An Agent-based Simulation Study of a Complex Adaptive Collaboration Network

Abstract

One of the most significant problems in organizational scholarship is to discern how social collectives govern, organize, and coordinate the actions of individuals to achieve collective outcomes. The collectives are usually interpreted as complex adaptive systems (CAS). The understanding of CAS is more likely to arise with the help of computer-based simulations. In this tutorial, using agent-based modeling approach, a complex adaptive social communication network model is introduced. The objective is to present the underlying dynamics of the system in a form of computer simulation that enables analyzing the impacts of various mechanisms on network topologies and emergent behaviors. The ultimate goal is to further our understanding of the dynamics in the system and facilitate developing informed policies for decision-makers.