Free Access
Issue
E.J.E.S.S.
Volume 14, Number 4, 2000
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$^\circ$ 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