Diversity of the knowledge base in organizations: Results of an agent-based simulation

Abstract

The knowledge base used in organizations for decision-making usually is diverse due to various information systems or differing expertise of decisionmakers. By an agent-based simulation the paper analyzes the question which level of diversity in the knowledge base in an organization is beneficial. The findings indicate that the preferable level of diversity subtly depends on the need and the mode to coordinate decisions in organizations. However, the findings provide support to rather unify the knowledge base on a medium level of quality than fragmenting and specializing the knowledge base. Furthermore, it appears that learning and adjustment capabilities in decentralized structures are more promising than the investment in a knowledge base as perfect as possible. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.