26 research outputs found
The performance Impact of Communication Failure in BlocksWorld for Teams
No full textMulti-agent systems often communicate to perform better at their tasks. However, messages sometimes get lost after sending, and the communication is disrupted. This paper looks into the effects of messages having a chance of not arriving with an agent using the Blocks World for Teams simulation environment. The environment uses agent teams written in the GOAL programming language. First, this thesis details a pilot using existing agent teams with different communication failure models. Each agent team is run multiple times per failure model to get preliminary data. Based on this data, the thesis goes into a followup experiment. The experiment starts with the design of four agent teams, which only differ in the communication strategy they use to share information. What follows is the configuration of Blocks World for Teams, agent team size selection, the communication failure model, how the simulations are are run in a consistent manner, and finally, how the data generated by the simulations is processed. After modifying the agent teams, so they no longer waste limited resources, the experiment is repeated. The different communication strategies are affected to different degrees by communication failure. While the teams perform better than a single agent without failure, slowdown with communication failure can make the teams perform worse than the single agent. How often agents obstruct each other does not appear to be affected by how often communication fails as long as it does fail
Uncharted waters: A behavioral approach to when, why and which organizational changes are adopted
Get PDFThis dissertation contributes to organization theory and strategy literatures by taking a behavioral perspective on exploring when, why, and which organizational changes are adopted. It consists of four empirical essays that consider: (1) which tactics middle managers employ to gain support from top management for a business model change initiative, (2) how board diversity impacts strategic decision-making and how that in turn affects the ability of the organization to change, (3) how the attention of the decision-makers and attainment discrepancy jointly shape what kind of organizational change decisions are made, and (4) how partners and indirect (joint-supplier) competitors influence adoption of a new organizational practice. Each essay examines a different type of practices that are changed, but they generally deal with firm boundaries and innovation. The first three essays are studies of the Dutch water authority sector. In the fourth, more externally oriented essay, I study the global video game industry (2006-2013). Essentially, going from intra- to inter-organizational sources, the dissertation provides insight into why, when, and which organizational changes are adopted by organizations
Hersenen. Kunnen we onze hersenen begrijpen?
No full textKunnen we onze hersenen begrijpen? Nog lang niet, maar volgens Gert ter Horst , hoogleraar neurobiologie van psychiatrische aandoeningen, is de eerste stap het zichtbaar maken van processen in het brein. Hij laat zien hoe een fMRI scanner werkt. Letterkundige Annie van den Oever weet alles over de impact van beelden en wat die beelden teweeg kunnen brengen in onze hersenen. Neurologe Valeria Gazzola werkt met een fMRI scanner en heeft aangetoond dat in ons brein zich spiegelneuronen bevinden
Uncharted waters:A behavioral approach to when, why and which organizational changes are adopted
No full textThis dissertation contributes to organization theory and strategy literatures by taking a behavioral perspective on exploring when, why, and which organizational changes are adopted. It consists of four empirical essays that consider: (1) which tactics middle managers employ to gain support from top management for a business model change initiative, (2) how board diversity impacts strategic decision-making and how that in turn affects the ability of the organization to change, (3) how the attention of the decision-makers and attainment discrepancy jointly shape what kind of organizational change decisions are made, and (4) how partners and indirect (joint-supplier) competitors influence adoption of a new organizational practice. Each essay examines a different type of practices that are changed, but they generally deal with firm boundaries and innovation. The first three essays are studies of the Dutch water authority sector. In the fourth, more externally oriented essay, I study the global video game industry (2006-2013). Essentially, going from intra- to inter-organizational sources, the dissertation provides insight into why, when, and which organizational changes are adopted by organizations
Fishing in troubled waters?: Strategic decision‐making and value creation and appropriation from partnerships between public organizations
Get PDFAlthough partnerships have been conceptualized as vehicles for value creation, less is known about which partners appropriate more value out of them, especially among public organizations. We theorize how politics and procedural rationality in decision‐making respectively are associated with value creation and value appropriation from partnerships between public organizations. Analysis of data from the Dutch water authority sector (2008‐2014) shows that organizations employing more politics in decision‐making appropriate more value from horizontal partnerships, whereas procedural rationality in decision‐making may enhance combined value creation but limits partner‐level value appropriation. Also as theorized, the collective decision‐making context constrains value appropriation by partners using a discrepant decision‐making approach. We discuss implications for research on public organizations, alliances, and strategic decision‐making
Business model change: Managerial roles and tactics in decision-making
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Foreign entrepreneurs engage in less misconduct than native entrepreneurs: Evidence from U.K. director disqualifications
Get PDFAlthough entrepreneurship is commonly viewed as a positive force for society, entrepreneurs may also engage in harmful activities. We explore whether foreign versus native entrepreneurs have a higher propensity to engage in misconduct, as evidenced by them being formally disqualified from being a director by the government following unfit conduct. Comparing entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom who were solely responsible for their venture and who were disqualified with a matched sample of entrepreneurs who did not engage in such misconduct, we find robust evidence that foreign entrepreneurs are substantially less likely to commit misconduct than native entrepreneurs. We also observe that female entrepreneurs are less likely to engage in misconduct than male entrepreneurs. We discuss the study's contributions to the entrepreneurship and organizational misconduct literatures and examine its practical implications
Cross-Pollinators in the Ecosystem: The Role of Suppliers in the Diffusion of a New Business Model
No full textMiddle managers' issue packaging role at the interface between operational and top levels
No full textThis paper aims to provide a finer-grained analysis of the middle managers issue selling strategic role. While we learn a lot from the extant literature on middle managers’ issue selling, we do not know much about how and when middle managers involve in conveying the operational-level proposals to top management. We pose that middle managers have certain discretion on operational-level proposals emanating from their own unit and that they re-frame the content of the operational-level proposals to enhance their likelihood of adoption by the top management team (i.e., middle managers issue packaging role). Drawing on impression management theory, we theorize (and will test) when middle managers engage in issue packaging and how that affects the likelihood of adoption. Implications for theory and practice are discussed
Time to say goodbye? The role of SBIR funding, VC rounds, and initial alliance for director exit in new ventures
No full textDespite the significant interest in the composition and dynamics of new venture boards, our understanding of when directors exit the boards of new ventures is limited. Drawing on the organizational life cycles framework and resource dependence arguments, we posit that key life cycle events alter a venture's resource needs and dependencies on the board, occasioning director exit. Specifically, we argue that SBIR funding, Venture Capital rounds of funding, and first alliance act as markers of new venture evolution that render existing dependencies obsolete, increasing the likelihood of director exit. Interviews with board members in the semiconductor industry informed and substantiated our theoretical claims. The results show that SBIR funding and subsequent rounds of VC funding are linked to an increased likelihood of director exit, whereas a venture's first alliance is not. The paper sheds light on the interdependencies between the board's life cycle and the life cycle of the new venture
