System Archetypes Research Articles

Agricultural Local Knowledge System: Lesson Learn from Rural Development In Mekarjaya Village, Kabupaten Purwakarta

Local knowledge termed traditional knowledge contributes to the quality of human life improvement in rural area. As the local knowledge which held by Mekar Jaya villagers, traditional agricuture practices emphasizes continuity and long-term practices. This article discussed about how local knowledge contribute to rural development as a whole of agricultural system. How external modern technology meets the accumulated traditional knowledge are elaborated in a social-ecological system using system archetype. The value of traditional agriculture practices have shifted gradually from food security purpose to food commercialization in line with the modernization technology. Social element in local agriculture practices looks more respect to environment than modern agriculture practices, while social element in modern agriculture tend much more to economic aspect. Finally, personal curiosity and willingness to learn, together with social networking among farmers and community, and supportive formal knowledge and governance structures, are learning point for successful sustainable agriculture development

Systems Thinking: Three System Archetypes Every Manager Should Know

This paper gives a brief introduction to systems thinking and practical insights project managers and business leaders can use in day-to-day interactions. We describe three common systems archetypes: limits-to-growth, fixes-that-fail, and drifting-goals. We illustrate each structure with a description of how system structure drives system behavior in the context of a project-based organization trying to resolve delays. We provide examples of the archetype in other contexts as well as simple suggestions on how to use systems thinking to improve these scenarios. Further reading is suggested with additional sources.

The nationwide characterization and modeling of local energy systems: Quantifying the role of decentralized generation and energy resources in future communities

Transnational municipal networks have led to an increase in the adoption of local energy planning and climate strategies in recent decades. As such, methods are needed to assess local energy systems on a broad scale. This study demonstrates one such approach for Switzerland. Clustering techniques are applied to multidimensional municipal data sets in order to define a set of representative local energy system archetypes for Switzerland. Data includes local energy resource potentials, existing heat and electricity energy demands by sector, and the developed environment classification for approximately 2300 municipalities. Select archetypes are analyzed using a cost optimization model to determine the optimal utilization of local resources and decentralized generation technologies until 2050 under different national energy policy scenarios. Local energy resources provide approximately 40% of municipal heat generation (largely using solar, waste, and wood potentials) and 20% of municipal electricity generation (largely using photovoltaics) by 2050, on average across the modeled archetypes. Urban archetypes demonstrate high rooftop solar and waste potentials and usage rates, while smaller rural and suburban archetypes exhibit relatively high manure, wood and small hydro potentials and usage. Efficiency measures (e.g., renovations) and high CO2 prices are vital to achieving long-term local energy demand and emissions reductions.

A system perspective on revenue sharing in the mobile value chain: an evidence from China mobile video ecosystem

PurposeHyperconnectivity and supercooperation among partners within the mobile value chain are crucial factors for sustainable growth of the mobile ecosystem. This study aims to identify the complex structure of hyperconnectivity and supercooperation underlying revenue sharing practices and the actions and reactions of Chinese mobile video triads.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the causal loop diagram and system dynamics simulation to demonstrate the feedback causal structure wherein the revenue sharing (RS) rule adjustments trigger interactions among participants (e.g., MNOs, SPs and CPs) in mobile video service triads, leading to fluctuations in the number of mobile video users and total revenue in the mobile video value chain.FindingsChange of RS rules among value chain participants is an incentive for achieving the sustainability of the mobile ecosystem, as examined using a system dynamics (SD) simulation. However, from the perspective of a tri-partite mobile value chain, the “accidental adversary” system archetype caused by adjustment of RS rules has an unintended negative impact on counterparts in the mobile ecosystem value chain.Originality/valueThis study analyzes a complex feedback causal structure based on structural interdependencies among growth, limiting and relaxing loops in the Chinese mobile video ecosystem. The result of SD simulation suggests strategic alternatives such as the “growth and underinvestment” systems archetype to overcome “limits to growth”. Moreover, this study explores the accidental adversary archetype in complex and complicated mobile service triads as an impediment to achieving sustainability of the mobile ecosystem.

