Managing Complexity

Managing Complexity is the first book that clearly defines the concept of Complexity, explains how Complexity can be measured and tuned, and describes the seven key features of Complex Systems: 1. Connectivity 2. Autonomy 3. Emergency 4. Nonequilibrium 5. Non-linearity 6. Self-organisation 7. Co-evolution The thesis of the book is that complexity of the environment in which we work and live offers new opportunities and that the best strategy for surviving and prospering under conditions of complexity is to develop adaptability to perpetually changing conditions. An effective method for designing adaptability into business processes using multi-agent technology is presented and illustrated by several extensive examples, including adaptive, real-time scheduling of taxis, see-going tankers, road transport, supply chains, railway trains, production processes and swarms of small space satellites. Additional case studies include adaptive servicing of the International Space Station; adaptive processing of design changes of large structures such as wings of the largest airliner in the world; dynamic data mining, knowledge discovery and distributed semantic processing.Finally, the book provides a foretaste of the next generation of complex issues, notably, The Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Digital Enterprises and Smart Logistics.

Table of Contents:
Contents PART 1 Fundamentals 1 What is complexity? Introduction; Defining Complexity; Complex Versus Complicated; Complexity and Uncertainty; The Seven Criteria of Complexity; Negative and Positive Aspects of Complexity; Evolution Favours Complexity; Co-Evolution of Technology, Economy and Society; Complexity and Information Society; Complexity and Philosophy 2 A method for managing complexity Introduction; Coping with External Complexity; Tuning Internal Complexity; Modelling Complexity; Adaptability; Designing Adaptive Business Processes 3 Multi-agent technology Introduction; Fundamentals; MAS for Adaptive Resource Allocation; Knowledge Base; Virtual World; Decision-Making; Agent Negotiations; Architecture; Multi-Agent Platform; Main Features of Our MAS; Multi-Agent Software as a Complex Adaptive System; Comparing Multi-Agent Software with Conventional Programs 4 Emergent intelligence Fundamentals; Evidence of Intelligent Behaviour; Thermodynamics of the Virtual World PART 2 Commercial applications 5 Adaptive scheduling of seagoing tankers The Problem; The Solution; Results 6 Adaptive scheduling of taxis The Problem; The Solution; Results 7 Adaptive scheduling of car rentals The Problem; The Solution; Results 8 Adaptive scheduling of road transport The Problem; The Solution; Results 9 Adaptive data mining The Problem; The Solution; Application Examples; Results 10 Adaptive semantic processing The Problem; The Solution; Application Example: Assessing Relevance of Abstracts; Results 11 Adaptive detection of clashes caused by design changes The Problem; The Solution; Results 133 12 Adaptive scheduling of supply networks The Problem; The Solution; Results 13 Adaptive scheduling of services for the international space station The Problem; The Solution; Results 14 Adaptive scheduling of a fleet of satellites The Problem; The Solution; Results 15 Adaptive scheduling of high-speed railways The Problem; The Solution; Results 16 Adaptive scheduling of manufacturing The Problem; The Solution; Results 17 Adaptive management of service teams The Problem; The Solution; Results 18 Adaptive project management The Problem; The Solution; Results PART 3 A roadmap into the future 19 A vision and ideas A Shift from Personal to Business Applications; The IoT; Digital Enterprise; Smart City; Smart Logistics