A Computational Model for Product Development Organizations: Integration of Distributed AI and Organization Theory

In this study, we develop a computational model and a multi-agent simulation system for the analysis and design of product development organizations. The computational model represents the product development organizations as a collection of autonomous/semiautonomous computational agents interacting with each other. It is used to model the dynamic, complex, and distributed nature of organizations. To operationalize the model, a multi-agent simulation system is developed where the detailed information requirements and decision-making procedures of human decision-makers are translated into objected oriented programming modules. This is used to measure the effect of alternative organizational structures and coordination mechanisms on organizational performances. Several hypotheses are developed to test the relationship between organization design parameters and organization performances.