ILR School Ph.D. Dissertations

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On the convergence of autonomous agent communities

This is the post-print version of the final published paper that is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 IOS Press and the authors.Community is a common phenomenon in natural ecosystems, human societies as well as artificial multi-agent systems such as those in web and Internet based applications. In many self-organizing systems, communities are formed evolutionarily in a decentralized way through agents' autonomous behavior. This paper systematically investigates the properties of a variety of the self-organizing agent community systems by a formal qualitative approach and a quantitative experimental approach. The qualitative formal study by applying formal specification in SLABS and Scenario Calculus has proven that mature and optimal communities always form and become stable when agents behave based on the collective knowledge of the communities, whereas community formation does not always reach maturity and optimality if agents behave solely based on individual knowledge, and the communities are not always stable even if such a formation is achieved. The quantitative experimental study by simulation has shown that the convergence time of agent communities depends on several parameters of the system in certain complicated patterns, including the number of agents, the number of community organizers, the number of knowledge categories, and the size of the knowledge in each category

“It Takes All Kinds”: A Simulation Modeling Perspective on Motivation and Coordination in Libre Software Development Projects

This paper presents a stochastic simulation model to study implications of the mechanisms by which individual software developers’ efforts are allocated within large and complex open source software projects. It illuminates the role of different forms of “motivations-at-the-margin” in the micro-level resource allocation process of distributed and decentralized multi-agent engineering undertakings of this kind. We parameterize the model by isolating the parameter ranges in which it generates structures of code that share certain empirical regularities found to characterize actual projects. We find that, in this range, a variety of different motivations are represented within the community of developers. There is a correspondence between the indicated mixture of motivations and the distribution of avowed motivations for engaging in FLOSS development, found in the survey responses of developers who were participants in large projects.free and open source software (FLOSS), libre software engineering, maintainability, reliability, functional diversity, modularity, developers’ motivations, user-innovation, peer-esteem, reputational reward systems, agent-based modeling, stochastic simulation, stigmergy, morphogenesis.

A Research Agenda for Studying Open Source I: A Multi-Level Framework

This paper presents a research agenda for studying information systems using open source software A multi-level research model is developed at five discrete levels of analysis: (1) the artifact; (2) the individual; (3) the team, project, and community; (4) the organization; and (5) society. Each level is discussed in terms of key issues within the level. Examples are based on prior research. In a companion paper, [Niederman, et al 2006], we view the agenda through the lens of referent discipline theories

Authority and Discretion Tensions, Credible Delegation and Implications for New Organizational Forms

We analyze a key problem in organization theory and design, namely the potential tension between authority (i.e., the power to make decisions which guide the decisions of another person) and the discretion of employees (i.e., the ability of an agent to control resources including his own human capital). The problem is rooted in the fact that in organizations, decisions rights are always loaned rather than owned; a hierarchical superior can always in principle overrule a hierarchical inferior. We provide an integrative treatment of the tensions that are involved in the interaction between authority and discretion, and the motivational problems that may result from this tension. We discuss how these problems may be checked by credible managerial commitments and other mechanisms. The framework is then applied to an analysis of new organizational forms, specifically internal hybrids. Thus, the framework adds to the understanding of the costs and benefits of alternative organizational forms.Managerial intervention, credible delegation, new organizational forms, organizational economics

Re-conceptualising learning-centred (instructional) leadership: an obsolete concept in need of renovation

For more than thirty years, ‘instructional leadership’ has been at the forefront of research and practice in school effectiveness and improvement. Governments, employers, universities and professional developers, all see it as a mainstay of raising school and student performance. Wave-after-wave of educational policy reforms during this period have changed school environments, widening and deepening the (instructional) leadership roles and functions of principals and other school leaders. Terminology has changed – while Americans still use ‘instructional leadership’, others prefer ‘learning-centred’ and ‘leadership-for -learning’, disputing whether they encompass the same or different meanings. Yet curiously, the concept itself – as defined and measured by academic researchers and scholars - has changed relatively little since Hallinger and Murphy’s first seminal contribution in 1985. This paper argues the case for wholesale renovation of the concept if it is to maintain relevance going forward. The case is supported by important and powerful trends in policy and practice

The Economics and Psychology of Personality Traits

This paper explores the interface between personality psychology and economics. We examine the predictive power of personality and the stability of personality traits over the life cycle. We develop simple analytical frameworks for interpreting the evidence in personality psychology and suggest promising avenues for future research.lifecycle effects, personality traits

Unifying Human Centered Design and Systems Engineering for Human Systems Integration

Despite the holistic approach of systems engineering (SE), systems still fail, and sometimes spectacularly. Requirements, solutions and the world constantly evolve and are very difficult to keep current. SE requires more flexibility and new approaches to SE have to be developed to include creativity as an integral part and where the functions of people and technology are appropriately allocated within our highly interconnected complex organizations. Instead of disregarding complexity because it is too difficult to handle, we should take advantage of it, discovering behavioral attractors and the emerging properties that it generates. Human-centered design (HCD) provides the creativity factor that SE lacks. It promotes modeling and simulation from the early stages of design and throughout the life cycle of a product. Unifying HCD and SE will shape appropriate human-systems integration (HSI) and produce successful systems