A Systems Dynamics Model for Mobile Industry Governance in the Context of the Kenyan Vision 2030

This article describes how Kenya has emerged in recent times as one of the fastest-growing telecom markets in the world. This article presents a system dynamics-integrated model of the Kenyan telecommunication sector—mobile telephony—that has been developed and calibrated to demonstrate the various interactions among system variables and the resultant impact on economic growth through simulations. The simulation result proves that the regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya, should be the key entity to be governed. This modeling process started by delineating the mobile industry's system boundary. The interactions amongst the entities were then described. Based on a historical data analysis and the system archetypes identified, a system dynamics (SD) model was developed. The research tested the results of the model in a combination of scenarios, apart from several underlying feedback effects, it was found that mobile telephony and growth in gross domestic product (GDP) had strong positive correlation.

How Do Intelligent Goods Shape Closed-Loop Systems?

Disruptive technologies can increase the intelligence of goods and revitalize business models in the circular economy. Applying an industrial ecology perspective, this article discusses how intelligent goods can boost the sustainability of industrial ecosystems. North American and European cases highlight how business model innovators can utilize goods-related information to develop more competitive closed-loop systems. The authors identify three archetypes of closed-loop systems—inner circles, decentralized systems, and open systems—and delineate how they leverage information resources for collaboration. This study advances the understanding of closed-loop systems in the circular economy, which is more dependent than ever on digital platforms.

Why are Proposed Public Land Transfers a Source of Extreme Conflict and Resistance?

On the Ground The United States Federal Government owns and manages one-third of the land in the United States, primarily in western US states. There is fierce debate on whether the federal government should transfer management of public lands to state control. We reviewed a variety of agency periodicals/ websites, contemporary articles, and/or rangeland textbooks and articles to better understand the key ecologic and socioeconomic processes on public rangelands. Using a systems thinking approach, we identified a number of system archetype structures, including Fixes-that-Backfire, Success-to-the-Successful, and Escalation, in the event that public land is transferred from federal to state control. Transferring management of public lands to state control would affect rangelands from an ecological perspective (e.g., over- or undergrazing) and would have potential socioeconomic impacts on urban and rural communities in the western states through increased friction at the state legislative level rather than ...

Archetypes of Service Innovation: Implications for Value Cocreation.

Service innovation is a key source of competitive differentiation across firms and markets. Despite growing attention from practitioners and academics alike, systematic scholarly inquiry into service innovation’s diverse theoretical foundations has to date been limited. This article explores different approaches to service innovation and proposes a typology of four archetypes, each informed by a distinct theoretical perspective and by different underlying assumptions. Process-based and output-based archetypes focus on value-adding phases and output value, respectively. Experiential and systemic archetypes have attracted less attention but become central for firms seeking to cocreate phenomenologically determined value within the service ecosystem. The article also contributes to service innovation research and practice by bringing together the existing archetypes, which were previously treated separately. Juxtaposing these archetypes and emphasizing value and value cocreation, the article proposes an integrative view of how novel value cocreation can be enhanced in service innovations. Finally, we develop an agenda for future research, encouraging researchers and managers to plan service innovations systematically, deploying each archetype in value cocreation, and combining them within an integrative approach.

Development of a descriptive model for intralogistics as a foundation for an autonomous control method for intralogistics systems

Future intralogistics systems need to adapt flexibly to changing material flow requirements in line with future versatile factory environments, producing personalized products under the performance and cost conditions of today’s mass production. Small batch sizes down to a batch size of “1” lead to a high complexity in the design and economical manufacturing of these customized products. Intralogistics system are integrated into higher-level areas (segment level) as well as into upstream and downstream performance units (system-wide areas). This includes the logistic activities relevant for the system (organized according to storage, picking, transport) such as transportation or storage tasks of tools, semi-finished products, components, assemblies and containers, and waste. Today’s centralized material flow control systems, which work based on predefined processes, are not capable and more specifically not suitable to deal with the arising complexity of changeable intralogistics systems. Autonomous, decentralized material flow control systems distribute the required decision-making and control processes on intelligent logistic entities. A major step for the development of an autonomous control method for hybrid intralogistics systems (manual, semi-automated and automated) is the development of a generic archetype for intralogistics systems regarding the system boundaries, elements and relations resulting in a descriptive model taking into account amongst others the time of demand, availability of resources, economic efficiency and technical performance parameters. The ESB Logistics Learning Factory at ESB Business School (Reutlingen University) serves for this as a close-to-reality development and validation environment.

