Abstract for: Long-Term Dynamics and Enduring Feedback Structure in Love and Supply Chains

In this hands-on workshop I use a selection of well-known system dynamics models to examine long-term dynamics, feedback structure and system performance. The models span a range of topics from Romeo and Juliet to classic models of manufacturing firms and supply chains. I review the feedback structure of the models and the dynamics that arise from different ways of coordinating ‘operations’ and asset stocks. Workshop participants then use a variety of pre-built simulators to test and explore asset stock coordination dynamics for themselves. To supplement workshop simulations I present model analyses that combine visualisation and simulation with non-technical narrative interpretation of simulations. This approach yields intuitively appealing insight into performance paradoxes and helps modellers (and executives) to identify practical policy changes that improve functional coordination and overall firm performance.