Free Access
Issue |
E.J.E.S.S.
Volume 14, Number 4, 2000
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|
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Page(s) | 311 - 332 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/ejess:2000100 |
DOI: 10.1051/ejess:2000100
European Journal of Economic and Social Systems 14 N 4 (2000) pp. 311-332
Stability and plasticity in self-organized networks
Christophe Assens
IUT d'Évreux, Département Techniques de Commercialisation, 55, Rue
Saint-Germain, 27000 Évreux, France
Abstract:
Despite some research on self-management and self-organization, the control and the
coordination of an organization without hierarchy remains a mysterious phenomenon.
However, the dissemination of the responsibilities and the decentralized decisions
in a business network require improving our knowledge in this field. From this
theoretical point of view, our article aims to explore the modes of development
and regulation of the networks not supervised. After having underlined the difficulties
of empirical observation at the origin of the modeling attempts, we put forward the
idea according to which a network without pilot is pulled about two tensions:
stability and plasticity. Indeed, to mitigate the problems of internal coherence,
it is led to evolve towards a more stable form and thus more hierarchical. But,
in the absence of central coordination unit, it is also directed towards a more
unstable form, based on the flexibility of the embedded connections.
Keywords:
Network, dynamics, self organization, stability, plasticity
Correspondence and reprints: Christophe Assens
E-mail: assens@club-internet.fr; Home page: http://perso.club-internet.fr/assens
Copyright EDP Sciences 2001