Developing a philosophical profile of the individual for complex problem-solving through agent-based modeling.

Research that focuses on the emotional, mental, behavioral and cognitive capabilities of individuals has been abundant within disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, among others. The main argument made in this dissertation, however, is that a different perspective is necessary in order to gain insight about individuals when facing the complex problems that are presented within engineering and management disciplines. This is done by developing the Philosophical Profile of the Individual (PPI) that uses epistemology, ontology and teleology as underlying dimensions of philosophical predispositions. The epistemology dimension considers whether an individual is an Empiricist or a Rationalist, the ontology dimension consists of the Substantive and Process predispositions, and the teleology dimension represents whether the individual is goal-oriented or not. By using these three dimensions, researchers may understand how an individual chooses to acquire knowledge about a certain problem, how an individual defines a problem and how the purpose towards a certain future is obtained. Through a Rationalist Deductive Methodology, and the use of Agent-Based Modeling as a tool, insight is gained on how different individuals with different philosophical profiles deal with complex problems, which are defined in terms of the amount of available information, stability, ambiguity, number of entities, and temporal constraints. The results indicate that certain predispositions are suited for certain types of problems, and therefore individuals with certain profiles have better capabilities to deal with complex problems. These results are based on the amount of capability gained by an individual, and the time it takes the individual to solve a complex problem. The future implementation of the developed profile (PPI) into various industries and organizations could have a range of implications. When individuals become aware of their reasoning process, of how they approach certain problems, and of how other people may approach the same problems, the communication between individuals can improve. This would, in turn, create more coherent teamwork, improve leadership and management skills, and increase self-awareness. All of these properties are crucial for successful businesses, organizations and individuals, which supports the foundation of the discipline of engineering management.