consumption based on the existing condition and some scenarios to reduce the electricity consumption from consumer point of view. From the scenario results, we analyzed the impact of the save energy to increase the electrification ratio. 


Author(s):  
Daoud Kiomjian ◽  
F. Jordan Srour ◽  
Issam Srour

Conventional wisdom in the management literature holds that diversity is positively correlated with performance. Yet, the findings from the construction field indicate that this is not always the case. In an effort to study the interaction between diversity and performance in the construction industry, this paper presents the elements of a theoretical mathematical model to explore the relationship between diversity and knowledge sharing which is a precursor of performance. This model includes five dimensions of diversity: ethnicity, age, experience, language and education. At the heart of the mathematical model is a fuzzy based system that generates the probability of knowledge sharing among members with different demographic attributes. The presented fuzzy system will, in future work, become the foundation of an agent based model used to study the impact of worker interactions on productivity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Leitner ◽  
Friederike Wall

This paper analyses how different coordination modes and different multiobjective decision making approaches interfere with each other in hierarchical organizations. The investigation is based on an agent-based simulation. We apply a modified NK-model in which we map multiobjective decision making as adaptive walk on multiple performance landscapes, whereby each landscape represents one objective. We find that the impact of the coordination mode on the performance and the speed of performance improvement is critically affected by the selected multiobjective decision making approach. In certain setups, the performances achieved with the more complex multiobjective decision making approaches turn out to be less sensitive to the coordination mode than the performances achieved with the less complex multiobjective decision making approaches. Furthermore, we present results on the impact of the nature of interactions among decisions on the achieved performance in multiobjective setups. Our results give guidance on how to control the performance contribution of objectives to overall performance and answer the question how effective certain multiobjective decision making approaches perform under certain circumstances (coordination mode and interdependencies among decisions).


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Chandra ◽  
Reethika S Iyer ◽  
Ramakrishnan Raman

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to understand the knowledge sharing in projects based on knowledge flow patterns. The impact of attrition, thereby leading to a loss of tacit knowledge, inability to capture and reuse knowledge and inability to understand the knowledge flow patterns, which leads to lack of structured workspace collaboration, are frequently faced challenges in organizations. The change in knowledge sourcing behaviors by the current generation workforce has a high reaching impact in driving collaboration among employees. Design/methodology/approach – This paper attempts to study this impact and identify means to improve the effectiveness of collective knowledge sharing via social computing platforms. As part of this study, customized solutions are devised based on knowledge flow patterns prevalent in teams. Knowledge network analysis (KNA), a socio-metric analysis, is performed to understand knowledge flow patterns among employees in a team which helps understand the relationships between team members with respect to knowledge sharing. KNA helps in understanding ties and interactions between human and system resources. Findings – Significant changes were observed in knowledge sourcing and sharing behaviors. Capture of the tacit knowledge of employees further resulted in reducing the impact of knowledge attrition. For instance, targeted communities of practice (CoPs) based on the presence of cliques within teams enabled teams to complete projects effectively and efficiently. Practical implications – The results are used to identify push and pull networks to enable effective knowledge management (KM). Results of this study reveal that analyzing knowledge flow patterns in a team and deploying a customized social computing platform that is tailored to address the needs of specific knowledge flow patterns within that team, significantly enhances collaborative sharing as opposed to a standardized “one-size-fits-all” platform. Originality/value – This paper is an original creation after research by the authors for a continuous assessment of KM within the organization.


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