Does Organizational Structure Matter? an Adaptive Simulation Approach for Investigating Information Processing Structures in Organizations

Abstract

We adopt the view of organizations as information processingentities. As such, we propose that various exogenous and endogenousfactors should affect the performance of organizations with respect toinformation processing tasks. We present a methodology for modelingorganizational structures and for determining which organizationalstructures, if any, distinguish themselves given various constraints.Our methodology relies upon computer simulations that combineMonte Carlo methods and genetic algorithms to represent dynamicorganizational operating environments and competition among firms,respectively.