Competitive Productivity (CP) as an emergent phenomenon: Methods for modelling micro, meso, and macro levels

This paper argues that hospitality enterprises are a part of a complex-adaptive system. The exploration of Competitive Productivity (CP) and related concepts at the macro, meso, and micro (M-M-M) levels requires that we understand interrelationships beyond traditional analytical tools. We propose three approaches to testing M-M-M CP architecture interactions: multi-level modeling, social network modeling, and agent-based modeling. Examples from the hospitality literature are offered for multi-level modeling and agent-based modeling, and we illustrate social networks by showing that IJHM authors network to create a highly competitive journal. Multi-level modeling is useful for top-down testing (macro → meso → micro), but unsuitable for bottom-up modeling (micro → meso → macro) without making unrealistic assumptions about the nature of data. Interactions at the micro-level produce meso-level and macro-level behaviors, emergent phenomena that cannot be inferred by examining micro-level agents or behaviors. Social network theory and agent-based modeling are viable alternatives for examining and modeling emergent phenomena.