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Several tools have been developed for organizational simulation and optimization that have found uses among both scholars and practitioners. Yet external validation remains a challenge. The tools always represent a simplification of reality and may produce results that are difficult to test and verify. However, one viable method for validation is docking, i.e., the use of an already established tool to validate a new tool that makes use of alternative data or methods. In this article, we follow such an approach, examining a tool that is used for organization re-design—Reconfig. We compare the coordination load estimates produced by Reconfig with the results from SimVision, an established Discrete Event Simulation (DES) tool. The results are close and consistent as long as the organization has sufficient capacity to handle the expected coordination, but when the amount of coordination exceeds the capacity of the organization, DSM underpredicts the required volume of work.

Keywords:

DSM, SimVision, validation, docking, coordination load