Page 280 - Data Science Algorithms in a Week

Agent-Based Modeling Simulation and Its Application to Ecommerce 261

Starting with the desired state, performance indicators influence the achievement of
the system goals. The factors of interest are summarized as costs, security, customer
satisfaction, profits and market share. Once critical success factors are defined, the
complexity of the system which takes into consideration all the characteristics hereby
identified can then be modeled and results analyzed for policy development.

Figure 1. Framework mapping of system characteristics.
In line with the characteristics of the system, the proposed framework is implemented
from a hybrid perspective. Such an implementation provides a testbed for analysis of
management and stakeholder actions and also for evaluating performance of the system
under different conditions. Hybrid simulation finds extensive applications in research and
practice in part because most real life systems are hybrid in nature. Hybrid models can be
used to analyze business policies and performance, thereby acting as a complementary
tool in decision making.

CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER LENDING CASE STUDY

The present study adopts Lending Club (https://www.lendingclub.com/) as
representative study of the dynamics of C2C ecommerce space. The case study is used to
identify suppliers, consumers and processes of the business model as well as related
internal and external factors. Data is generated from company 10-K, prospectus, blogs