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Toward an Integration of Agent- and Activity-Centric Approaches in Organizational Process Modeling: Incorporating Incentive Mechanisms

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  • T. S. Raghu

    (Department of Information Systems, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874606, Tempe, Arizona 85287)

  • B. Jayaraman

    (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260)

  • H. R. Rao

    (325 Jacobs Hall, Management Science and Systems Department, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260)

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to organizational modeling that combines both agent-centric and activity-centric approaches. Activity-centric approaches to process modeling capture the mechanistic components of a process (including aspects of workflow, decision, and information), but agent-centric approaches capture specific aspects of the human component. In this paper, we explore an integrative viewpoint in which the transactional aspects of agent-centric concerns—for example, economic incentives for agents to perform—are integrated with decision and informational aspects of a process. To illustrate issues in this approach, we focus on modeling incentive mechanisms in a specific sales process and present results from an extensive simulation experiment. Our results highlight the importance of considering the effects of incentives when decision and informational aspects of a process undergo changes.

Suggested Citation

  • T. S. Raghu & B. Jayaraman & H. R. Rao, 2004. "Toward an Integration of Agent- and Activity-Centric Approaches in Organizational Process Modeling: Incorporating Incentive Mechanisms," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 316-335, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:15:y:2004:i:4:p:316-335
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1040.0031
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