System dynamics is both a utilized approach to organizational problem solving at the professional level, and a field of study in business, engineering, and social and physical sciences. This book explains what system dynamics is, and how it can be successfully applied to solve business and organizational problems.

Autorentext
John Sterman (Lexington, MA) teaches at the Sloan School of Management and direct MIT's System Dynamics Group.

Klappentext

Today's leading authority on the subject of this text is the author, MIT Standish Professor of Management and Director of the System Dynamics Group, John D. Sterman. Sterman's objective is to explain, in a true textbook format, what system dynamics is, and how it can be successfully applied to solve business and organizational problems. System dynamics is both a currently utilized approach to organizational problem solving at the professional level, and a field of study in business, engineering, and social and physical sciences.

Inhalt

Introduction

Part I.Perspective and Process

1.Learning In and About Complex Systems

2.System Dynamics In Action

3.The Modeling Process

4.Structure and Behavior of Dynamic Systems

Part II.Tools for Systems Thinking

5.Causal Loop Diagrams

6.Stocks and Flows

7.Dynamics of Stocks and Flows

8.Closing the Loop: Dynamics of Simple Structures

Part III.The Dynamics of Growth

9.S-Shaped Growth: Epidemics, Innovation Diffusion, and the Growth of New Products

10. Path Dependence and Positive Feedback

Part IV.Tools for Modeling Dynamic Systems

11. Delays

12. Coflows and Aging Chains

13. Modeling Decision Making

14. Forming Non-linear Relationships

Part V.Instability and Oscillation

15. Modeling Human Behavior: Bounded Rationality or Rational Expectations?

16. Forecasts and Fudge Factors: Modeling Expectation Formation

17. Supply Chains and the Origin of Oscillations

18. Managing Supply Chains in Manufacturing

19. The Labor Supply Chain and the Origin of Business Cycles

20. The Invisible Hand Sometimes Shakes: Commodity Cycles

Part VI. Validation and Model Testing

21. Truth and Beauty

Part VII. Commencement

22. Challenges for the Future

Appendix A: Numerical Integration

Appendix B: Noise

References

Index