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- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- Electric power systems are traditionally designed and developed with the assumption that demand is exogenous to the system. Connecting the feedbacks from the system to consumers will provide incentives for consumers to reduce demand during periods of high system prices. A system dynamics model is used to analyze the dynamics and long term implications of adoption of technology to enable demand response. The model includes the decision by consumers to adopt demand response technology along with decisions by investors to build generation capacity. The adoption process reduces overall system prices for peak demand periods, creating feedbacks with generation investment. The effects of technology improvement via learning, long term demand elasticity, and policies to promote adoption are considered. The results of the simulations show that diminishing returns to adopters and significant externalities in terms of free rider effects limit the attraction of individual adoption. A subsidy to alleviate the costs to individuals can be justified by the significant system level savings from widespread adoption. Several pernicious effects can emerge from large scale demand response, however, including increased price volatility due to a reduction in generation capacity reserve margin, an increase in long term demand, and increased emissions from the substitution of coal plants for natural gas and renewable generation capacity.
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- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- In todays economy all manufacturers need to pay attention on how to build strong and long-term relationships with their dealers chain. In fact, it has been demonstrated that short term policies aimed to provide dealers immediate benefits (e.g., price discounts) may prevent the development of long term and fruitful relationships. Also supporting dealers in promoting manufacturers products has been proved as a sustainable strategy in long run. Another implication of manufacturers bounded policies refers to their inclination to reinvest significant amounts of their sales revenues in advertising and product portfolio improvement, without taking into account the need to invest in dealers human resources, to make their strategies sustainable. Based of the above remarks, this paper aims to demonstrate the usefulness of a system dynamics approach in involving both manufacturers and dealers in strategic reasoning. Empirical evidence arising from a research project conducted by the authors with a manufacture operating in a high-tech industry, shows that using system dynamics as a methodology to support communication and learning may act as a significant lever to design successfully long term oriented policies. Such policies ought to increase dealers skills and motivation, and improve potential customers awareness of product benefits, at the same time.
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- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- The evolution of fleet maintenance and management policies highlights the growing importance of maintenance issues in both private and public companies. The need to improve maintenance performance requires an accurate evaluation of the trade-off between costs and benefits related to alternative fleet maintenance and management policies. However, the complexity of maintenance system makes this evaluation a very difficult task. More often a fleet manager deals with the following key issues: is it more profitable to repair or to renew the company fleet? Is it more convenient to reduce the average age of the different assets (e.g., by increasing investments in new bus) or to expand the maintenance activities (e.g., by rising repairing costs)? In fact, fleet managers cannot ignore the impact of their decisions on both company service and financial performance over time. Aim of this paper is to show how the System Dynamics approach can effectively support fleet managers in designing and evaluating their strategies. The simulation model here presented is based on the result of a project with two Italian city bus companies. Through such tool decision makers can test different fleet strategies and assess their effects on company performance.
-
- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- Modelling knowledge in SD organisational interventions may become a puzzling task because of difficulties in achieving a common shared view among business key-actors about the impact of Intellectual Capital (IC) investments on future company performance. Such difficulties are not only related to the intangible nature of IC, but also to the indirect role of knowledge in affecting performance drivers and outcomes. This phenomenon is particularly relevant in service businesses, where intangibles account for a high percentage of total assets. In order to overcome such problems, a conceptual framework has been developed by the authors to build a generic SD model aimed to support business decision makers in IC planning, with particular regard to service firms. Such model has provided the basis for developing two ILEs focused on a telecom mobile service provider and an insurance company. The first application was related to an education project, while the second one was linked to a consulting assignment. The use of a conceptual framework as a basis to build an ILE has proved to be a successful strategy in order to better communicate business key-actors the potential of SD in modelling and assessing IC policies. Main key-issues underlying model development and the ILEs application are discussed in the paper, and most significant outcomes from simulations are commented.
-
- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- The phenomenon of dwarf or stunted small and micro firms (in Italian nanismo aziendale) is recognised in the small business literature. These are firms that have survived through many years, maybe many generations, providing their owners with acceptable returns and lifestyles, but have remained very small. They might therefore represent potential lost opportunities for owners and, given the importance of the SME sector, local employment and economies. A system dynamics model replicating the basic no-growth, cyclical behaviour attributed to stunted SMEs is firstly analysed. Alternative policies arising from different entrepreneurial views and aimed at changing behaviour to one of stability or steady growth, are then tested and analysed. In this relatively simple form, the model does link behaviours to system structure and could support individual entrepreneurs in understanding the reasons for dwarfism in their firm and the potential for unleashing growth. It could also form the basis for a more detailed model to support the identification and evaluation of strategic alternatives in individual firms.
