Strategic Structural Reorganization in Multi-agent Systems Inspired by Social Organization Theory

Autonomic systems, capable of adaptive behavior, are envisioned as a solution for maintaining large, complex, real-time computing systems that are situated in dynamic and open environments. These systems are subject to uncertainties in their perceptual, computational, and communication loads. As a result, the individual system components find the need to cooperate with each other to acquire more information and accomplish complex tasks. Critical to the effective performance of these systems, is the effectiveness of communication and coordination methods. In many practical applications of distributed and multi-agent systems, the problem of communication and coordination becomes even more complicated because of the geographic disparity of tasks and/or agents that are performing the tasks. Experience with even small systems has shown that lack of an effective communication and coordination strategy leads the system to no-answer, or sub-optimal answer situations. To address this problem, many large-scale systems employ an additional layer of structuring, known as organizational structure, which governs assignment of roles to individual agents, existence of relations between the agents , and any authority structures in between. Applying different organizational structures to the same problem will lead to different performance characteristics. As the system and environment conditions change, it becomes important to reorganize to a more effective organization. Due to the costs associated with reorganization, finding a balance in how often or when a reorganization is performed becomes necessary. In multi-agent systems community, not a lot of attention has been paid to reorganizing a system to a different organizational structure. Most systems reorganize within the same structure, for example reorganizing in a hierarchy by changing the width or depth of the hierarchy. To approach this problem, we looked into adaptation of concepts and theories from social organization theory. In particular, we got insights from Schwaninger's model of Intelligent Human Organizations. We introduced a strategic reorganization model which enables the system to reorganize to a different type of organizational structure at run time. The proposed model employs different levels of organizational control for making organizational change decisions. We study the performance trade-offs and the efficacy of the proposed approach by running experiments using two instances of cooperative distributed problem solving applications. The results indicate that the proposed reorganization model results in performance improvements when task complexity increases

Managed Forgetting to Support Information Management and Knowledge Work

Trends like digital transformation even intensify the already overwhelming mass of information knowledge workers face in their daily life. To counter this, we have been investigating knowledge work and information management support measures inspired by human forgetting. In this paper, we give an overview of solutions we have found during the last five years as well as challenges that still need to be tackled. Additionally, we share experiences gained with the prototype of a first forgetful information system used 24/7 in our daily work for the last three years. We also address the untapped potential of more explicated user context as well as features inspired by Memory Inhibition, which is our current focus of research.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, preprint, final version to appear in KI - K\"unstliche Intelligenz, Special Issue: Intentional Forgettin

Special Session on Industry 4.0

No abstract available

Investigating White Matter Lesion Load, Intrinsic Functional Connectivity, and Cognitive Abilities in Older Adults

Changes to the while matter of the brain disrupt neural communication between spatially distributed brain regions and are associated with cognitive changes in later life. While approximately 95% of older adults experience these brain changes, not everyone who has significant white matter damage displays cognitive impairment. Few studies have investigated the association between white matter changes and cognition in the context of functional brain network integrity. This study used a data-driven, multivariate analytical model to investigate intrinsic functional connectivity patterns associated with individual variability in white matter lesion load as related to fluid and crystallized intelligence in a sample of healthy older adults (n = 84). Several primary findings were noted. First, a reliable pattern emerged associating whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity with individual variability in measures of white matter lesion load, as indexed by total white matter lesion volume and number of lesions. Secondly, white matter lesion load was associated with increased network disintegration and dedifferentiation. Specifically, lower white matter lesion load was associated with greater within- versus between-network connectivity. Higher white matter lesion load was associated with greater between-network connectivity compared to within. These associations between intrinsic functional connectivity and white matter lesion load were not reliably associated with crystallized and fluid intelligence performance. These results suggest that changes to the white matter of the brain in typically aging older adults are characterized by increased functional brain network dedifferentiation. The findings highlight the role of white matter lesion load in altering the functional network architecture of the brain

Untangling knowledge creation and knowledge integration in enterprise wikis

A central challenge organizations face is how to build, store, and maintain knowledge over time. Enterprise wikis are community-based knowledge systems situated in an organizational context. These systems have the potential to play an important role in managing knowledge within organizations, but the motivating factors that drive individuals to contribute their knowledge to these systems is not very well understood. We theorize that enterprise wiki initiatives require two separate and distinct types of knowledge-sharing behaviors to succeed: knowledge creation (KC) and knowledge integration (KI). We examine a Wiki initiative at a major German bank to untangle the motivating factors behind KC and KI. Our results suggest KC and KI are indeed two distinct behaviors, reconcile inconsistent findings from past studies on the role of motivational factors for knowledge sharing to establish shared electronic knowledge resources in organizations, and identify factors that can be leveraged to tilt behaviors in favor of KC or KI

The Economic Costs and Benefits of Self-Managed Teams Among Skilled Technicians

This paper estimates the economic costs and benefits of implementing teams among highly-skilled technicians in a large regional telecommunications company. It matches individual survey and objective performance data for 230 employees in matched pairs of traditionally-supervised and self-managed groups. Multivariate regressions with appropriate controls show that teams do the work of supervisors in 60-70% less time, reducing indirect labor costs by 75 percent per team. Objective measures of quality and labor productivity are unaffected. Team members receive additional overtime pay that represents a 4-5 percent annual wage premium, which may be viewed alternatively as a share in the productivity gains associated with innovation or as a premium for learning skills

Beliefs Underlying Employee Readiness to Support a Building Relocation: A Theory of Planned Behavior Perspective

The purpose of this research was to examine the utility of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a framework for understanding employee readiness for change. One of the major advantages of the TPB approach is its ability to identify the underlying beliefs that distinguish between those who intend and do not intend to perform the behavior under investigation. In the present study, the extent to which a sample of local government employees intended to carry out activities during a 6-month period that were supportive of their organization's relocation to new premises was examined. An elicitation study (N = 18) determined salient beliefs relating to the relocation. For the main study, 149 participants completed a questionnaire that assessed their behavioral, normative, and control beliefs in regards to the change event. A series of MANOVAs revealed statistically significant differences between employees with moderate compared to high intentions to engage in changesupportive behaviors on a range of beliefs. Implications of these findings for designing change management strategies that help foster readiness for change are discussed