In this paper, ethics is discussed in relation to system dynamics. The domain of ethics is very broad which is why we will first of all demarcate what is meant by ethics here. Then, we will discuss the importance of ethics for the domain of system dynamics and where it could come into play. Calls for, mentions of, and applications of ethics in the system dynamics literature will then be reviewed, followed by a discussion of possible contributions of the explicit consideration of ethics to the domain of system dynamics and of system dynamics to the domain
of ethics. Two examples will be discussed: responsibility and sustainable development. Then, some advantages and disadvantages of combining ethics and system dynamics will be discussed. And finally, possible ways to deal with ethics in system dynamics will furthermore be proposed in the concluding section.
This paper discusses how system dynamics allows to deal with uncertainty, risk, robustness, resilience and flexibility, and how this could be improved. Two venues for improving the capacity of system dynamics to deal with uncertainty, risk, robustness, resilience and flexibility are provided, in both cases by matching system dynamics with other method(ologie)s, more precisely with discontinuous multiple criteria decision analysis and with exploratory modelling.
The main goal of this paper is to explore -using a system dynamics model of the EU-25 electricity generation sector- the transition of the EU-25 electricity generation system towards a more sustainable system characterised by much lower CO2 emissions. The system dynamics model and the resulting dynamics are explored by means of base case simulations, policy simulations, scenario analyses and (univariate and multivariate) sensitivity analyses. Finally, some conclusions, ex-post criticisms and directions for future research are discussed.
This paper reports on an action research case study of integrated obstetric care in the Netherlands. Efficient and patient-friendly patient flows through integrated care networks are of major societal importance. How to design and develop such inter-organizational patient flows is still a nascent research area. We have shown that a modification of an existing method to support inter-organizational collaboration by system dynamics based group model building (the Renga method (Akkermans 2001)) may be effective in achieving such collaboration. At the time writing, the action research project that this paper reports upon is still ongoing, but so far, perceived results are promising.
The effects of two behavioral decision making biases are evaluated within the context of a system dynamics model of a market for a commodity, overconfidence and availability. Overconfidence is modeled as an increase in the percent of a traders capital they are willing to commit to any trade and is found to have the effect of increasing profits for traders with good information relative to traders with poor information, as well as increasing the volatility of the returns for traders with good information more than for traders with poor information. The Availability Bias is modeled as a overweighting of information easily available to a trader and is found to have the effect of increasing the returns of traders with good information easily available to them and decreasing the returns of traders with poor information easily available.
This research introduces a relatively new evolutionary algorithm in computer science; Grammatical Evolution (GE), to the field of supply chain dynamics and bullwhip mitigation. As a proof of concept several experiments are conducted to derive optimal ordering policies for agents in a multi-tier supply chain. These results are compared with existing research using Genetic Algorithms (GA) to derive optimal ordering policies using similar simulations. This paper shows that GE can consistently discover the optimal ordering policies similar to the GA approach, and that in several experiments GE outperforms GA.
Even though non-linearity is said to drive the behaviour of system dynamics models, modellers do not have access to techniques that show this happening. The tools at their disposal to present model structure are powerful, but, by nature, static. Formal model analysis methods has made significant progress in explaining how structure drives behaviour, but the connection to standard model conceptualisation techniques have generally not yet been made. This paper presents work that links the results of recent formal model analysis techniques to traditional conceptual diagramming techniques. A prototype visualisation tool is used to create dynamic causal diagrams that display the changing influences of the elements of model structure over a simulation run; it shows the waxing and waning of the influence of different sets of loops.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to describe an innovative Logistic Game® developed by the authors. It creates a competition between different teams in terms of strategic decisions in logistic and production problems in a real production system. The game is innovative in three ways. The first is the type of game. It is a game representing a production and logistic system, with the dynamic problems of a real system where, with finite resources, decisions have a relevant impact on performance. The second is the application of a simulation package to create the real scenario in which the competition develops, with the possibility to consider all factors (WIP, down times, line balancing, skills of person, etc). The third is its possible applications, since the game can be used not only as an educative facility, but also as a tool to assess the management skills of a future/present manager to face real and dynamic logistic problems.
Nemak, a Mexican enterprise devoted to the production of engine cylinder heads and blocks a market leader on the industry, tries to identify critical external factors to gain competitive advantage as well as to understand their influence on its overall performance in order to face the challenges of the global economy.
This paper presents the use of Balanced Scorecard based on a System Dynamics model that intends to be a decision-making tool for the company. The model is able to generate behavior trends on several different scenarios.
This paper shows a course design and its knowledge transfer process when teaching the changing paradigm of systems thinking, systems dynamics and simulation, through e-learning. The course uses the methodology for changing the analytical approach to the Systems dynamics thinking paradigm -in three months-; and was designed under the thought on-line approach. Action research method is used to observe the course evolution and to evaluate: new knowledge, skills developed by students and students improvements on the changing paradigm. This is an on-going research; we present preliminary results about the achievements up-to-date. Even that ST, SD and simulation are difficult topics, they can be successfully taught on the right e-learning environment. We can state that, teaching this kind of topics can result in a good learning experience for students. These results can contribute to broadcast the e-learning experience to other related topics.