The Impact of Joining Choices on Vehicle Recycling Systems

Stricter vehicle emissions legislation has driven significant reduction in environmental impact of the vehicle use phase through increasing use of lightweight materials and multi-material concepts to reduce the vehicle mass. The joining techniques used for multi-material designs has led to reduced efficiency of the current shredder-based recycling practices. Although the commonly used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is effective in assessing the environmental impacts of vehicles, there is a lack of consideration for the changing material and joining trends, and their delayed impact on the end-of-life vehicles (ELV) recyclability. This paper evaluates the temporal effects between vehicle designs and recycling phases using the System Dynamics approach. The behavioural patterns of the vehicle recycling systems show that the commonly used multi-material joining choices have led to increasing impurities and valuable material losses during ELV recycling, that can be characterised to well-known system archetypes: “Fixes that Fail” and “Shifting the Burden”.

Dynamic analysis and design of a semiconductor supply chain: a control engineering approach

The combined make-to-stock and make-to-order (MTS-MTO) supply chain is well-recognised in the semiconductor industry in order to find a competitive balance between agility, including customer responsiveness and minimum reasonable inventory, to achieve cost efficiency while maintaining customer service levels. Such a hybrid MTS-MTO supply chain may suffer from the bullwhip effect, but few researchers have attempted to understand the dynamic properties of such a hybrid system. We utilise a model of the Intel supply chain to analytically explore the underlying mechanisms of bullwhip generation and compare its dynamic performance to the well-known Inventory and Order-Based Production Control System (IOBPCS) archetype. Adopting a control engineering approach, we find that the feedforward forecasting compensation in the MTO element plays a major role in the degree of bullwhip and the Customer Order Decoupling Point (CODP) profoundly impacts both the bullwhip effect and the inventory variance in the MTS part. Thus, managers should carefully tune the CODP inventory correction and balance the benefit between CODP inventory and bullwhip costs in hybrid MTS-MTO supply chains.

Development of Organic Farming in Europe at the Crossroads: Looking for the Way Forward through System Archetypes Lenses

Over the last several decades, policymakers and stakeholders in the European Union (EU) have put considerable effort into increasing the adoption of organic farming, with the overall objective of its sustainable development. However, the growth of the organic sector has come with many challenges that jeopardize its sustainability. The question then is how to move organic farming in Europe forward and at the same time capitalize on its potential contribution to sustainability? Organic farming in the EU is a highly complex and dynamic food system and as such this question cannot be answered in isolation using a one-dimensional mind-set and tools of the past. In this paper, we use three system archetypes—Limits to Growth, Shifting the Burden and Eroding Goals—to sharpen our ability: (1) to analyze and anticipate difficulties in the development of organic farming in the EU under the current policy measures; and (2) to find effective ways to address these difficulties. A system archetype consists of a generic system structure that leads to unintended behavior over time and effective strategies for changing the structure into one that generates desirable behavior. The analysis reveals that in order to move forward, policymakers and stakeholders should reemphasize fundamental solutions rather than quick fixes that often generate unintended consequences. Specifically, Limits to Growth shows us that the leverage for moving organic farming out of the niche does not necessarily lie in increasing subsidies that push engines of growth, but rather in anticipating and managing its limits arising from, for instance, market dynamics or intrinsic environmental motivation. In turn, Shifting the Burden brings to attention how easily and unnoticeably the EU’s organic farming system can become dependent on third countries thereby undermining its own sustainability. Finally, Eroding Goals highlights that is it important to continuously improve regulatory standards based on an external frame of reference, as otherwise organic farming in the EU will continue on its trajectory towards conventionalization.

A systems approach to forecast agricultural land transformation and soil environmental risk from economic, policy, and cultural scenarios in the north central United States (2012–2062)

ABSTRACTGrassland conversion to row-crop production in the north central United States has been a growing threat to socio-economic and environmental sustainability for producers, conservationists, and policy-makers alike. We used a system dynamics model of the region to forecast agriculturally driven land transformation through mid-twenty-first century. The base-case scenario projection showed that farmland area continued to increase, from under 200,000 km2 to over 230,000 km2. Unmitigated, the soil environmental risk (SER) of such changes reached conservative estimates of Dust Bowl-era externalities. Systems analyses show that reducing livestock production costs, doubling conservation compliance requirements, and livestock–cropping integration had the largest impact on grassland conservation and mitigating SER. The largest SER effects came from eliminating conservation incentives or raising cultivation incentives, despite improvements in reduced tillage and enhanced agronomy. Several system archetypes were identified within the policy scenarios: ‘fixes that backfire’ and ‘success-to-the-successful’. For scenarios creating favourable impacts, time delays caused some behaviours to worsen before positive gains were realized. If implemented, patience and persistence to ensure that these scenarios reach their full potential will be necessary. Our scenarios provide quantitative forecasts around measures for sustainable intensification. These projections can aid regional stakeholders in enhancing discussions currently taking place about sustainable agriculture in the region.

