INTRODUCTION.

This article presents information about Computational Organization Theory (COT). It is the study of constrained adaptation. This field is characterized by the study of organizations as collections of adaptive agents who are constrained both by their cognitive capabilities and position in the organization and who interact. One of the underlying issues for researchers in this area is the extent to which there are rules of organizing and dynamics that hold independent of the types of agents in the organization and the conditions under which uniquely human characteristics alter these rules. Organizational behavior emerges from the concurrent behavior of the members. Within such systems complex phenomena emerge from concurrent interactions among agents. In addition, and critically, what emerges, and how fast it emerges, is determined by the constraints on adaptation; specifically, the cognitive abilities of the agents, the type of agents present, their socio-cultural historical and organizational position, and the knowledge they have garnered through experience and from others. Finally, within the organization behavior affects and is affected by the organization's position in the external environment.