Title: Organization Design as Guided Network Evolution
Abstract: In an organization, patterns of interaction between individuals are influenced by two strong inertial forces: the mandates of the formal organization and the desire of agents to preserve their existing social network. In contrast, problemistic search by individuals seeking for new social connections provides the basis for change. How these forces interact and the consequences for organizational adaptation and change are the focus of this paper. We explore these issues through a formal agent-based computational model which reflects organization design as the guided (by the formal structure) evolution of the informal organization (in particular the networks of interaction between individuals). The analysis of the model uncovers two mechanisms shaping the interplay between formal and informal structure-- complementary and substitutive inertia--whose operation depends both on the accuracy of the designer’s architectural knowledge and the agents’ aspiration levels. Insights from our model contribute to the emergent literature investigating the links between formal and informal organization.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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