The survey on the use of SD in academia and industry is over. Much thanks to
the 45 visitors (15 from Europe!!) who took part in the survey. Please see
below for visitor comments. It was a first try and never meant to be the
most scientific and "the ultimate" survey. The intent was to gauge, in the
form of real data, what SD users think on different issues, many discussed
b4 on the list (licensing, accreditation, future of SD, current use of SD
vs. other techniques, problems with SD, popularity of different SD software
packages, etc., etc.). I do believe that there are some definite trends and
conclusions that may be drawn from the results (some were eye-openers for me
too;-). I will put my own analysis on the site in a couple of days, but Id
urge you to have a look yourself at the results.
I had asked before the survey for questions you would like answered. I got
only a few responses to that request (THANKS!!). Based on these questions,
and on some subjective questions I myself had in mind, I had designed the
survey. Your feedback on this will help in the future - specific questions
to be included in future surveys are welcome; just saying it is not a good
survey wont help me any
)Your comments, given below, and sent personally to me, will be helpful in
the future. The results are going to be on my site until the next survey.
Please click http://www.optimlator.com/ for results (presented in the form
of bar graphs).
Comment 1:
I look forward to seeing the results!
Comment 2:
Potential for SD growth is solving high value problems in industry and
economics that are unsolved or incorrectly solved conventionaly.
Comment 3:
mdouka@env.aegean.gr
Comment 4:
if you plan on collecting feedback on an ongoing basis, i would suggest that
you put some more work into coming up with an instrument that is more
discriminating. most of the responses to your questions did not seem to
adequately represent my perception of system dynamics.
Comment 5:
In regards to threats to the field, specifically in regards to industrial /
consulting application, I would contend that trying to package SD as an
individual entity is the biggest threat to the field. No one ever says "I am
going to use economics to solve this problem," "I am going to use Excel to
solve this problem,"or better yet "I am going to use common sense to solve
this problem. ST / SD is an extremely valuable cognitative tool, but
practioners need to maintain their problem, not methodology focus. (To be
honest though, I must admit my title is System Dynamics Consultant, so I do
not practice what I a preach
.Comment 6:
Please provide a possibility to "uncheck" all radio buttons of each
question.
Comment 7:
The question regarding the "best" overall package is an interesting one. I
really wonder how many SDrs do have relevant software experience with more
than one package. I guess itll be only a fraction of the SD community.
Comment 8:
My selection of a software package relates to the day of the week! each has
strengths and weaknesses, my pick fits my current project. At other times,
Powersim or Vensim are just as likely to win my vote.
Comment 9:
The biggest problem with System Dynamics in the government and industry is
that so few have heard of it or understand what it is all about. It is
practically impossible to simply begin using SD as a tool...you must first
educate the client. In the past two years, I have given briefings to well
over 500 people re SD...all technical professionals...and fewer than 10 have
heard of SD before my briefing. This is dramatically UNLIKE spreadsheet or
flowchart software, whose functionality and applicability is broadly
understood across the entire professional spectrum. I would love to see a
book that comprised several examples of spreadsheet-based business plans
followed immediately by their SD analogs. The SD based plans would be
"different" and that difference represents the missing insight that is
needed to gain widespread support for using SD as a matter of routine.
Comment 10:
Everyone thinks they can be a systems thinker and often apply techniques
incorrectly,(this is also true in SD) reading a few books is insufficient
and training/certification needs to be instituted to ensure credability.
Comment 11:
One of the main challenges of System Dynamics is to "cross the border"
towards non-SD people and applications. SD is an established modeling
technique which is much more transparent, versatile and and applicable than
most other simulation techniques I know. Take linear programming,
branch&bound, scheduling methods like PERT or CPM, nonlinear optimization or
whatever: any of these methods is very specialized, needs quite a lot of
mathematical/algorithmical know-how before it could be applied. A few days
ago I explained the basic ideas of SD in about fifteen minutes to my sister,
who is seeking after some simulation techniques required for a data
warehousing doctoral thesis in management science. SD is THE simulation
method based on arithmetics, not on higher algebra, graph theory or other
complicated mathematics. I was fascinated by the stock-flow distinction when
I first saw it - and it proved really a powerful tool over the time! G.
Ossimitz ossimitz@bigfoot.com
Comment 12:
Not enough industry users know what system dynamics is? Makes it difficult
to sell to the client that this method will give a solution which they can
use. Requires almost educating the client.
Comment 13:
I also work in industry and would have liked to answer those questions as
well. In my view, SD is an interdisciplinary METHODOLOGY (in the best sense
of both words) and should NOT be thought of as its own discpline! The best
potential for SD growth is to get people learning it in Secondary school so
it becomes a way of thinking. We can then build on this way of thinking in
the college curriculum. We have to be willing to think very long term,
because it is going to take generations to accomplish, but we are now
underway on this journey and it is very exciting!!!
Best regards,
Jaideep Mukherjee, PhD
jaideep@optimlator.com