Morecroft, John D. W. with Erik R. Larsen, Alessandro Lomi, Ari Ginsberg, "To Shower or Not to Shower: A Behavioural Model of Competition of Shared Resources", 1994
ua435
Most system dynamicists have used a simple shower model to explain feedback and to introduce cyclical dynamics behavior characteristic of a balancing loop. The damped system's temperature is relatively easy to manage. But what if we assume the existing of the two showers sharing the same limited supply of hot water? It turns out- as one might expect - that it is much harder to control the water temperature because a person managing one shower is unaware of the other shower or it's occupant, yet must react to the aggregate temperature outcome resulting from a joint 'management' effort. We discuss how a single two-shower model can provide a useful metaphor for a wide range of real managerial problems. The model is used to illustrate the causes and consequences of interdependence in processes of resources allocation, competition within and among organization.