Sancar, Fahriye H., "System Dynamics as a Heuristic for Systems Design", 1983
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Socio-economic planning primarily addresses the solution of problems relating to inherently indeterminate systems. The class of systems exhibits two sources of complexity which can be conceptualized as the complexity of the idea system and the complexity of the actual physical system. The idea system introduces a multiplicity of available theories, disciplinary differences between the stakeholder roles. The actual system is complex because there usually is not sufficient empirical data relevant to the particular problem since the situational context is unprecedented and non-repeating.It can be argued that problem solving in this context involves designing a new system structure to facilitate social learning, using a heuristic approach. Such a heuristic is different from the more conventional approaches to modeling and problem solving in that it bounds the search space and enhances further inquiry rather than just reflecting the real world conditions. In this paper the main characteristics of this approach are discussed and methodological implications for System Dynamics modeling are drawn.