Ventana software support forum

Dear All, The following post is now being advertised at LSE and may be of interest to contributors. If readers feel that it could usefully be posted in any other location then I would be very pleased for them to cut and paste it appropriately. Thanks, Regards, David _________________________________...

Andy Mather Wrote: "I am interesting in modelling hospital bed management in a publicly funded University hospital- with particular reference to resolving the difficulty of emergency patients accessing beds without disrupting the access for waiting list patients . Is there anyone who can point ...

Jim Hines clarification of the difference between archetypes, generic structures and molecules was helpful. In our paper in System Dynamics Review 12(2) - "Reinterpreting Generic Structure: Evolution, application and limitations of a concept" - Chris Smart and I propsed that there were thr...

Wayne Wakeland is correct in saying that Nordhaus 1973 article critiqueing LtG is worth reading. However, I feel that he is wrong about the reason why one should read it. The Nordhaus piece illustrates the difficulties of communication between different modelling approaches. For example, he repeated...

Details of the new course at the London School of Economics are shown below: System Dynamics Modelling (Half unit course) Teacher Responsible: Dr. D. C. Lane Availability and Restrictions: The course is intended for students on the M.Sc. courses in Operational Research and Decision Science. Students...

The comments from Lutz Schlange concerning soft systems modelling and the use of fuzzy logic in his work is an interseting contribution. He also mentions the contributions of Eden and Checkland. Participants might be interested to know that a special edition of the System Dynamics Review - Volume 10...

Two points about model quality, both of which arise from work that I am currently doing on SD model validation for the Tokyo conference. 1) Model quality (= validity) used to have a definition strongly associated with representativeness, or realism. Models had to mimic the real world in order to pro...

I have been watching and, to a limited extent, been engaged in the exchange of thoughts concerning the history of SD. May I offer three comments? 1) At the risk of volunteering someone else, I remember sitting in a swimming pool in Cancun with, amongst others, Julia DiStefano when she expressed inte...

(Moderators note: 2 replies here on the history of SD.) If Phil would care to send me his address I will mail him a document which briefly describes the evolution of ideas in the SD field Dr. David C. Lane Operational Research London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE D.C.Lane@lse.a...

May I urge all to be extremely cautious about using the Flood and Jackson work. There are two reasons. 1) The system of system methodologies (SoSM) that they employ as their main aid to choosing systems methods has come under a barrage of criticism within the UK/European OR literature. Sample refere...

In response to Dr Gill on system dynamics, systems theory and holism, could I suggest that he try George Richardsons book Feedback Thought in social science and systems theory, a rich description of the points of engagement between SD and the broader field of systems science. He might also care to l...

INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM DYNAMICS SOCIETY This is a message for all those interested in system dynamics, but particularly to members of the Societys Policy Council. At next weeks Power of Systems Thinking conference in Boston I have arranged two sessions at which I plan to talk about the Society - what ...

I would like to support George Richardsons comments but also go a little further. Understanding the intellectual linkages of system dynamics is not simply to become involved in the heritage industry; one can and should be aware of the past without being shackled down by it. However, awareness of the...

Could I support John Stermans comments very strongly. Anyone interested in the intellectual roots of system dynamics, its commonalities and contrasts with various other ideas in system science and, in consequence, the areas of interest for future research will find George Richardsons book invaluable...