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This unique book offers an unprecedented opportunity to develop comprehensive
practical skills in building models that will enhance understanding of the many
problems we encounter in our complex and dynamic world.
Students, researchers, professional
consultants, and managers are provided with an invaluable set of tools,
techniques and system dynamics structural building blocks, which will enable
them to build models of complex real-world behaviour. There is considerable
utility in enabling the journey of student, researcher and professional
practitioner by making proven system dynamics modules available for reuse. This
is enabled through this book by explaining how to define, build and test modules
and by providing a compendium of modules. These modules are the essential
building blocks of structure common to many real-life complex problem
situations.
A key aspect of this book, therefore, is the identification
and specification of modules that represent the fundamental and re-useable
building blocks of system dynamics modelling structure. The author then
demonstrates how to use those building blocks as basic elements for analysis. He
also explains and demonstrates how the basic modules can be assembled with other
modules to produce fully functioning models.
This book is in no way intended to
promote ‘recipe-book’ system dynamics modelling, however. Rather, the
techniques, modules and models offered here are designed to strengthen the
skills and knowledge of the modeller. They are not offered as a substitute for
thinking about and analysing systemic problems in a systematic way.
The book focuses on quantitative
modelling. As an enabler to quantitative modelling, systems thinking and
qualitative modelling techniques are used to facilitate problem
conceptualisation and the formulation of dynamic hypotheses about troublesome
systemic problems.
Dr Alan McLucas is a senior lecturer at the University
of New South Wales, UNSW@ADFA, the Australian Defence Force Academy. He holds
bachelors, masters and doctor of philosophy degrees in engineering, management
and operations research respectively |
