KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND PROCESS GUIDANCE FOR BUILDING SYSTEM DYNAMICS SIMULATION MODELS: AN EXPERIENCE REPORT FROM SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

Author(s):  
DIETMAR PFAHL ◽  
KARL LEBSANFT

System Dynamics (SD) is a method that allows for integrated modelling of technical as well as managerial aspects responsible for the dynamic complexity of systems. Therefore, simulation of SD models can also be a tool for problem analysis within software organisations. In this paper, experience with SD modelling of software processes and projects within Siemens is reported. Special focus is put on problems encountered during knowledge acquisition for SD model building, like inadequate guidance while conducting SD modelling projects, and insufficient methodical support for re-using available or generating missing knowledge. Both problems were addressed in a research project, jointly conducted by Fraunhofer IESE and Siemens Corporate Technology. One of the results of this project is a prescriptive process model for building SD models. This process model, which is briefly outlined in the paper, provides guidance for a systematic development of SD models in software organisations.

SPIEL ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-145
Author(s):  
Larissa Leonhard ◽  
Anne Bartsch ◽  
Frank M. Schneider

This article presents an extended dual-process model of entertainment effects on political information processing and engagement. We suggest that entertainment consumption can either be driven by hedonic, escapist motivations that are associated with a superficial mode of information processing, or by eudaimonic, truth-seeking motivations that prompt more elaborate forms of information processing. This framework offers substantial extensions to existing dual-process models of entertainment by conceptualizing the effects of entertainment on active and reflective forms of information seeking, knowledge acquisition and political participation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-413
Author(s):  
Stefan Studer ◽  
Thanh Binh Bui ◽  
Christian Drescher ◽  
Alexander Hanuschkin ◽  
Ludwig Winkler ◽  
...  

Machine learning is an established and frequently used technique in industry and academia, but a standard process model to improve success and efficiency of machine learning applications is still missing. Project organizations and machine learning practitioners face manifold challenges and risks when developing machine learning applications and have a need for guidance to meet business expectations. This paper therefore proposes a process model for the development of machine learning applications, covering six phases from defining the scope to maintaining the deployed machine learning application. Business and data understanding are executed simultaneously in the first phase, as both have considerable impact on the feasibility of the project. The next phases are comprised of data preparation, modeling, evaluation, and deployment. Special focus is applied to the last phase, as a model running in changing real-time environments requires close monitoring and maintenance to reduce the risk of performance degradation over time. With each task of the process, this work proposes quality assurance methodology that is suitable to address challenges in machine learning development that are identified in the form of risks. The methodology is drawn from practical experience and scientific literature, and has proven to be general and stable. The process model expands on CRISP-DM, a data mining process model that enjoys strong industry support, but fails to address machine learning specific tasks. The presented work proposes an industry- and application-neutral process model tailored for machine learning applications with a focus on technical tasks for quality assurance.


2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-188
Author(s):  
Nicholas C. Georgantzas

Although still flying low under the popular business media's collective radar, virtual enterprise networks (or nets) do receive increased attention in the strategic management literature. A virtual enterprise network (VEN) is a system of autonomous firms that collaborate to achieve common business objectives. VENs give participants a competitive edge in markets demanding agility and rapid response. Seen as an emerging transactional exchange governance (TEG) form within transaction cost economics (TCE), VENs and the relations among firms that form them posit challenges for researchers and managers. VENs differ substantially from markets and hierarchies, and from recurrent and relational contracts, utterly changing what it means to be a firm in today's business. This essay explores alternative TEG forms, their characteristics and the criteria that bear on the choice of corporate governance: flexible specialization, market uncertainty, product (good or service) complexity, reliance on trust, risk, self-organization, shared knowledge, and socio-territorial cohesiveness. The essay offers propositions on the relations among economic criteria and the choice of transactional exchange governance forms by exploring the dynamics of a generic TEG structure. This is a system dynamics simulation model that partially offsets the shortcomings of transaction cost economics (TCE) and points to the potentially rich contribution of system dynamics to exploring VENs beyond the ideal-type TEG forms of markets and hierarchies that dominate the TCE literature.


