Ontology support for Agent-based Simulation of Organizations

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Dignum, Virginia

Affiliations: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands. E-mail: m.v.dignum@tudelft.nl

Abstract: Simulation is an increasingly popular technique to analyze organization change. In this paper, we introduce a framework for the rapid development of organizational simulations, OOS. that provides a structured and efficient way to deploy many different organizational designs, by using an ontology to describe organization structures, environment characteristics and agent capabilities, and provides semi-automatic means to generate simulations from the ontology instances. The framework is based on a logic metamodel that provides a formal representation of organizations, their environment, objectives and agents, in a way that enables to analyze the performance of the organization in a changing environment. We present a simple scenario to demonstrate the use of OOS to support the process of assessment of organizational performance. By varying the types and capabilities of the agents and the characteristics of the environment, is possible to analyze the fit of organizational structures and the potential of different reorganization decisions to the performance of the organization.

Keywords: Agent organizations, agent-based simulation, ontology development

DOI: 10.3233/MGS-2010-0144

Journal: Multiagent and Grid Systems , vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 191-208, 2010