Diversity, Network Structure, and the Effectiveness of Collective Design and Innovation
Project Website
This project was supported by the NSF Science of Organizations (SoO) and Systems Science (SYS) Programs (Award #: NSF SES-1734147).
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
About the Project
As the complexity of products and services has skyrocketed over the last several decades, collective design and innovation processes have become a necessity for the development of successful solutions for real-world problems. Such large-scale design processes typically involve individuals with diverse knowledge, expertise and behaviors, and the organizational structures under which the collective design takes place are often complex and dynamic with temporally changing non-trivial network properties.
This project investigated, both theoretically and experimentally, how the diversity of knowledge, expertise, and behaviors of individual members and the topological properties of organizational network structures would affect the effectiveness of design and innovation processes at collective levels. This was accomplished through (a) theoretical agent-based network modeling and simulation, and (b) model evaluation through online laboratory experiments involving student participants with diverse majors. Modeling and simulation investigated potential interactions between task-related diversity and large-scale organizational network structures. The predictions produced by the simulations were evaluated through online laboratory experiments, in which participants collaborated on several open-ended collective design tasks through a computer-mediated collaboration platform. In these experiments, the participants' task-related diversity was measured and its distribution in the organizational network was manipulated. The topologies of the network were also monitored and manipulated.
The outcome of the project is a new "guiding principle" for configuring and manipulating task-related diversity and organizational network structures to promote effective collective design and innovation. This bears multidisciplinary impacts on organizational science, management science, systems science, systems engineering, operations research, and network science.
Research Team
Principal investigators
Graduate Students
- Yiding Cao (PhD candidate in Industrial and Systems Engineering)
- Shun Cao (PhD candidate in Systems Science)
- Sriniwas Pandey (PhD candidate in Systems Science)
- Neil MacLaren (PhD candidate in Management)
- Yingjun Dong (PhD candidate in Systems Science)
Former Students
- Minjun Kim (PhD candidate in Systems Science)
- Ankita Kulkarni (School of Management)
Publications
Journal Articles
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil G. MacLaren, Sriniwas Pandey, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Effects of network connectivity and functional diversity distribution on human collective ideation, under review.
- Sriniwas Pandey, Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil G. MacLaren, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Generation and influence of eccentric ideas on social networks. Scientific Reports, 13, 20433, 2023. Available online Preprint
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil G. MacLaren, Sriniwas Pandey, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Visualizing collective idea generation and innovation processes in social networks, IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, 10(5), 2234-2243, 2023. Abstract/PDF Preprint
- Shun Cao, Neil G. MacLaren, Yiding Cao, Jason Marshall, Yingjun Dong, Francis J. Yammarino, Shelley D. Dionne, Michael D. Mumford, Shane Connelly, Robert W. Martin, Colleen J. Standish, Tanner R. Newbold, Samantha England, Hiroki Sayama, and Gregory A. Ruark, Group size and group performance in small collaborative team settings: An agent-based simulation model of collaborative decision-making dynamics, Complexity, 8265296, 2022. Available online
- Shun Cao and Hiroki Sayama, Detecting dynamic states of temporal networks using connection series tensors, Complexity, 9649310, 2020. Available online
- Shelley D. Dionne, Hiroki Sayama, and Francis J. Yammarino, Diversity and social network structure in collective decision making: Evolutionary perspectives with agent-based simulations, Complexity, 7591072, 2019. Available online
Conference Proceedings
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil G. MacLaren, Ankita Kulkarni, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Capturing the production of innovative ideas: An online social network experiment and "Idea Geography" visualization, Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference of The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas, October 24-27, 2019, Santa Fe, NM, Zining Yang and Elizabeth von Briesen, eds., Springer Proceedings in Complexity, Springer, Cham, pp. 341-354, 2021. Selected as a Best Paper Finalist. Abstract/PDF Preprint
- Yingjun Dong and Hiroki Sayama, Mutual-information-based feature selection for facial emotion recognition on light-weight devices, Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (IEEE SSCI 2019 -- IEEE CIDM 2019), pp. 2465-2471, December 6-9, 2019, Xiamen, China, IEEE.
Conference Presentations and Invited Talks
- Hiroki Sayama, Analysis, visualization and improvement of human collaboration dynamics using computational methods, an invited talk at B. V. Raju Institute of Technology, Narsapur, Telangana, India, December 16, 2023.
- Hiroki Sayama, Analysis, visualization and improvement of human collaboration dynamics using computational methods, a keynote talk at the 22nd International Symposium on Knowledge and Systems Sciences (KSS 2023), December 2-3, 2023, Guangzhou, China.
- Hiroki Sayama, How AI can help analyze and improve human collaboration dynamics, a keynote talk at International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Communication, IoT, Data Engineering and Security (IACIDS 2023), November 23-25, 2023, Christ University, Pune/Lavasa, India (hybrid).
