Modeling the Mind and the Milieu: Computational Modeling for Micro-Level Organizational Researchers

In: Organizational research methods: ORM, Volume 15, Issue 4, p. 602-623

Abstract

Theorists in management and organizational science rarely use computational modeling to support theoretical development or refinement, particularly at the micro level of analysis. This article argues that organizational scholars, who strive to understand dynamic behavior in a complex context, are particularly in need of the support computational models offer. Moreover, organizational scholars can build on (a) the plethora of informal theories extant in the literature and (b) the computational architectures and model building platforms developed in recent years. To increase the number of organizational scholars building and evaluating computational models, the article provides a tutorial in model building and simulation. Specifically, a new computational model is built and assessed. Surprising realizations emerge in the process. There is also an extensive section on model evaluation involving empirical observations.