jasss系列："Simulating the Emergence of Task Rotation " P01

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Simulating the Emergence of Task Rotation
. y* \  h4 N- Y, k& L2 SJournal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation vol. 9, no. 1
6 R' N% g! z% F" Whttp://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/9/1/5.html;

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Abstract

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In work groups（工作组）, task rotation（工作轮换） may decrease the negative consequences of boredom and lead to a better task performance（任务绩效）. In this paper we use multi agent simulation（多Agent仿真） to study several organisation types in which task rotation may or may not emerge（涌现）. By looking at the development of expertise and motivation of the different agents and their performance as a function of self-organisation, boredom, and task rotation frequency, we describe the dynamics of task rotation. The results show that systems in which task rotation emerges perform better than systems in which the agents merely specialise in one skill. Furthermore, we found that under certain circumstances, a task that leads to a high degree of boredom was performed better than a task causing a low level of boredom.

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Keywords:

Self-Organisation , Task Rotation, Work Groups, Psychological Theory, Multi Agent Simulation

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Introduction

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According to the principle of minimal critical specification (Herbst 1974), an organisation should only offer constraints that are necessary to fix critical issues. For the rest, the workers should be free to self-organise their way of performing a task. Self-organisation refers to the process within a system in which a general order is created without the presence of another system dictating this order (e.g. Dalenoort 1989; Dalenoort 1995; Heylighen 1997). An important organising mechanism is the allocation of tasks. Task allocation refers to the way workers split up tasks into subtasks and divide them among each other. This process depends on task components, psychological components and the constraints the organisation has prescribed. These components not only have an impact on the self-organising process of task allocation, but also influence to what extend the task allocation can be maintained or should be changed. A change in task allocation can be considered as task rotation. In the literature the benefits of task rotation have been discussed extensively (for instance Emery & Trist 1960; Van den Beukel 2003). Workers become experienced in all of the skills that are required to perform a task, which creates multi-availability of team members and therefore leads to a redundancy of functions (Morgan 1986; Kuipers 1989; Van den Beukel 2003). This makes a team more flexible to adapt to changes, either within the team (e.g. illness, turnover), or within its environment (e.g. changes in product demand). Another benefit of task rotation is that it may prevent the individual worker from becoming physically or mentally overburdened due to the repetitivity of the performance of a single operation (Van den Beukel 2003). In addition, workers may start rotating a task as a consequence of boredom.

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Because of its benefits, task rotation has been implemented in various settings, often related to self-managing teams (e.g. Atkinson 1984). However, although the outcome of task rotation has been studied intensively, studies on the emergence of task rotation have not been conducted. Emergent properties refer to properties of a system that cannot be reduced to the properties of the elements, i.e. the agents, which the system consists of (e.g. Heylighen 1997). In the case of a popular concept such as task rotation, research into its emergence will certainly contribute to a better understanding of the concept.

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