Analysis for Nanotechnology Financial Progression in the Energy Industry Using Systems Thinking Decision Making - Atomic Nanoscale Technology in the Nuclear Industry - page 96

+

Example

Input Output

FIGURE 9.2
Stock.low.(asset.accumulation).and.feedback.

System. dynamics. can. be. described. as. a. powerful. computer. simulation.
modeling. technique. for. understanding,. framing,. and. discussing. complex.
issues. and. problems. (Radzicki. and. Taylor. 1997).. SD. helps. managers. to.
improve.their.understanding.of.industrial.processes,.and.is.currently.used.
in. many. kinds. of. policy. analysis. and. design.. SD. takes. into. account. basic.
building.blocks.that.can.be.used.to.construct.models.of.how.and.why.com-
plex. real-world. systems. behave. the. way. they. do. during. a. speciied. time.
period..The.main.objective.is.to.leverage.this.added.understanding.to.design.
and.implement.more.effective.policies..The.important.thing.is.to.understand.
the.dynamic.behavior.of.a.system,.its.key.physical.and.information.stocks,.
lows,.and.feedback.structures..Some.properties.of.SD.are.as.follows:

. 1.. Nonlinearity:. There. are. many. SD. modeling. processes. that. apply.

common.sense.to.dynamic.problems..The.SD.operator.should.always.
understand.model.behaviors.that.do.not.make.sense.linearly..Such.
behaviors.usually.indicate.a.nonlinearity.of.the.events..This.is.seen.
as.single.and.double.arrow.lines.in.the.model..The.arrows.show.the.
event.low.without.any.restriction.

. 2.. Stock. low:. SD. modeling. can. be. used. to. examine. the. dynamic.

behavior. of. stock. accumulation.. Many. dynamic. behaviors. could.
be.happening.when.lows.accumulate.in.stocks,.which.are.seen.as.
input.and.output.for.lows.in.Figure 9.2..This.is.like.a.bathtub.where.
a.low.can.be.thought.of.as.a.faucet.and.pipe.assembly.that.ills.or.
drains.the.stock..This.is.considered.the.simplest.dynamic.system.in.
the. stock. low. structure.. In. the. SD. model,. both. informational. and.
noninformational. objects. can. move. through. lows. and. accumulate.
in.stocks.

. 3.. Feedback:. The. feedback. algorithm. can. simulate. stocks. and. lows. in.

real-world.systems..Several.feedback.loops.are.often.joined.together.
by. nonlinear. couplings. where. any. object. can. cause. counterintuitive.
behavior..This.is.seen.as.a.loop.in.Figure 9.2..The.plus.sign.indicates.an.
addition.to.the.example.of.the.feedback.value,.output..If.a.minus.sign.
is.shown,.the.feedback.value,.output,.is.subtracted.from.the.example.

. 4.. Time. paths:. Dynamic. behavior. of. systems. is. expressed. in. time.

steps,. where. the. operator. tries. to. identify. the. patterns. of. behavior.
exhibited.by.various.system.variables,.and.then.builds.a.model.with.