Improper Program Management Induced System Archetypes

Projects and programs: those two concepts are not one same side of a coin or even two different sides of a same coin. Despite the growing consensus among the project management community around the differences between the two topics, many organizations still fail to adopt a governance framework that considers such differences. The consequence is a domino effect: programs are treated as large projects, short-term focus values only the delivery of capabilities by component projects, an unhealthy internal competition between said projects is established, the organization’s resources are burdened, and ultimately, organizations fail to realize benefits to their full potential. In this paper, we show that such situation fits into two well-known system archetypes, namely "Success to the Successful" and "Tragedy of the Commons". As case-study, we present a large, multi-year, multi-million Brazilian Government initiative, as well as the results achieved by said initiative, before and after a proper governance framework was in place. We also use System Dynamics to simulate and demonstrate said results, but also to forecast the expected results for the years yet to come, now that the programs and projects are given the proper treatment.

The Writing Process in Systems Thinking

This note provides detailed guidance for analyzing a complex business problem using the systems thinking tools: reference behavior patterns, systems archetypes, causal-loop diagrams, and stock-flow maps. The step by step guidance helps a systems thinker create a clear, organized presentation for a client or professional modeler. Successfully communicating one's views and hypotheses and making relevant, supported recommendations are an outgrowth of using the writing process to support a systems analysis. Excerpt UVA-OM-1106 Rev. Sept. 17, 2010 THE WRITING PROCESS IN SYSTEMS THINKING In the systems writing process, the tools of systems thinking (archetypes, causal-loop diagrams, reference behavior patterns, and stock-flow maps and models) are called upon in a sequence of steps that leads to a clear, organized outcome, such as a presentation to a client or a professional modeler. The writing process provides a framework for approaching a problem whereby the logical transition from each part of your thinking to the next is in place. As you focus on the content within a step, you will uncover insights that will be enriched by your thinking iteratively through the process. Successfully communicating your views and your hypotheses and making relevant, supported recommendations are an outgrowth of using the writing process to support your analysis. The writing process organizes analysis activities into the following steps: 1. Focusing on the issue . . .

Citigroup Asset Management

This story offers students the opportunity to practice systems thinking, including the analysis of behavior over time graphs, the application of systems archetypes, and the design of system interventions. Excerpt UVA-OM-1218 The Story Prior to attending Darden, I worked in the Equity Research department of Citigroup Asset Management for a year-and-a-half. This department had been in existence for just over a year when I joined, and because it was a cost center, senior managers had very high expectations regarding the impact of the department on Citigroup's various portfolio management teams. The department's managing director had promised the head of the entire asset management division that the group would initiate coverage on 1,500 global companies within three years. Consequently, the performance goal of each analyst was to initiate coverage on 10 companies per year, but a limiting factor made this goal very difficult to achieve. After analysts initiated coverage on companies, they continuously analyzed and reported all new developments relating to these companies. This maintenance function became so time consuming that most analysts found it difficult to initiate on new companies once they were already formally covering 8 to 12 other companies. The Strategic Decision In the mid-1990s, Citigroup Asset Management (then known as Citibank Global Asset Management) was a division of Citigroup (at that point in time, Citibank). Despite having access to the resources of a Fortune 25, financial services firm, the division was a midtier performer (or worse) in the competitive asset-management business. Managers within the company knew that profitability lay in attracting institutional and private banking business (institutional clients were pension funds and other corporate clients and the private bank catered to high net-worth individuals). Still, managers wondered how could they both build the Citigroup brand name in the asset-management business and attract new clients. Historic performance of the mutual funds and private portfolios was not spectacular and would therefore not generate the business required. . . .

