On a Japanese-style organizations simulated by personalistic agents

Proposes that a Japanese-style organization may be well understood when we focus on the personality of its members. This observation is derived from our simulation based on a personalistic agent model. Our computer simulations are designed to explore the organizational behavior related to organizational rigidity and an organization´s reorganizing processes based on a personality model of organizational members. We define the individual personality of members in our model based on Karson and O´Dell´s (1976) psychological theory. The personality of members has three parameters in our model: task stickiness, interpersonal emotion, and conservativeness. The rigidity of the organization perceived by agents is formulated in our model as the organization´s performance, its adaptability to the environment, and incredibility for information. We formulate the reorganization based on attitude change theory and Minsky´s difference engine model. Our simulation has led us to derive two implications concerning Japanese-style organizations. First, the cliques brought by the interpersonal emotion of agents may be considered to generate the peculiar communication style similar to that of Japanese-style organizations such as Keiretsu. Second, the task stickiness and the attitude change of agents develop the specialization-structuralization chain. The chain can be considered to give Japanese-style organizations an advantage over US or European organizations in adapting to different environments