In the context of a multi-unit organization such as a retail chain, this paper explores the interaction of organizational structure - in terms of the allocation of authority - and market structure - in terms of the number of competing firms - on the rate of innovation in unit-level practices and...

A computational model of competing multi-unit firms, such as a retail chain, is developed in which unit managers and corporate staff continually search for better practices while consumers search among units to find a better match. The main objective of this research is to determine how the...

The agent-based approach views an organization as a collection of agents, interacting with one another in their pursuit of assigned tasks. The performance of an organization in this framework is determined by the formal and informal structures of interactions among agents, which define the lines...

It is generally believed that industries with greater product differentiation have higher rates of return. This paper shows that this effect breaks down in the presence of firm-specific cost shocks. Greater substitutability in products generates two opposing effects: (1) it allows a larger...

To explore the efficacy of a corporate leniency program, a Markov process is constructed which models the stochastic formation and demise of cartels. Cartels are born when given the opportunity and market conditions are right, while cartels die because of internal collapse or they are caught and...

We explore the evolution of the structure and performance of a social network in a population of individuals who search for local optima in diverse and dynamic task environments. Individuals choose whether to innovate or imitate and, in the latter case, from whom to learn. The probabilities of...

A computational model of a retail chain is developed in which store managers continually search for better practices. Search takes place over a rugged landscape defined over the space of store practices. The main objective of this research is to determine how the amount of discretion given to...