Rise and Demise of the Innovative Entrant

This story offers students the opportunity to practice systems thinking, including the analysis of behavior over time graphs, the application of systems archetypes, and the design of system interventions. Excerpt UVA-OM-1217 The Story Once upon a time, there was a small software company built around the idea of new innovative voice-recognition algorithm. This algorithm was much more efficient than those used in applications offered to the market by competitors—it was user-independent, allowed to shorten dramatically a setup period (period when a user “teaches” software his/her voice pattern), and could be developed into a language-independent version (i.e., interface working with exotic languages and dialects). The evident superiority of the algorithm over all existing product and prototypes prompted the company to develop its own set of applications and invest heavily in the marketing and sales network—they believed that given the proper marketing effort it would be easy to get people to switch to the new product and recruit new adepts of voice-recognition interface. The early years seemed to support the plan—sales were growing exponentially, every new application or release developed dominated the market, and the company further expanded its sales by educating customers on merits of using voice-recognition interface and tapping into new niches previously unexplored by competitors. . . .

APPLICATION OF SYSTEM ARCHETYPES IN PRACTICE: AN UNDERUTILISED PATHWAY TO BETTER MANAGERIAL PERFORMANCE

Current dynamic business environment forces managers to apply various tools in order to improve organisational performance and effectiveness. System archetypes enable to cope with complexity and make appropriate decisions. This study is theoretically grounded in the field of economic cybernetics and system archetype analysis. It applies qualitative research on the sample of 54 managers with the high level of seniority. The aim is to reveal whether system archetypes are effectively used in practice. Two hypotheses focused on both knowledge about and application of system archetypes are tested. The results prove that there are inconsistencies tied to forms of system archetypes insight and knowledge. Moreover, there is an inadequate level of attention identified in investigated organisations. Results imply various potential research pathways that are outlined in the final section of the paper. Hence, the manuscript offers a unique insight into the current state of practical system archetypes utilisation and contributes to the explanation of the role of system archetypes in the economic cybernetics framework.

The extension and exploitation of the inventory and order based production control system archetype from 1982 to 2015

In 1994, through classic control theory, John, Naim and Towill developed the ‘Automatic Pipeline, Inventory and Order-based Production Control System’ (APIOBPCS) which extended the original IOBPCS archetype developed by Towill in 1982 ─ well-recognised as a base framework for a production planning and control system. Due to the prevalence of the two original models in the last three decades in the academic and industrial communities, this paper aims to systematically review how the IOBPCS archetypes have been adopted, exploited and adapted to study the dynamics of individual production planning and control systems and whole supply chains. Using various databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar (113 papers), we found that the IOBPCS archetypes have been studied regarding the a) modification of four inherent policies related to forecasting, inventory, lead-time and pipeline to create a ‘family’ of models, b) adoption of the IOBPCS ‘family’ to reduce supply chain dynamics, and in particular bullwhip, c) extension of the IOBPCS family to represent different supply chain scenarios such as order-book based production control and closed-loop processes. Simulation is the most popular method adopted by researchers and the number of works based on discrete time based methods is greater than those utilising continuous time approaches. Most studies are conceptual with limited practical applications described. Future research needs to focus on cost, flexibility and sustainability in the context of supply chain dynamics and, although there are a few existing studies, more analytical approaches are required to gain robust insights into the influence of nonlinear elements on supply chain behaviour. Also, empirical exploitation of the existing models is recommended.

More than Target 6.3: A Systems Approach to Rethinking Sustainable Development Goals in a Resource-Scarce World

Abstract The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development outlines 17 individual Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that guide the needs of practice for many professional disciplines around the world, including engineering, research, policy, and development. The SDGs represent commitments to reduce poverty, hunger, ill health, gender inequality, environmental degradation, and lack of access to clean water and sanitation. If a typical reductionist approach is employed to address and optimize individual goals, it may lead to a failure in technological, policy, or managerial development interventions through unintended consequences in other goals. This study uses a systems approach to understand the fundamental dynamics between the SDGs in order to identify potential synergies and antagonisms. A conceptual system model was constructed to illustrate the causal relationships between SDGs, examine system structures using generic system archetypes, and identify leverage points to effectively influence intentional and minimize unintentional changes in the system. The structure of interactions among the SDGs reflects three archetypes of system behavior: Reinforcing Growth, Limits to Growth, and Growth and Underinvestment. The leverage points identified from the conceptual model are gender equality, sustainable management of water and sanitation, alternative resources, sustainable livelihood standards, and global partnerships. Such a conceptual system analysis of SDGs can enhance the likelihood that the development community will broaden its understanding of the potential synergistic benefits of their projects on resource management, environmental sustainability, and climate change. By linking the interactions and feedbacks of those projects with economic gains, women’s empowerment, and educational equality, stakeholders can recognize holistic improvements that can be made to the quality of life of many of the world’s poor.