The system dynamics group at the Rockefeller College of the University at Albany has been developing techniques to create system dynamic models with groups of managers during the last 25 years. Building upon their tradition in decision conferencing, the group has developed a particular style that involves a facilitation team in which people play different roles. Throughout these years of experience, the group has also developed several "scripts" to elicit knowledge from experts based on small-groups research, and well-established practices in the development of system dynamics models. This paper constitutes a detailed documentation of a relatively small-scale modeling effort that took place in early 2001, offering a "soup to nuts" description of group model building at Albany. The paper describes in detail nine of the scripts that the group has developed, offering some reflections about their advantages and limitations. Copyright methods. This particular GMB effort was completed over a 4-month period in 2001, and it was designed following the procedures and methods developed at the University at Albany. In addition to presenting a detailed description of the process, and the products associated with the project, the paper also documents the effort needed to accomplish the objectives by both modeling and client teams. The paper extends the discussion about the use of scripts to develop system dynamic models with groups, as initiated by , presenting two new scripts and detailed descriptions and process products of seven scripts more.The case presentation constitutes a "soup to nuts" description of the Albany GMB approach. The description also includes some process-related products published for the first time. 2 These products illustrate the results obtained in the case and assist other system dynamics practitioners to replicate the experience. The perceived success of the experience reported in this paper encouraged continued effort in model building that has extended into 2005, including GMB to examine the dynamics of information integration in intergovernmental projects.Following this brief introduction, the paper is organized into four sections. The first of them consists of a review of previous research in GMB. The next section includes a description of the specific GMB effort documented in this paper. The following section contains a description of the eight scripts used in the GMB, and the final section includes a series of concluding remarks.Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)
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