Agent-Based Model for Multiple Team Membership (ABMMTM) (1.1.0)
The Agent-Based Model for Multiple Team Membership (ABMMTM) simulates design teams searching for viable design solutions, for a large design project that requires multiple design teams that are working simultaneously, under different organizational structures; specifically, the impact of multiple team membership (MTM). The key mechanism under study is how individual agent-level decision-making impacts macro-level project performance, specifically, wage cost. Each agent follows a stochastic learning approach, akin to simulated annealing or reinforcement learning, where they iteratively explore potential design solutions. The agent evaluates new solutions based on a random-walk exploration, accepting improvements while rejecting inferior designs. This iterative process simulates real-world problem-solving dynamics where designers refine solutions based on feedback.
As a proof-of-concept demonstration of assessing the macro-level effects of MTM in organizational design, we developed this agent-based simulation model which was used in a simulation experiment. The scenario is a system design project involving multiple interdependent teams of engineering designers. In this scenario, the required system design is split into three separate but interdependent systems, e.g., the design of a satellite could (trivially) be split into three components: power source, control system, and communication systems; each of three design team is in charge of a design of one of these components. A design team is responsible for ensuring its proposed component’s design meets the design requirement; they are not responsible for the design requirements of the other components. If the design of a given component does not affect the design requirements of the other components, we call this the uncoupled scenario; otherwise, it is a coupled scenario.
Release Notes
This is the first release version.
Associated Publications
Collins, A. J. and S. Etemadidavan (2022). A Hybrid Model of Multiple Team Membership and Its Impacts on System Design. 2022 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), IEEE.
Etemadidavan, S., and A. J. Collins, A. J. Agent-Based Model for Multiple Team Membership: Implications for System Design. Working paper.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.comses.net/codebases/60992b0b-8a69-4fd0-9658-cd8b6e2cbb90/releases/1.1.0