Abstract for: On the underlying structure of system dynamics models

The underlying structure of system dynamics models is that of a proportional feedback controller. We propose a broader framework for system dynamics models, where systems are modeled using a combined feedback-feedforward structure. While the traditional structure for system dynamics models only uses proportional feedback of error for control, the proposed structure for information feedback employs the use of proportional, integral and derivative (PID) error. Hence, existing system dynamics models only use a small subset of the proposed structure for modeling systems. We argue that the proposed structure provides a more flexible framework for modeling and designing systems.