Systems practice in engineering: reflections on doctoral level systems supervision

The Industrial Doctorate Centre (IDC) in Systems, a collaboration between the University of Bristol and the University of Bath, offers an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Systems Programme which is aimed at high-calibre engineers from graduate level to early/mid-career stage with the purpose of developing the systems-thinking capabilities of future leaders in industry. Research Engineers on this programme are based ~75% of their time in industry and focussed on a research project defined by their sponsoring company. This paper presents a personal reflection on the role of the systems supervisor on this programme with a focus on four areas of particular interest to the author i) alignment of industry needs and academic research, ii) developing an appreciation for the need for systems thinking, iii) navigating the systems literature, and iv) teaching research methods for doctoral research in systems. The purpose is to encourage and engage in debate on the development of systems practice in engineering

Integrating heterogeneous distributed COTS discrete-event simulation packages: An emerging standards-based approach

This paper reports on the progress made toward the emergence of standards to support the integration of heterogeneous discrete-event simulations (DESs) created in specialist support tools called commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) discrete-event simulation packages (CSPs). The general standard for heterogeneous integration in this area has been developed from research in distributed simulation and is the IEEE 1516 standard The High Level Architecture (HLA). However, the specific needs of heterogeneous CSP integration require that the HLA is augmented by additional complementary standards. These are the suite of CSP interoperability (CSPI) standards being developed under the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO-http://www.sisostds.org) by the CSPI Product Development Group (CSPI-PDG). The suite consists of several interoperability reference models (IRMs) that outline different integration needs of CSPI, interoperability frameworks (IFs) that define the HLA-based solution to each IRM, appropriate data exchange representations to specify the data exchanged in an IF, and benchmarks termed CSP emulators (CSPEs). This paper contributes to the development of the Type I IF that is intended to represent the HLA-based solution to the problem outlined by the Type I IRM (asynchronous entity passing) by developing the entity transfer specification (ETS) data exchange representation. The use of the ETS in an illustrative case study implemented using a prototype CSPE is shown. This case study also allows us to highlight the importance of event granularity and lookahead in the performance and development of the Type I IF, and to discuss possible methods to automate the capture of appropriate values of lookahead

Buildings and Their Integration in Communities: Case Study of a Parking Plaza

abstract: The development of projects in isolation and such treatment by urban development authorities can lead to socioeconomic success or failure in projects. This dilemma has its roots in poor initial planning both at the level of individual project, and that of community and neighborhoods. Although the facts like project success or failure are readily determinable in case of socioeconomic sustainability, it is difficult to determine how various variables interact in determining project success. This research is aimed at using system dynamics for investigating the phenomenon of unpopularity of building projects within the urban fabric. An attempt is made to discuss the case study of a parking plaza in its context and for detailed investigation of this building, systems thinking methodology is employed. The research has highlighted various variables that have a role to play in making the case study project an example of success or failure in terms of sustainability. The practice of using systems thinking in case of deeply rooted sustainability analysis has brought some new insight which seems to have a promising role to play

A LA RECHERCHE D'UNE METHODE POUR LA MODELISATION DES PROCESSUS DE DEVELOPPEMENT RURAUX DURABLE DES CONFLITS MULTI-ACTEURS POUR L'USAGE DES RESSOURCES NATURELS AU SUD DE SERGIPE AU BRESIL

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceDesigning a method for rural sustainable development process modelling. This work aims to develop a method for modeling and simulation dynamical aspects of social interaction in rural areas. The project focuses on the study of multi-stakeholder conflicts concerning the use and conservation of natural resources in the context of sustainable rural development. The territory is therefore considered a scenario where the social actors develop systemic and complex relationships. The initial approach is supported by the Sociology of Organized Action by Crozier and Friedberg as theoretical support for understanding the social processes in the South Territory of Sergipe, Brazil. The methodology for social modeling and simulation was based on a constructivist, iterative, exploratory and not predictive approach

A technique for improving readability of Forrester diagram in system dynamics

We describe a three-pass algorithm for improving the readability of Forrester Diagram in system dynamics. The first pass converts Forrester Diagram to recurrent hierarchy. The second pass sorts the vertices on each level, with the goal of minimizing crossings. The third pass is a finite tuning of the layout that determines the horizontal positions of vertices. An illustrative example is given to verify the result.

'Behavioural System Dynamics': a very tentative and slightly sceptical map of the territory

In this piece, I consider the paper by Stouten et al. (2017) in terms of behavioural science. I first consider what, in broad terms, a ‘behavioural turn’ might offer System Dynamics (SD) and then explore in more detail the scope of the territory within which a behavioural approach to SD might be useful

Dynamics of incentives and value creation in (de-)centralised incentive systems

When young and small organisations grow into medium-sized organisations they often implement monetary incentive systems with unclear consequences. Whilst implemented to increase employee (innovative) output and value creation, they have ambiguous effects and may even reduce value creation. Due to the different effects of monetary incentives, this paper distinguishes reciprocal and opportunistic employees’ different reactions to incentives. It analyses the effects of decentralised incentive systems – and thus of incentive systems targeted better at opportunistic vs. reciprocal employees – on value creation. Here, it proposes a causal feedback structure explaining opportunistic and reciprocal employees’ different reactions and it investigates by simulation how incentives and value creation interact over time. The analysis reveals that behaviour is not pre-determined by employee disposition. It shows how dynamics evolve dependent on the interrelationships of employee dispositions and the organisational context. As such, it exemplifies the usefulness of studying dynamics of incentive systems and employee behaviour