Michael D. Cohen
Encyclopedia
Michael D. Cohen is the William D. Hamilton Collegiate Professor
of Complex Systems, Information and Public Policy at The University of Michigan
.
Stanford University
in 1966, and his Ph.D. in Social Science at the University of California, Irvine
in 1972.
-SSRC
post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University, Cohen worked with James G. March
and visiting professor Johan Olsen
from the University of Bergen
. Together they published the paper; A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice. The paper, since frequently cited, describes a model which disconnects problems, solutions and decision makers from each other. This was a novel approach compared to traditional decision theory
. The paper includes Fortran
source code
to demonstrate the model.
Cohen's research and publication continued to use computers to model complex organizational behavior. In 1995 he worked with Robert Axtell
, Robert Axelrod
and Joshua M. Epstein
and compared two agent based model
s; Axelrod's model with Epstein and Axtell's Sugarscape
.
In 2000 Cohen and Axelrod went on to publish a book on complexity in organizations: Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Complex Systems, Information and Public Policy at The University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Early life and Education
Cohen received his B.A. in HistoryHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1966, and his Ph.D. in Social Science at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
in 1972.
Career
Cohen's research centers on learning and adaptation within organizations in response to changing environments. He has written many articles and books which have contributed to theories of organizational decision making. Much of his work has employed computer simulation.Garbage Can Model
In 1972, as a NSFNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
-SSRC
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University, Cohen worked with James G. March
James G. March
James Gardner March is Jack Steele Parker professor emeritus at Stanford University and the Stanford University School of Education, best known for his research on organizations and organizational decision making.- Biography :...
and visiting professor Johan Olsen
Johan Olsen
Johan P. Olsen is a Norwegian political scientist. He was a professor at the University of Bergen and member of the Norwegian Research Council. He established ARENA in 1994...
from the University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
. Together they published the paper; A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice. The paper, since frequently cited, describes a model which disconnects problems, solutions and decision makers from each other. This was a novel approach compared to traditional decision theory
Decision theory
Decision theory in economics, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, and statistics is concerned with identifying the values, uncertainties and other issues relevant in a given decision, its rationality, and the resulting optimal decision...
. The paper includes Fortran
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
to demonstrate the model.
Complexity
By 1981, Cohen was working at the University of Michigan.Cohen's research and publication continued to use computers to model complex organizational behavior. In 1995 he worked with Robert Axtell
Robert Axtell
- References :...
, Robert Axelrod
Robert Axelrod
Robert M. Axelrod is an American political scientist. He is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Michigan where he has been since 1974. He is best known for his interdisciplinary work on the evolution of cooperation, which has been cited in numerous articles...
and Joshua M. Epstein
Joshua M. Epstein
Joshua M. Epstein is Professor of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute.- Early life and Education:Epstein was born in New York City and grew up in Amherst....
and compared two agent based model
Agent based model
An agent-based model is a class of computational models for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents with a view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole...
s; Axelrod's model with Epstein and Axtell's Sugarscape
Sugarscape
Sugarscape is a model artificially intelligent agent-based social simulation following some or all rules presented by Joshua M. Epstein & Robert Axtell in their book Growing Artificial Societies.-Origin:...
.
In 2000 Cohen and Axelrod went on to publish a book on complexity in organizations: Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier.