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Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Organizational Behavior and Theory

Flocc: From Agent-Based Models To Interactive Simulations On The Web, Scott Donaldson Mar 2021

Flocc: From Agent-Based Models To Interactive Simulations On The Web, Scott Donaldson

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a computational technique wherein systems are represented through the actions and interactions of many individual entities (‘agents’) over time. ABM often attempts to elucidate the unpredictable, high-level behavior of systems through the predictable, low-level behavior of actors within the system. There are currently few software or frameworks for ABM that allow modelers to design and build interactive models on the web, for a wide audience as well as a scientifically literate audience well-versed in complexity, models, and simulations. Flocc is a novel framework for agent-based modeling written in JavaScript, the lingua franca programming language of the …


Emergent Hierarchy Through Conductance-Based Degree Constraints, Christopher Tyler Diggans, Jeremie Fish, Erik M. Bollt Mar 2021

Emergent Hierarchy Through Conductance-Based Degree Constraints, Christopher Tyler Diggans, Jeremie Fish, Erik M. Bollt

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

The presence of hierarchy in many real-world networks is not yet fully understood. We observe that complex interaction networks are often coarse-grain models of vast modular networks, where tightly connected subgraphs are agglomerated into nodes for simplicity of representation and computational feasibility. The emergence of hierarchy in such growing complex networks may stem from one particular property of these ignored subgraphs: their graph conductance. Being a quantification of the main bottleneck of flow through the coarse-grain node, this scalar quantity implies a structural limitation and supports the consideration of heterogeneous degree constraints. The internal conductance values of the subgraphs are …


Network-Based Analysis Of Early Pandemic Mitigation Strategies: Solutions, And Future Directions, Pegah Hozhabrierdi, Raymond Zhu, Maduakolam Onyewu, Sucheta Soundarajan Mar 2021

Network-Based Analysis Of Early Pandemic Mitigation Strategies: Solutions, And Future Directions, Pegah Hozhabrierdi, Raymond Zhu, Maduakolam Onyewu, Sucheta Soundarajan

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Despite the large amount of literature on mitigation strategies for pandemic spread, in practice, we are still limited by naive strategies, such as lockdowns, that are not effective in controlling the spread of the disease in long term. One major reason behind adopting basic strategies in real-world settings is that, in the early stages of a pandemic, we lack knowledge of the behavior of a disease, and so cannot tailor a more sophisticated response. In this study, we design different mitigation strategies for early stages of a pandemic and perform a comprehensive analysis among them. We then propose a novel …


Are Terrorist Networks Just Glorified Criminal Cells?, Elie Alhajjar, Ryan Fameli, Shane Warren Mar 2021

Are Terrorist Networks Just Glorified Criminal Cells?, Elie Alhajjar, Ryan Fameli, Shane Warren

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

The notions of organized crime and terrorism have an old and rich history around the globe. Researchers and practitioners have been studying events and phenomena related to these notions for a long time. There are pointers in the literature in which it is misleading to see the unfair comparison between terrorist and criminal networks with the argument that all actors involved in these networks are simply evil individuals. In this paper, we conduct a systematic study of the operational structure of such networks from a network science perspective. We highlight some of the major differences between them and support our …