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Project properties |
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| Title | Evolutionary aspects of strategic alliances |
| Group | Information Technology Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-39 |
| Supervisor(s) | Duur Aanen and Gert Jan Hofstede |
| Examiner(s) | Duur Aanen and Gert Jan Hofstede |
| Contact info | Duur Aanen
For further details see: http://www.gen.wur.nl/UK/Staff/Postdocs/Duur+Aanen/ Gert Jan Hofstede For further details see: http://www.inf.wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2008/08/22 |
| End date | 2009/08/22 |
| Description | This is a proposal for a research assignment for one or two students with evolutionary interest, probably biologists but possibly with one of them from another discipline but interested in modelling.
In evolutionary theory, one of the disputed questions is which aggregation level of selection is important. For instance, among humans, between-individual selection is obviously relevant, e.g. when it comes to diseases or to partner selection. But between-group selection seems to have been a dominant force in history too. It is quite plausible that different levels of selection operate simultaneously in dynamic relationship with one another. The same logic can be applied to the world of companies. There is competition between individuals within companies, but also between companies, and increasingly between chains and networks. Mergers and alliances are other ways in which companies try to join forces, and to create agency at a higher level. The aim of the assignment is to apply biological models to business network evolution using multilevel selection ideas taken from biology. |
| Used skills | modelling
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| Requirements | Interest in Evolutionary Biology. GEN 20306 is a good preparation |