-
- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- The complexity and characteristics of the pharmaceutical firm present an intriguing context for underlying information management issues during clinical trials for new drug development. This paper reports on the evaluation and performance of MIS for information management in clinical trials in new drug development. The main objective of the study is to examine the economic and business impacts of automating that process, to enhance our understanding of informational stakes involved, using a system dynamics (SD) model. The SD method is enriched in this paper with other conceptual frameworks such as Alters (2001) Work Centered Analysis (WCA) and the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) (Kaplan and Norton, 2001). Results of the simulations for alternative sensitivity analyses on errors rates in data transmissions, that is, on alternative error-rate specifications, do not necessarily influence project delay, but rather work intensity. A discussion details the usefulness of enriching the SD modeling process with alternative conceptual frameworks in the problem definition in such complex settings.
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- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- The negligent upkeep of many abandoned industrial sites (brownfields) throughout the twentieth century has had grave impacts on the urban landscape of American and European cities. In recent years, brownfield redevelopment has come to be viewed as a strategy for sustainable land use and urban revitalization. This study assesses the feasibility of the construction of a dynamic simulation model of urban brownfield redevelopment. Literature surrounding brownfield redevelopment is reviewed and used to construct a dynamic hypothesis of brownfield redevelopment as it relates to site liability, economic viability, and availability of redevelopment funding. Finally, an initial system dynamics model of the brownfield redevelopment process is constructed. This quantitative analysis is performed using the 2003 US Conference of Mayors brownfield survey, which serves as a dataset on brownfield distribution and average site size. We conclude with suggestions for the extension of the model to capture spatial feedback in order to assess redevelopment effects on the surrounding matrix of urban land-uses.
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- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- Recently, an invasive Asian beetle known as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Coleoptera: Buprestidae) has emerged as a threat to Ash trees in the Midwestern United States and Canada (McCullough and Katovich 2004). Significant infestations in Michigan and nearby areas have all but doomed nearly one billion native ash trees. This paper presents an argument for the establishment of a widely accessible knowledgebase of information on the EABs spread capabilities. We argue that spatial dynamic modeling stands as a flexible and powerful decision support system platform. We present initial simulations of EAB spread scenarios constructed using tree information and land use data collected for DuPage County, IL, an uninfected suburban county in the Chicago metropolitan area. These simulations test policies focused on impeding the costly spread of the beetle. This analysis also presents a framework for further studies assessing the economic impacts on municipalities and counties due to tree removal costs and aesthetic damage. Our work points to human driven movement as the major vector for EAB spread throughout our study area. Here, the focus falls on the ability of state and county implemented firewood quarantines to act as effective policies for slowing EAB spread.
-
- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- Project-based professional service organisations supply their services as tailored or one-off projects for specific clients. The particular form of their organisation, the character of their relationships with their clients necessary to deliver highly customised projects and the non-routine, creative nature of the work come together in a way which makes the management of these service firms particularly demanding. A common challenge is fluctuation in the workload. While this is partly influenced by changes in demand, the external environment does not provide a comprehensive explanation and the interaction between business processes and project processes needs to be examined. In providing a generic explanation of the causes of workload fluctuation as well as an assessment of different bidding strategies based on a system dynamics model, this paper aims to help to advance the theoretical understanding of the project-based professional service organisation and ultimately to help to provide tools for its managers.
-
- Type:
- Document
- Date Created:
- 2005 July 17-2005 July 21
- Collection:
- System Dynamic Society Records
- Collecting Area:
- University Archives
- Collection ID:
- ua435
- Parent Record(s):
- 23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 3c582e6f5cf305ef0030c7471b499022, and cc5bb0ac12a5b68b26b1583548898dae
- Description:
- The importance of management flight simulators for learning has been already tested and documented. Single player simulation games are usually utilised, but a multiplayer simulation game adds direct competition to the existing problems (delays, nonlinearities and feedbacks). An asymmetric game also introduces bounded rationality and the dynamics of the information flow within the team. A network team game finally allows for the analysis of cooperation dynamics (by letting the users play against each other: against an unpredictable competitor, with no pre-defined strategy). This paper presents an asymmetric multiplayer network game that is considered to be easy to play and understand. The main advantage of the ILE here introduced is the facilitation of the analysis of: learning and decision making processes, cooperation and competition dynamics.