The Power of Diversity over Large Solution Spaces

We consider a team of agents with limited problem-solving ability facing a disjunctive task over a large solution space. We provide sufficient conditions for the following four statements. First, two heads are better than one: a team of two agents will solve the problem even if neither agent alone w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Management science 2012-07, Vol.58 (7), p.1408-1421
Main Authors: LICALZI, Marco, SURUCU, Oktay
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Agents
Applied sciences
bounded rationality
Computer science
control theory
systems
Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface
Correlation
Cultural diversity
Decision making
Decision theory. Utility theory
Exact sciences and technology
Foraging behavior
Group decision making
Groupthink
Management science
Operational research and scientific management
Operational research. Management science
Power
Problem solving
Software
Studies
Success
Teams
Teamwork
theory of teams
Work groups
Workplace diversity
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Summary:We consider a team of agents with limited problem-solving ability facing a disjunctive task over a large solution space. We provide sufficient conditions for the following four statements. First, two heads are better than one: a team of two agents will solve the problem even if neither agent alone would be able to. Second, teaming up does not guarantee success: if the agents are not sufficiently creative, even a team of arbitrary size may fail to solve the problem. Third, defendit numerus : when the agent's problem-solving ability is adversely affected by the complexity of the solution space, the solution of the problem requires only a mild increase in the size of the team. Fourth, groupthink impairs the power of diversity: if agents' abilities are positively correlated, a larger team is necessary to solve the problem. This paper was accepted by Teck Ho, decision analysis.
ISSN:0025-1909
1526-5501
DOI:10.1287/mnsc.1110.1495