Centralization vs. Decentralization in a Multi-Unit Organization: A Computational Model of a Retail Chain as a Multi-Agent Adaptive System

Management Science

Volumn 46, Issue 11, 2000, Pages 1427-1440

  Chang, Myong Hun ^a   Harrington Jr , Joseph E ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Decentralization; Innovation; Organizational Structure; Retail Chain

Indexed keywords

EID: 0038032108     PISSN: 00251909     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.46.11.1427.12085     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Aghion, P., J. Tirole. 1997. Formal and real authority in organizations. J. Political Econom. 105 1-29.
2. Anand, K. S., H. Mendelson. 1997. Information and organization for horizontal multimarket coordination. Management Sci. 43(12) 1609-1627.
3. Auerswald, P., S. Kauffman, J. Lobo, K. Shell. 1999. The production recipes approach to modeling technological innovation: An application to learning by doing. J. Econom. Dynam. Control 24(3) 389-450.
4. Baiman, S., D. Larcker, M. V. Rajan, 1995. Organizational design for business units. J. Accounting Res. 33(2) 205-229.
5. Baligh, H. H, R. M. Burton, B. Obel. 1996. Organizational consultant: Creating a useable theory for organizational design. Management Sci. 42(12) 1648-1662.
6. Burton, R., B. Obel. 1995. Strategic Organizational Design and Diagnosis. Kluwer Academic Press, Boston, MA.
7. Carley, K. M., J.-S. Lee. 1998. Dynamic organizations: Organizational adaptation in a changing environment. Adv. Strategic Management 15 269-297.
8. _, _. 1996. Modeling organizational adaptation as a simulated annealing process. Soc. Methods Res. 25(1) 138-168.
9. Chang, M.-H., J. E. Harrington, Jr. 1998. Organizational structure and firm innovation in a retail chain. Comput. Math. Organ. Theory 3(4) 267-288.
10. _, _. 1999. Decentralized business strategies in a multi-unit firm. Unpublished manuscript. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
11. Cohen, M. D. 1981. The power of parallel thinking. J. Econom. Behavior Organ. 2 285-306.
12. _. L. S. Sproull, eds. 1996. Organizational Learning. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
13. Collins, J. C., J. I. Porras. 1994. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Harper Business, New York.
14. Daft, R. 1998. Essentials of Organization Theory & Design. Southwestern Publishing, Cincinnati, OH.
15. Darr, E. D., L. Argote, D. Epple. 1995. The acquisition, transfer, and depreciation of knowledge in service organizations: Productivity in franchises. Management Sci. 41(11) 1750-1762.
16. Discount Store News. 1996. 35(7).
17. Govindarajan, V. 1986. Decentralization, strategy, and effectiveness of strategic business units in multibusiness organizations. Acad. Management Rev. 11(4) 844-856.
18. _. 1988. A contingency approach to strategy implementation at the business-unit level: Integrating administrative mechanisms with strategy. Acad. Management J. 31(4) 828-853.
19. Holmström, B. 1979. Moral hazard and observability. Bell J. Econom. 10 74-91.
20. _. 1982. Moral hazard in teams. Bell J. Econom. 13 324-340.
21. Jehiel, P. 1999. Information aggregation and communication in organizations. Management Sci. 45(5) 659-669.
22. Jones, G. 1995. Organization Theory: Text and Cases. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
23. Kauffman, S. 1993. The Origins of Order. Oxford University Press, New York.
24. _. J. Lobo, W. G. Macready. 1998. Optimal search on a technology landscape. Working paper, Santa Fe Institute, 98-10-091, Santa Fe, NM.
25. Kollman, K., J. H. Miller, S. E. Page. 1998. Searching for solutions in a federal system. Photocopy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
26. Law, A. M., W. D. Kelton. 1991. Simulation Modeling and Analysis, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York.
27. Lawrence, P. R., J. W. Lorsch. 1967. Organization and Environment: Managing Differentiation and Integration. Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, Boston, MA.
28. Levinthal, D. A. 1997. Adaptation on rugged landscapes. Management Sci. 43(7) 934-950.
29. _, J. G. March. 1981. A model of adaptive organizational search. J. Econom. Behavior Organ. 2 307-333.
30. Marschak, J., R. Radner. 1972. Economic Theory of Teams. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
31. Mintzberg, H. 1979. The Structuring of Organizations. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
32. Morrison, A., K. Roth. 1993. Relating Porter's configuration/ coordination framework to competitive strategy and structural mechanisms: Analysis and implications. J. Management 19(4) 797-818.
33. Nault, B. R. 1998. Information technology and organizational design: Locating decisions and information. Management Sci. 44(10) 1321-1335.
34. Nelson, R. R., S. G. Winter. 1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
35. Radner, R. 1993. The organization of decentralized information processing. Econometrica 61 1109-1146.
36. Rotemberg, J. J. 1999. Process- versus function-based hierarchies. J. Econom. Management Strategy 8(4) 453-487.
37. _, G. Saloner. 1993. Leadership style and incentives. Management Sci. 39 1299-1318.
38. Sah, R. K., J. E. Stiglitz. 1986. The architecture of economic systems: Hierarchies and polyarchies. Amer. Econom. Rev. 76 716-727.
39. Van Zandt, T. 1998. Real-time hierarchical resource allocation. Discussion Paper No. 1231, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
40. Welch, P. D. 1983. The statistical analysis of simulation results. S. S. Lavenberg, ed. The Computer Performance Modeling Handbook. Academic Press, New York.