QUERY Separate Professional Conference (was Future Developme

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""Alan McLucas"" <a.mclucas@a
Junior Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

QUERY Separate Professional Conference (was Future Developme

Post by ""Alan McLucas"" <a.mclucas@a »

Posted by ""Alan McLucas"" <a.mclucas@adfa.edu.au>

Colm suggested: ""I can't help thinking that the SD community just doesn't have enough good - i.e. properly documented, with RoI etc - examples of SD in use in business ... ""

I suggest that is probably true, unfortunately. One reason for this can be found in the fundamental nature of SD interventions. A company that goes through business process re-engineering or a balanced scorecard organisational change intervention or implements six sigma can establish the before and after states, and is able to calculate ROI.

SD interventions are directed at finding out whether there is a problem and, if there is a problem how it has arisen. Investigating a problem situation and making corrections are usually iterative - SD interventions involve action research. The point is that we can rarely say: "" ... intervention started here and ended there ..."" - "" ... it cost $x and returned $y ..."", such is the nature of dealing with complex problems.

However, I would argue that SD interventions can have enormous value, which unfortunately is not easy to calculate using metrics like ROI. Anecdotally, we have recently helped a Government client work through a group model building SD intervention focusing on HRM strategies. We know exactly how much it cost the client. Would ROI be calculated on the basis of improvements made over the next 5 (?) years, and on the basis of the
(unmeasurable) learning that has occurred - I don't know! Learning only translates into returns when successful strategy implementation is demonstrated, even if the strategies are somewhat different to those identified during the SD workshops (but still based on what has been learned about the dynamic mechanisms that operate in the problem space). I would argue that implementation of the most appropriate strategies might return savings of 10 - 50 times what the organisation paid for the SD intervention.
That would be a fantastic ROI in anybody's terms.

However, it is most unlikely that strategy implementation will follow any prescriptive process. Strategies will be adapted on the basis of a much better understanding of the problem. So, can I use a metric like ROI to measure our success in this instance? I cannot see how. What price do we put on the learning that has taken place? Even if we could review this particular intervention, say in 2 year's time, I sincerely doubt that we will be able to establish an unequivocal link between strategies implemented and the workshops conducted during the SD intervention and the consequent value returned. Herein lies a challenge.
Regards,

Dr Alan McLucas
School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, UNSW@ADFA, Australian Defence Force Academy, Northcott Drive, CAMBPELL ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA Posted by ""Alan McLucas"" <a.mclucas@adfa.edu.au> posting date Fri, 2 Mar 2007 08:38:59 +1000 _______________________________________________
""Zagonel-Santos, Aldo A"" <a
Junior Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

QUERY Separate Professional Conference (was Future Developme

Post by ""Zagonel-Santos, Aldo A"" <a »

Posted by ""Zagonel-Santos, Aldo A"" <aazagon@sandia.gov>

""I can't help thinking that the SD community just doesn't have enough good - i.e. properly documented, with RoI etc - examples of SD in use in business to fill (even) a one-day professional conference""

I doubt this is true and would like to highlight that the Society recently created an Applications Award:
http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferenc ... saward.htm Perhaps this will help bring to the conferences numerous cases of excellent applications every year.

Aldo Zagonel
Albuquerque, NM
Posted by ""Zagonel-Santos, Aldo A"" <aazagon@sandia.gov> posting date Thu, 1 Mar 2007 07:57:21 -0700 _______________________________________________
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