Lovelace College has arrived in Oxford this morning. And lots of cars. Endeavour must be in town…
Agent-Based Modeling Toolkits: NetLogo, RePast, and Swarm
Agent-Based Modeling Toolkits: NetLogo, RePast, and Swarm (2005, Academy of Management Learning and Education 4(4), 525–527) sets out a comparison of three widely used agent-based modeling toolkits: RePast, NetLogo, and Swarm. It shows the differences between the toolkits, setting out the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of each software toolkit.
Agent-Based Models to Manage the Complex
Agent-Based Models to Manage the Complex is a book chapter in Managing Organizational Complexity: Philosophy, Theory and Application: Volume 1 (ISCE Book Series – Managing the Complex) is an introduction to the use of agent-based models in management. It demonstrates the use of models in Repast, an agent-based modeling toolkit, and links this to complexity science concepts of emergent systems.
Into the Depths of the Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act is a thing of beauty. So much so that Tony Blair described the prime minister that introduced the Act as an ‘idiot, a ‘naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop’.
Government departments have now taken it upon themselves to publish a list of requests (although not necessarily refused requests – more of that later).
Take, for instance, the Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs. Somewhere in the bowels of [redacted], some poor civil servant has to, presumably with a straight face, reply to [redacted]’s request for – long breath – ‘REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY MINISTERS, OR THEIR OFFICES, RELATING TO TAKEAWAY COFFEE CUPS SINCE 11 MARCH AND INFORMATION RELATING TO RESPONDING TO MEDIA ENQUIRIES ON THIS TOPIC’. I am not sure that the request was originally in capitals. Although I expect it was.
And, lo and behold, we are treated to the delights of the requests made to Rory Stewart OBE MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State. Discussions abound about Guinness (‘And a jolly good drink it is, too’), an 18-point manifesto for cup eradication, something about quality control and Pareto, an offer of free cups together with a very scary disclaimer, and finally a letter with far too many ‘inverted’ commas.
Do give them a read. Although probably best if you don’t print them out.
A Body in St Catherine’s College, Oxford
A rather unusual sight when walking through St Catherine’s College this morning. I am told it is something to do with Endeavour. Apparently not a fellow Fellow. Although you can never be too sure…
The filming for the fourth series of Endeavour started this week, and St Catherine’s College was used for the first day of shooting…
Agent-Based Modeling and Behavioral Operational Research
Behavioral Operational Research: Theory, Methodology and Practice (Martin Kunc, Jonathan Malpass, Leroy Wright, Eds.) was published by Palgrave Macmillan in September 2016. My chapter on Agent-Based Modeling and Behavioral Operational Research shows the great potential of using agent-based simulation within BOR, showing how example models can be applied to the field. More details of the chapter can be found on the Palgrave Macmillan site here (DOI:10.1057/978-1-137-53551-1_7).
Please click here for the chapter in pdf format.
Updated September 2016 with full text.
The Dynamics of Strategy
The Dynamics of Strategy is a book published by Oxford University Press (Robertson and Caldart 2010) and combines natural science models with strategic management. Chapters on networks, agent-based modelling, and dynamic economic models are used to show how strategy can be treated analytically.