- Hiroki Sayama, How AI can help analyze and improve human collaboration dynamics, an invited talk at the Department of Computational Sciences, Christ University, Delhi NCR, Ghaziabad, India, September 25, 2023.
- Hiroki Sayama, Effects of diversity on social dynamics: Theoretical and experimental approaches, Santa Fe Institute Seminar, September 21, 2023, Santa Fe, NM.
- Hiroki Sayama, Computational approaches to collaborative team dynamics, an invited talk at the SECOM Teamwork Science Research Group, June 22, 2023, online.
- Hiroki Sayama, How AI can help analyze and improve human collaboration dynamics, a keynote talk at Monash Prato Dialogue: AI Summit 2023, July 17-19, 2023, Monash University Prato Centre, Prato, Italy.
- Hiroki Sayama, Understanding diversity, innovation and social evolution: Theoretical and experimental approaches, an invited talk at the University of Tsukuba, November 8, 2022, Tsukuba, Japan.
- Sriniwas Pandey, Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil G. MacLaren, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Are we fascinated by eccentric ideas?, presented as a poster at NetSci 2022: International School and Conference on Network Science, July 11-29, 2022, Shanghai, China / online.
- Sriniwas Pandey and Hiroki Sayama, Dynamics of user eccentricity on GAB social media, presented as a talk at the 2021 Conference on Complex Systems (CCS 2021), October 25-29, 2021, Lyon, France / online.
- Hiroki Sayama, Understanding diversity, innovation and social evolution: Theoretical and experimental approaches, a keynote talk at DB3D 2021: Don Bosco-Binghamton Big Data Online Conference, October 19, 2021, conference held online. Website
- Sriniwas Pandey and Hiroki Sayama, Center or off-center: Eccentric behavior shift of GAB social media users, presented as a talk at the Don Bosco-Binghamton Big Data Online Conference (DB3D-2021), October 20, 2021, held online.
- Hiroki Sayama, Where and how innovative ideas arise: Insights from collaboration experiments and social media analysis, an invited talk at the Science of Innovation and Success Workshop, August 2-3, 2021, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan + online. Website
- Sriniwas Pandey and Hiroki Sayama, Analyzing eccentric behavior of GAB social media users, presented as a poster (interactive presentation) at NERCCS 2021: Fourth Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, March 31-April 2, 2021, conference held online.
- Yiding Cao, Visualizations of collective activity and performance in social networks, presented as a talk at Center for Collective Dynamics of Complex Systems (CoCo) Seminar Series, November 18, 2020, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY (held online). Video
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil MacLaren, Shelley Dionne, Francis Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Background diversity and network structure in collective design and innovation: Perspectives with online social network experiments, presented as a talk at NetSci 2020: International School and Conference on Network Science, September 17-25, 2020, Rome, Italy (conference held online).
- Hiroki Sayama, Diversity and social evolution: Theoretical and experimental approaches, an invited talk at the Socioeconomic Networks and Network Science Workshop, July 3-4, 2020, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan (conference held online).
- Shun Cao and Hiroki Sayama, Entropy-based detecting of dynamic states in temporal networks, presented as a talk at NERCCS 2020: Third Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 1-3, 2020, Buffalo, NY (conference held online).
- [NetSci High] Ashwath Ashok, Carlin Reyen, Afzal Shah, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, Correlation between socioeconomic risk factors and HTT gene mutations leading to neurodegenerative autosomal-dominant diseases, presented as a talk at NERCCS 2020: Third Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 1-3, 2020, Buffalo, NY (conference held online).
- [NetSci High] Jaron Cui, John Guo, Daksh Mehta, Ameet Ashok, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, The viability of wealth-based post-secondary educational affirmative action, presented as a talk at NERCCS 2020: Third Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 1-3, 2020, Buffalo, NY (conference held online).
- [NetSci High] Catherine Deskur, Saavan Kaneria, Allie Bowen, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, What effect does renewable resource investment have on standards of living in a society?, presented as a poster at NERCCS 2020: Third Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 1-3, 2020, Buffalo, NY (conference held online).
- Hiroki Sayama, Diversity and social evolution: Theoretical and experimental approaches, an invited talk at CompleNet 2020: Eleventh International Conference on Complex Networks, March 31-April 3, 2020, Exeter, UK (conference postponed).
- Hiroki Sayama, How do network structure and individual diversity affect collective innovation and social evolution?, an invited talk at the Satellite Symposium on Machine Learning and Modeling for Complex Systems at the Conference on Complex Systems 2019 (CCS 2019), October 2, 2019, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil Maclaren, Ankita Kulkarni, Shelley Dionne, Francis Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Examining the effects of expertise diversity on collective design and innovation using an online social network experiment and "idea geography" visualization: A secondary report, presented as a talk at the 2019 Conference on Complex Systems (CCS 2019), September 30-October 4, 2019, Singapore.
