Simulation-based Value Analysis of Organizational Complexity in Product Development Projects

This paper analyzes the relation between organizational complexity and the value of product development projects. For this end, an agent-based simulation that incorporates essential factors of complexity is used. During each simulation run, complexity is measured, and the project outcome is captured. Additionally, other behavioral measurements are collected to show the behavior on the agent level. Throughout different scenarios, the simulation differentiates between low and high task difficulty, segregated and integrated communication patterns as well as strict, chaotic, and decentralized organizations. The results of the analysis show, that higher complexity than the possible minimum is advantageous. For every simulated scenario, the optimal values of complexity are different. Overall, a certain amount of organizational complexity appears to be favorable for the project setup. Yet, exceeding this value is harmful to a project, which is consistent with the broad negative opinion towards complexity in literature.     «

This paper analyzes the relation between organizational complexity and the value of product development projects. For this end, an agent-based simulation that incorporates essential factors of complexity is used. During each simulation run, complexity is measured, and the project outcome is captured. Additionally, other behavioral measurements are collected to show the behavior on the agent level. Throughout different scenarios, the simulation differentiates between low and high task difficulty,...     »