Strategic Management Thought

Explanation of the Philosophical Foundations of System Dynamics Using Deductive Method: Paradigmatic Classification of System Dynamics Models

Authors

1 Faculty member of Malek Ashtar University, Tehran, Iran

2 MA of Industerial Management

Abstract

System dynamics methodology has attracted researchers in different fields with the claim of recognizing the main structure of techno-socio-economic behaviors.
Undoubtedly, philosophical and theoretical foundations of system dynamics or it's assumptions play an important role in the modeling process for the explanation of a problem and policy-making such that there might be different modeling processes and subsequently distinct outcomes with different foundations and also, there might be conflict between the modeler's expectations from this methodology and what would happen, in reality.  
However, system dynamics philosophy hadn’t been explained well from the beginning and years after its emergence and its being developed in other fields, there was a declaration from SD’s specialists in this regard. Subsequently, suggestions that are sometimes dissimilar were proposed. Thus, in this research, after reviewing proposed ideas and explaining the reasons of their dispersal; we have tried to reach a holistic explanation of system dynamics philosophy.
In this regard, by using a deductive approach, philosophical foundations of SD models designed with this method are surveyed. The outcome of this survey is a paradigmatic classification of system dynamics models based on their dominant philosophical foundations. These are: positivist system dynamics, post positivist system dynamics, critical pluralist system dynamics, pragmatist system dynamics, constructivist system dynamics, transformative-emancipatory-critical system dynamics, and interpretivist system dynamics. According to this classification, it can be claimed that there are different approaches as the philosophical foundations of system dynamics. The author’s suggestion is a combined pluralism, which means based on the surveyed problem a special kind of paradigm will dominate the modeling process

Keywords

ذوالفقاریان، محمدرضا (1389)، تبیین مبانی فلسفی پویایی‌های سیستم و دلالت‌های آن در حوزه مدیریت با استفاده از روش قیاسی و استقرایی، پایان‌نامه کارشناسی ارشد معارف اسلامی و مدیریت، به راهنمایی حمیدرضا فرتوک‪زاده و مشاوره رضا اکبری، تهران: دانشگاه امام صادق علیه السلام.
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Strategic Management Thought
Volume 5, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
April 2011
Pages 125-168
  • Receive Date: 23 April 2011
  • Revise Date: 21 March 2011
  • Accept Date: 28 August 2011