By Guido Noto
Located in Palermo, Italy
PhD candidate, Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, University of Palermo

System Dynamics (SD) has been proved to be a useful methodology to support both understanding and learning processes of complex systems and phenomena. Since its origin, SD has been successfully applied to many different fields of studies (e.g., climate change, physics, engineering, environmental sciences, economics, management, and so on). Among these, Strategic Management (SM) has a particular relevance as testified by several streams of research that originate from the combination between SD modelling and SM. Read more ›

By Angelika Schanda
Located in Lebanon, New Hampshire (USA)
European Master in System Dynamics, Class 2013-2015 / isee systems

How humans react when facing an immediate threat is programmed deeply into our brains. The response of humans today is the same as that of humans who – let’s say – faced a saber-toothed cat thousands of years ago. This example is often referred to as a symbol for our deepest instincts. Fear can drive our body and mind to maximum performance and swift action, securing our survival.

But how about more abstract problems such as climate change? They are nothing like meeting a saber-toothed cat. And yet, it seems that last year the abstract challenge has morphed into a more direct threat, as several crises throughout the globe shook us in 2015. Does this closeness evoke a simple fight-or-flight response, or can it become a wake-up call for dealing with global challenges more sustainably? Read more ›

By Wissam El Hachem
Currently located in Bergen, Norway
Master in System Dynamics, University of Bergen

Interests: Supply chain management, Network flow, Production management

This short essay will try to define and explain organizational learning, its importance, the importance of modelling and what kind of modelling fits well with this purpose.

First, what is Organizational Learning and why is it important? Managers within a firm are expected to control a complex web of variables so the output of such a system would meet the best interests of the company. This is organizational learning. It has different levels, such as individual learning, culture, process, creativity and knowledge management which are summarized in Wang & Ahmed (2002). Mental Models are the basic elements in any company, and they drive any change that a company undertakes. Read more ›

By Angelika Schanda
Located in Nijmegen, Netherlands
European Master in System Dynamics, Class 2013-2015

Modelers frequently refer to the notion that the question is not whether to use models, but which models to use and how to improve or integrate them. This idea builds on the assumption that people are model thinkers by nature. Therefore, challenging your mental models and comparing them to others is vital for developing more useful models. Better still than using many mental models is to formalize models and – you guessed it – better than having one formal model is using many formal models. Therefore, learning about diverse models and modeling techniques at workshops, webinars or online courses can improve your overall work. One of those courses starts today, Monday October 6 (more can be found in the Young Modeler event calendar). Read more ›