Dynamics of Organizations: Computational Modeling and Organization Theories.(Book Review)

Alessandro Lomi and Erik R. Larsen, eds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. 502 pp. $39.95.

In this book, Lomi and Larsen present original chapters that collectively demonstrate the value of using computer simulation and other computational methodologies for building theories of organizations. These methods constitute an approach to formalizing theories that stands as an alternative to mathematical modeling. There are two signal virtues of this approach. First, by formalizing theories in computer programming code, one can trace out the implications of abstract proposition