System dynamics modelling and simulation for sociotechnical transitions research

Abstract

Sociotechnical transitions is an emerging research area that uses several methods, amongst which case study and simulation models are often applied. This paper focuses on system dynamics modelling and simulation research and its potential contribution to transition research. Current system dynamics work comes from a wide range of disciplines and spans across the micro, meso, and macro levels which transitions are predominantly analysed along. This overlap carries considerable potential as a conceptual and theoretical basis for transition research. The paper explores this potential and provides a cursory exposition of system dynamics research and exemplary work that is directly relevant to transition research. It raises a number of points that indicate the potential of system dynamics for transition research in terms of methodology and case study research, the behavioural aspects of transitions, and particular subject areas that lie at the organizational field level: technology platforms, business models and organizational change.

Simulation Modelling of a Shift to Service-Based Offerings : Resource efficiency and operational implications in the context of the circular economy

“…The CE actions of managers need to be guided by systems-thinking-based tools that are able to show the implications of one system level on another system level (Papachristos, 2019). For example, the resource efficiency of a product is not just determined by the product's characteristics over its lifecycle.…”

A Constructivist Model of Bank Branch Front-Office Employee Evaluation: An FCM-Sd-Based Approach

“…Consequently, important elements such as the systems' internal feedback, nonlinear relationships, and inability to process new information or decisions within the time available are not considered. These omissions create temporal delays between the actions taken in the systems and the verification of the results and/or consequences (Papachristos, 2019). In other words, the causes and their effects are separated in time, which, when added to the multiple relationships among the variables involved, undermines the understanding needed to determine exactly what events triggered the systems' behavior (Sterman, 2002;Papachristos, 2019).…”

“…The SD approach facilitates the identification of structural elements and policies that lead to decisions, successfully overcoming nonlinear relationships' "noisy" environment generated partly by decision makers' perceptual and cognitive limitations (Papachristos, 2019). This approach seeks to split the decision-support system into smaller fragments, examining each element as a way to analyze change impacts and results in terms of the remaining elements under study (Sederati et al, 2019).…”

Ireland’s Transition towards a Low Carbon Society: The Leadership Role of Higher Education Institutions in Solar Photovoltaic Niche Development

“…To evaluate sustainability transition pathways, it is argued that no single perspective or discipline will be adequate due to the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability transitions that requires integration of multiple theories and approaches to generate useful knowledge [13][14][15][16][17]. To gain a broader perspective of sustainability transitions, integrated approaches and linkages between individual forms of analysis have been proposed [16][17][18]. There are a number of integrated approaches that look at HEI sustainability transitions [14,[19][20][21], but these studies assess individual campus sustainability only, and a literature search found no relevant studies in relation to the HEI sector.…”