Search results for "system dynamics"

Strategic Asset Building and Competitive Strategies for SMEs which Compete with Industry Giants

2014

This chapter studies companies which are arguably business super-heroes – the small firms which despite the apparent handicap of very limited resources are able to compete against much larger, multinational firms – the micro-giants Davids that take on Goliaths. Through a process of detailed case studies of actual firms, analysis of asset structure, and experiments with a simulation model, the relationships between key assets, critical success factors, and micro-giant competiveness are explored. The model produces six scenarios reflecting different strategies for developing tangible and intangible assets and, critically, the balance between them. A level of aggression is needed in asset buil…

Disabled People from Welfare to Jobs: A Decision Support Tool

2012

Despite repeated statements from successive governments in Norway, disabled people employment rate remains unchanged since 2000. A range of studies to describe and analyse the situation qualitatively and quantitatively have been performed, however we have not been able to find any study containing a decision support tool focusing on this issue. This paper presents a simulation model, built using the System Dynamics methodology. The model focuses on enabling disabled people to move from welfare to work, incorporating attitudes of disabled people and employers. The model is designed to cover selected factors that are believed to enable and encourage disabled people to take up jobs. It is inte…

Accessibility of Norwegian Municipalities Websites: A Decision Support Tool

2011

Access to public websites is crucial to assure equal opportunities for all citizens to participate in society. Although, a range of studies to analyse the accessibility of websites have been carried out, we have not been able to find any study evaluating the effect of managerial decisions on the accessibility of websites. This paper presents a demonstrator simulation model, built using System Dynamics methodology. The model focuses on accessibility of Norwegian Municipal websites, and is intended to be used as a decision support tool, mainly for managers responsible for website development and maintenance. To build the underlying model we have used information collected from in-depth interv…

Public Sector Applications of the System Dynamics Approach

2010

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Carmine Bianchi on understanding public sector from different levels and perspectives, one by Mauro Lo Tennero on the aspiration and structure of Sicily to enforce public policy, and one by Nuno Videira and colleagues on the use of group model building in the public sector to concur sustainable policies.

Territorial Governance, E-Government and Sustainable Development Policy: A System Dynamics Approach

2013

Part 1: Research Foundations; International audience; The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how system dynamics modelling can be used in e-government policy and systems as an aid to spport territorial ananlysis, planning and governance, sustainable performance in urban areas and the assessment of policy outcomes. Topics such as renewable energy, efficiency, the design and exploitation of urban energy, water and waste management infrastructure and the alignment of different stakeholders provide relevant fields of study for the analysis of this paper. Specifically, we reflect upon the way in which a preliminary dynamic performance management model of an exemplary case study can be used to …

MODELLI DI SYSTEM DYNAMICS PER IL MIGLIORAMENTO DELLA PERFORMANCE AZIENDALE. VERSO UN SISTEMA DI PROGRAMMAZIONE E CONTROLLO PER LO SVILUPPO SOSTENIBI…

2009

Il libro affronta il tema del governo dello sviluppo sostenibile e del miglioramento della performance aziendale attraverso sistemi di programmazione e controllo che si avvalgano di modelli di system dynamics. Il testo è corredato da numerosi casi applicativi e modelli di simulazione. I casi e i modelli riportati derivano da applicazioni realizzate presso aziende operanti in settori diversi (es. telecomunicazioni, assicurazioni, tessile, servizi bancari, produzione su commessa, commercio all’ingrosso) e con riferimento a problematiche differenti. Gli ambiti decisionali analizzati con i modelli riportati nel libro tendono a coprire gli aspetti maggiormente critici della gestione strategica e…

NEW FINANCIAL RECOVERY PLANS OF ITALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: AN ASSESSMENT USING OUTCOME-ORIENTED DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

This Ph.D. thesis investigates the new financial recovery plans as instruments which aim to avoid the bankruptcy of local governments in difficulties. This tool was approved by the Italian Central Government by Law Decree No. 174 of 2012. The goal of this work is to verify whether a recovery plan is capable of ensuring fiscal discipline and financial sustainability. The literature on the subject focuses mainly on two aspects: the description of legal framework and the static analysis of recovery plans. The present research, instead, explores the drafting process of recovery plans by investigating the local governments’ decision-making process and the involvement of stakeholders in planning …

Exploring intellectual capital in a call centre through a 'system dynamics' resource based view

2008

This paper examines alternative Intellectual Capital (IC) investment policies in a dynamically com­ plex system in order to explain differences in firm performance. The analysis is supported through the use of a System Dynamics (SD) simulation model. This paper is based on the hypothesis that in order to explain superior performance, it is not sufficient to look at the endowment of strategic resources; it also requires an analysis of the dynamics of resource accumulation and depletion processes, which stem from management policies. To assess the impact of ICon company performance, a conceptual framework and an SD simulation model are developed. Finally, the results from alternative scenario…

Using System Dynamics ILEs to enhance Intellectual Capital policies in service businesses

Using System Dynamics and Group Model Building to conceptualise Quality of Hospital Services

Despite the well-established Donabedian model of hospital quality and the notion that Performance Measurement (PM) leads to improved quality of healthcare services (Donabedian, 1988; 2005), a growing part of literature during the last two decades has started doubting those favourable outcomes of PM on quality (De Vos, et al., 2009; Nolan & Berwick, 2006; Werner et al., 2008a, 2008b; Werner & Bradlow, 2006; Wright & Hershman, 2014). The purpose of this research study is to build a more comprehensive conceptual model of hospital quality, able to encompass the feedback mechanisms between elements that the Donabedian model fails to capture. More specifically, we empirically establis…