Ventana software support forum

Im thinking about trying to model the "behavior" of my companys business environment. Specifically, the demand for higher education (the demand for our products and services being largely a function of the demand for higher education). It seems to me that there ought to be a reasonably fin...

Thanks to Jay Forrester for the marvelous post regarding psychohistory. Being a fan of Asimovs and a reader of the Foundation Trilogy many, many, many years ago, I had noted--and doubtless been influenced by--but long since shoved from conscious memory the notion of psychohistory (but, oddly, the na...

George Richardson pointed out to me that in my posting about the qualities of an S-D modeler, I failed to make mention of places other than MIT that produce first-rate system dynamicists (e.g., SUNY Albany). My failure to make mention of those "other places" is attributable only to my igno...

A systems dynamics modeling effort at my company (with the fine help of Jack Homer) has led to an interest in acquiring an in-house modeling capability. Setting aside for the moment the pros and cons of such a move, I was asked to indicate the kind of person I thought would make a good modeler. The ...

Genes description of discrete vs continuous helps me understand what is being discussed. It also reminds me of the transition period in the Navy when we were shifting from analog to digital computers as the heart of our gun fire and missile systems. When the digital computers first came along, in th...

Jim Hines writes that hes not exactly sure what is meant by discrete vs continuous when applied to modeling. He then offers up a couple of possible examples. On my part, I have no idea at all what those terms mean when applied to modeling. My rudimentary grasp of those two terms manifests itself in ...

Im no SD modeler, amateur or otherwise, but two comments seem in order. First, I found the Wakeland-Sterman exchange interesting and informative. It is precisely the kind of exchange that I would like to see posted more often. No pun intended, but it models the kind of behavior I consider profession...

I monitor this list closely but I have not contributed to date. However, the current discussion regarding the history of system dynamics prompts a comment. The history of system dynamics is of necessity a history of system thinking and that is a broad, broad area, with a lengthy, rich heritage. If a...

[Hosts note: The following is a request for people interested in a particular type of work. Please respond directly to Mr. Nickols.] I am looking for firms or individuals specializing in modeling the financial behavior of business entities. My company, Educational Testing Service, is making increasi...

Back in April, I posted a comment about the origins of system dynamics and John Sterman pointed me to George Richardsons book, "Feedback Thought in Social Science and Systems Theory." I acquired Georges book (which was not an easy task, by the way), and have almost completed reading it. Pe...

Recently, I posted a comment about the origins of system dynamics, to which George Richardson and John Sterman both responded. John suggested Georges book (Feedback Thought in Social Science and Systems Theory) was well worth reading, and George indicated that system dynamics "closest intellect...