Author(s):  
Jianming Cai ◽  
Yue Liang

A marriage between dockless bike-sharing systems and rail transit presents new opportunities for sustainable transportation in Chinese cities. However, how to promote the bicycle–metro integration mode remains largely unstudied. This paper designs a public–private partnership program to promote bicycle–metro integration. We consider the cooperation between bike-sharing companies and rail transit companies to improve both services and attract long-distance travelers to choose the bicycle–metro integration mode, with government subsidies. To analyze the proportion of each population participating in this public–private partnership program, we establish an evolutionary game model considering bike-sharing companies, rail transit companies, and long-distance travelers, and obtain eight scenarios of equilibriums and corresponding stable conditions. To prove the evolutionary game analysis, we construct a system dynamics simulation model and confirm that the public–private partnership project can be achieved in reality. We discuss key parameters that affect the final stable state through sensitivity analysis. The results demonstrate that by reasonably adjusting the values of parameters, each equilibrium can be changed into an optimal evolutionary stable strategy. This study can provide useful policy implications and operational recommendations for government agencies, bike-sharing companies, and transit authorities to promote bicycle–metro integration.


Author(s):  
Liang Yuan ◽  
Weijun He ◽  
Dagmawi Mulugeta Degefu ◽  
Zhongchi Wan ◽  
Thomas Stephen Ramsey ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ka Chun Chong ◽  
Hong Fung ◽  
Carrie Ho Kwan Yam ◽  
Patsy Yuen Kwan Chau ◽  
Tsz Yu Chow ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The elderly healthcare voucher (EHCV) scheme is expected to lead to an increase in the number of elderly people selecting private primary healthcare services and reduce reliance on the public sector in Hong Kong. However, studies thus far have reported that this scheme has not received satisfactory responses. In this study, we examined changes in the ratio of visits between public and private doctors in primary care (to measure reliance on the public sector) for different strategic scenarios in the EHCV scheme. Methods Based on comments from an expert panel, a system dynamics model was formulated to simulate the impact of various enhanced strategies in the scheme: increasing voucher amounts, lowering the age eligibility, and designating vouchers for chronic conditions follow-up. Data and statistics for the model calibration were collected from various sources. Results The simulation results show that the current EHCV scheme is unable to reduce the utilization of public healthcare services, as well as the ratio of visits between public and private primary care among the local aging population. When comparing three different tested scenarios, even if the increase in the annual voucher amount could be maintained at the current pace or the age eligibility can be lowered to include those aged 60 years, the impact on shifts from public-to-private utilization were insignificant. The public-to-private ratio could only be marginally reduced from 0.74 to 0.64 in the first several years. Nevertheless, introducing a chronic disease-oriented voucher could result in a significant drop of 0.50 in the public-to-private ratio during the early implementation phase. However, the effect could not be maintained for an extended period. Conclusions Our findings will assist officials in improving the design of the EHCV scheme, within the wider context of promoting primary care among the elderly. We suggest that an additional chronic disease-oriented voucher can serve as an alternative strategy. The scheme must be redesigned to address more specific objectives or provide a separate voucher that promotes under-utilized healthcare services (e.g., preventive care), instead of services designed for unspecified reasons, which may lead to concerns regarding exploitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8546
Author(s):  
Weike Chen ◽  
Jing Dong ◽  
Chaohua Yan ◽  
Hui Dong ◽  
Ping Liu

It is a common phenomenon in cities that waterlogging affects people’s normal life. It is of great significance for targeted transformation and upgrading to identify the risk factors of urban waterlogging. This paper collected the waterlogging data of Tianjin in China, analyzed the coupling mechanism among waterlogging risk factors of urban drainage systems, and then selected the system dynamics theory and the Vensim software as the analysis tools due to the mixing characteristic and the limited availability of data. After that, the sensitive factors were identified by model simulation and sensitivity analysis, and the prominent impact of urban expansion on waterlogging risk was discussed. Then, through the comparison of the three simulation scenarios, it was found that, compared with the urban development focus shifting strategy, the strategies of sponge city reconstruction and management optimization could achieve the risk control goal within a shorter time. On this basis, two kinds of governance schemes with strong operability were put forward, which were the data governance strategy and the sponge city reconstruction strategy of giving priority to old urban areas. According to the simulation results, a city can reverse the increasing trend of waterlogging risk within ten years under the appropriate scheme. Furthermore, the paper puts forward the strategic reimagining of the rural revitalization strategy and the ecological restoration strategy for the long-term sustainable development transformation of Tianjin.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1174-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Fang ◽  
Xiaojian Wang ◽  
Meiyang Xi ◽  
Tianqi Liu ◽  
Dali Yin

Three residues of SK1 were identified important for selective SK1 inhibitory activity via SK2 homology model building, molecular dynamics simulation, and MM-PBSA studies.


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