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Communicating dynamic insights to a wide audience constitutes a long‐standing challenge among system dynamics modelers. We propose that telling stories is a compelling way of introducing feedback insights, as well as an understanding of how our individual decisions are linked to social behaviors in our day‐to‐day living. These decisions often involve moral and ethical trade‐offs. In this article, we use examples and heuristics to illustrate how the process of building a system dynamics model can drive a storytelling project. In a complimentary manner, the process of storytelling supports and enriches a model building project by exploring new dynamic hypotheses. © 2024 The Authors. System Dynamics Review published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of System Dynamics Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Motivation: Neither state planning nor economic liberalization has allowed developing economies to escape from the middle‐income trap, owing mainly to institutional voids and hindering institutions. We need another explanation for development and the emergence of new institutions. Purpose: How have biopharmaceutical enterprises emerged in Iran, despite the obstacles faced? Can the collaborative agency of small groups of actors who know each other create new institutions and hence the conditions for biopharmaceutical firms to emerge? If so, who participates in such small groups, and how do they operate? Methods and approach: We interviewed 29 key participants and stakeholders in the Iranian bio‐pharma industry. We used grounded theory to identify key themes. Findings Bio‐pharma emerged owing to the efforts of a small group who successfully worked together to master the technology, to overcome institutional obstacles and widespread scepticism within Iran, and thereby to create new firms manufacturing biopharmaceuticals. The group succeeded because it was morally committed to creating the industry; it proceeded pragmatically, experimenting and learning; and leadership was shared and collective. Policy implications: In this case, we see the inverse of a top‐down process where government acts as principal and firms act as agents. Instead, strategic collaboration across government, university and firms, in a process of trial and error, has been able to make great progress to overcome obstacles to technical innovation that seem daunting for a middle‐income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in business environment are leading firms to adopt a new production model called agile manufacturing. This term moves away from the traditional mass production paradigm and focuses on manufacturing highly customised products when customers require them. In this paper, we present an initial approach to agile organisation based on case studies in an Iranian industrial organisation. An agile organisation conceptual model has been drawn up, based on the conclusions of the case study. The study presented here is of an exploratory factor analysis and the conclusions are drawn through path analysis, propose possible routes for future research in the field of agile organisation. By the definition of effective factor on organisation agility, as independent variables required information were compiled through questionnaires which are about an Iranian industrial organisation, and then direct and in-direct effects of the variables on organisation agility were surveyed as a depended variable by the path analysis method. Interior variables which directly affect on organisation agility are distinguished from exterior variables which indirectly affect on it due to t-value indicator and final model of path analysis which were defined for researched organisation. By this method, with partial standardised regression coefficient, the priority and grade of every independent variable could be defined based on effecting depended variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes my journey starting from when I entered the field of system dynamics at MIT, to being honored by receiving the lifetime achievement award from the System Dynamics Society. After I obtained my PhD with supervision from Professor Forrester, I made an important decision to move back to Iran while the country was in the midst of a revolution. I began my career in Iran as a teacher, as a consultant, and as an institutional builder in a very harsh and turbulent environment. This paper explains how I built credibility that allowed me to found influential institutions and graduate programs and attracted talented students to the field, some of whom are now prominent members of the System Dynamics Society. In concluding the paper, I also describe my areas of research and attempt some general observations for system dynamics. Copyright © 2018 System Dynamics Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental degradation due to economic activities is a key challenge facing sustainable development. The fossil fuel production sector is a very polluting industry. In this research, the future trends of pollution accumulation in the region due to direct/indirect oily discharge into the semi-enclosed area of the Persian Gulf are studied. The purpose of the study was not only to alert policy-makers about potential future threats in the region but also to conduct a trial to develop potential solutions to these problems. Four different environmental cases were studied via the principle of system dynamic modeling simulation. The cases consisted of three situations: relaxed, simple policy, and restricted policies. The results show that a rational environmental policy imposing penalties on producing firms is very effective in mitigating environmental pollution. However, while these penalties are not powerful enough to discourage or reduce the highly profitable oil production in the region, they may prevent the disposal of pollutants harmful to the marine environment to some degree. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Problem definition is the most important phase of the system dynamics modeling process. In this paper, we propose an approach to enrich the problem definition process based on a continuous and conscious effort to elicit the hidden ambiguities of the dynamic hypothesis, and transform these ambiguities into questions. The answers to these questions would in turn sharpen the definition of the problem, and improve the dynamic hypothesis. We show how this approach can help in building models that are more suited to the real-world dynamic problems and policy design. Finally, we proposed some guidelines for revealing ambiguities as a basis to problem definition and dynamic hypothesis in an iterative process. Copyright © 2012 System Dynamics Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature of resource-based development has widely discussed the impacts of oil revenues on the economic structure of oil-exporting countries. However, in addition to economic structure, oil revenues have a substantial impact on the growth and sustainability of the public sector in oil-exporting countries, which has not been discussed. This paper develops a system dynamics model to analyze the dynamics of government financial structure and public services in the course of development based on oil revenues. In oil-exporting countries, governments use their oil revenues to finance development projects and pay for a major part of operating and maintenance cost of public services. Development budget accumulates new capacity for public services and infrastructure. As public services capacity increases so does the required recurrent budget to pay for the operating and maintenance cost. The governments would need more oil revenues to sustain the growth of public sector and to pay for the growing recurrent budget. However, oil revenues cannot grow for ever. Limitation from market demand or oil reserves would restrict continuous growth of oil revenues. Oil revenues stop growing and eventually will fall. Decline of oil revenues would create a financial crisis for the public sector of oil-exporting countries. The development budget will fall below depreciation and public-sector capacity will drop. The paper also considers investment in public enterprises as another use of oil revenues. Since these enterprises do not usually produce a return, such investment will not impact the collapse of the public sector. The paper concludes with some policy recommendations for increasing the chance of sustainability of the public sector in oil-exporting countries. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost overruns in Chinese highway construction projects arise both from poor construction quality and delays in completion. As a result of the lack of an effective control mechanism linking project initiation with funding availability, new projects are initiated without sufficient budget to support completion as planned. Project managers are forced by the budget constraints either to sacrifice construction quality or to slow down the pace of construction. This paper develops a system dynamics model to understand the cost overrun problem in Chinese highway construction projects. Three policy options, (1) introduction of feasibility studies, (2) loan financing of the cash-strapped projects, and (3) the raising of user charges, are evaluated using this model. The introduction of feasibility studies has the potential to be an effective policy, yet it is impossible to implement because of organizational constraints. Loan financing leads to dependence on loans rather than sustaining service delivery. The raising of user charges is found to be the most effective policy, although it is politically not very attractive. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a system model to analyze the solid waste disposal problem in New York State. The model shows that the solid waste system will go through a costly transition from a landfill-dominated mode of disposal to other disposal alternatives. The solid waste budget has to rise sharply during the transition. Solid waste expenses are financed by local taxes and state financial aid. If local and state governments do not respond rapidly to higher budget requirements, illegal disposal will increase and the total cost of transition will rise. Rapid response of the local authorities to increase the solid waste budget and to lower solid waste generation per capita is necessary to manage the transition with a lower total cost and less illegal disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]