- Hiroki Sayama, How do network structure and individual diversity affect collective innovation and social evolution? Theoretical, computational and experimental approaches, presented as an invited talk at the Networks and Innovation Symposium, July 13, 2019, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. Website
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil MacLaren, Ankita Kulkarni, Shelley Dionne, Francis Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Examining the effects of expertise diversity on collective design and innovation using an online social network experiment and "idea geography" visualization: An initial report, presented as a poster at NetSci 2019: International School and Conference on Network Science, May 27-31, 2019, Burlington, VT.
- [NetSci High] Ashwath Ashok, Afzal Shah, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, Interaction between temperature fluctuation and migratory behaviors of marine species, presented as a poster at NetSci 2019: International School and Conference on Network Science, May 27-31, 2019, Burlington, VT.
- [NetSci High] Catherine Deskur, Danyal Shah, Chris Vincens, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, What factors in a society affect creativity the most?, presented as a poster at NetSci 2019: International School and Conference on Network Science, May 27-31, 2019, Burlington, VT.
- [NetSci High] Saavan Kaneria, Jaron Cui, John Guo, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, Effects of availability of human resources and financial resources on the performance of schools, presented as a poster at NetSci 2019: International School and Conference on Network Science, May 27-31, 2019, Burlington, VT.
- Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil MacLaren, Ankita Kulkarni, Shelley Dionne, Francis Yammarino, and Hiroki Sayama, Examining the effects of expertise diversity on collective design and innovation using an online social network experiment and "idea geography" visualization: An initial report, presented as a talk at NERCCS 2019: Second Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 3-5, 2019, Binghamton, NY.
- Yingjun Dong and Hiroki Sayama, Optimizing facial feature extraction for emotion detection on mobile devices, presented as a talk at NERCCS 2019: Second Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 3-5, 2019, Binghamton, NY.
- Hiroki Sayama, Shelley Dionne, Francis Yammarino, Yiding Cao, Minjun Kim, Neil MacLaren, and Ankita Kulkarni, Effects of organizational network structure and task-related diversity on collective design and innovation: An agent-based modeling study, accepted for presentation at the 2018 Conference on Complex Systems (CCS 2018), September 23-28, 2018, Thessaloniki, Greece.
- Hiroki Sayama, Evolutionary perspectives on collective design and innovation: Task diversity, behavioral diversity, and network structure, an invited talk at the Advanced Institute for Complex Systems, Waseda University, June 28, 2018, Tokyo, Japan.
- Shelley D. Dionne, Culture and leadership, conference keynote address at TAIOP 2018: Taiwanese Association of Industrial and Organizational Psychology Inaugural and International Conference, May 19-20, 2018, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Neil Maclaren, Yiding Cao, Ankita Kulkarni, Francis Yammarino, Michael Mumford, Shelley Dionne, Hiroki Sayama, Shane Connelly, Tyler Mulhearn, Robert Martin, Erin Todd, and Frank Bosco, Agent-based model parameter estimation and variable reduction using metaBUS: An application to a collective leadership model, presented as a poster at NERCCS 2018: First Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems, April 12-13, 2018, Binghamton, NY.
- [NetSci High] Ewa Sulicz, Juwairiyah Shaikh, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, Does it really matter where you go to college? A network-based analysis of educational outcomes of universities in the United States, presented as a NetSci High poster at CompleNet 2018: Ninth International Conference on Complex Networks, March 6, 2018, Boston, MA.
- [NetSci High] Chris Vincens, Danyal Shah, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, How will the transfer of using alternatives to fossil fuels affect trade networks and economic interconnectedness?, presented as a NetSci High poster at CompleNet 2018: Ninth International Conference on Complex Networks, March 6, 2018, Boston, MA.
- [NetSci High] Harrison Barnes, Joyce Zhu, Carol Reynolds, and Hiroki Sayama, Music intervals connecting music of different culture, presented as a NetSci High poster at CompleNet 2018: Ninth International Conference on Complex Networks, March 6, 2018, Boston, MA.
- Hiroki Sayama, Mechanistic modeling of social systems, an invited talk at the Satellite Symposium on Understanding Our Complex World Using Data Analytics and Models at the Conference on Complex Systems 2017 (CCS 2017), September 20, 2017, Cancun, Mexico.
Online Resources
Contact Us
Please address any inquiries about this project to:
Hiroki Sayama, D.Sc.
Director, Binghamton Center of Complex Systems
Professor, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
Binghamton University, State University of New York
P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
Email: sayama@binghamton.edu
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