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Ant colonies: building complex organizations with minuscule brains and no leaders

Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Thus far the articles in the series JOD calls the “Organization Zoo” have employed the notion of a “zoo” metaphorically to describe an array of human institutions. Here we take the term literally to consider the design of the most complex organizations in the living world beside those of humans, a favorite of insect zoos around the world: ant colonies. We consider individuality and group identity in the functioning of ant organizations; advantages of a flat organization without hierarchies or leaders; self-organization; direct and indirect communication; job specialization; labor coordination; and the role of errors in innovation. The likely value and limitations of comparing ant and human organizations are briefly examined.
DOI: 10.1007/s41469-021-00093-4
Authors: Mark W. Moffett, Simon Garnier, Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, Nathan R. Furr, Massimo Warglien, Costanza Sartoris, William Ocasio, Thorbjørn Knudsen, Lars A. Bach, Joachim Offenberg
Institutions: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Stanford University, INSEAD, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Southern Denmark, Aarhus University
Language: English
Subfield: Insect Science
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,780
OpenAlex ID: W3127049418
FWCI: 3.483
Cites: 111
Cited by: 27
Related to: 10