Using systems thinking to inform management of imperiled species: A case study with sea turtles

2021 ◽  
Vol 260 ◽  
pp. 109201
Author(s):  
Ian Silver-Gorges ◽  
Simona A. Ceriani ◽  
Matthew Ware ◽  
Megan Lamb ◽  
Margaret Lamont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Imperiled Species

Cognitive risk culture and advanced roles of actors in risk governance: a case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchi Agarwal ◽  
Sanjay Kallapur
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cognitive Risk ◽  
Risk Culture ◽  
The Uk

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the best practices for improving risk culture and defining the role of actors in risk governance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an exemplar case of a British insurance company by using a qualitative case research approach.FindingsThe case study shows how the company was successful in changing from a compliance-based and defensive risk culture to a cognitive risk culture by using a systems thinking approach. Cognitive risk culture ensures that everybody understands risks and their own roles in risk governance. The change was accomplished by adding an operational layer between the first and second lines of defense and developing tools to better communicate risks throughout the organization.Practical implicationsPractitioners can potentially improve risk governance by using the company’s approach. The UK regulator’s initiative to improve risk culture can potentially be followed by other regulators.Originality/valueThis is among the few studies that describe actual examples of how a company can improve risk culture using the systems approach and how systems thinking simultaneously resolves several other issues such as poor risk reporting and lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities.

scholarly journals Integrating Systems Thinking and Storytelling

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Ollove ◽  
Diala Lteif
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Wicked Problem ◽  
Collective Narrative

This paper explores the role of design in conflict resolution when doing so means balancing burdened pasts with present uncertainties. To prove its relevance in today’s complex problem spaces, design cannot remain stagnant; it must evolve alongside the pace of development. Designing within complexity is unprecedented. Yet, design can define structures that guide an understanding of this complexity. The methodology and case study described in this paper explore how systems thinking, storytelling and grounded theory can contribute to this understanding. The methodology aims to combine subjective perspectives with systemic analyses to create a collective narrative that reveals the multitude of individual understandings of conflicts. Ultimately, this methodology does not attempt to resolve conflict; instead, it  aims to provide an in-depth diagnosis of a wicked problem and question the role of design therein.

scholarly journals Systemic Design: Two Canadian Case Studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Ryan ◽  
Mark Leung
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Management System ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Resource Management System ◽  
First Case ◽  
Systemic Design

This paper introduces two novel applications of systemic design to facilitate a comparison of alternative methodologies that integrate systems thinking and design. In the first case study, systemic design helped the Procurement Department at the University of Toronto re-envision how public policy is implemented and how value is created in the broader university purchasing ecosystem. This resulted in an estimated $1.5 million in savings in the first year, and a rise in user retention rates from 40% to 99%. In the second case study, systemic design helped the clean energy and natural resources group within the Government of Alberta to design a more efficient and effective resource management system and shift the way that natural resource departments work together. This resulted in the formation of a standing systemic design team and contributed to the creation of an integrated resource management system. A comparative analysis of the two projects identifies a shared set of core principles for systemic design as well as areas of differentiation that reveal potential for learning across methodologies. Together, these case studies demonstrate the complementarity of systems thinking and design thinking, and show how they may be integrated to guide positive change within complex sociotechnical systems.

scholarly journals The Phillips Curve: A Case Study Of Theory And Practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-38
Author(s):  
K. Lawle ◽  
A. Moscardini ◽  
I. Pavlenko ◽  
T. Vlasova
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Inflation Targeting ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Central Banking ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Negative Slope ◽  
Wide Range

This paper develops a detailed case study of the Phillips Curve as it has evolved since Phillips classic work of 1958. An explicit narrative in the paper involves the evolution of the argument using economics and systems thinking, to develop underlying data generating models. These are shown to underpin the inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment in economics. The paper considers the political exigencies relating to the Great inflation of the 1970s and the Great Recession post 2008 in terms of interpretations of the Philips curve. The paper hypothesises that economic ideas have meaningful significance within the context of historical eras with concomitant political imperatives whence such notions become somnolent once crises have abated. This This historical narrative is implicit in the latest research reflections on Philips curves. A particularly useful finding is the relevance of systems thinking and systems dynamics to the interpretation of issues relating to aggregation problems in macroeconomics involving inflation and unemployment causal relationships. The paper concludes that seemingly moribund the Philips curve is alive may have been hibernating. Identifying the Phillips curve requires a wide range of variability of non-aggregative data streams. This allows the negative slope of the curve to be revealed, else the Philips curve slope is pushed towards the vertical plane. Endogenous central banking and inflation targeting intensifies this effect which is evident from a systems thinking /dynamics perspective.

Drifting the goals archetype: a systemic study

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virupaxi Bagodi ◽  
Biswajit Mahanty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Current Reality

PurposeManagerial decision-making is an area of interest to both academia and practitioners. Researchers found that managers often fail to manage complex decision-making tasks and system thinkers assert that generic structures known as systems archetypes help them to a great deal in handling such situations. In this paper, it is demonstrated that decision makers resort to lowering of goal (quick-fix) in order to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality in the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.Design/methodology/approachA real-life case study is taken up to highlight the pitfalls of “drifting the goals” systems archetype for a decision situation in the Indian two-wheeler industry. System dynamics modeling is made use of to obtain the results.FindingsThe decision makers fail to realize the pitfall of lowering the goal to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality. It is seen that, irrespective of current less-than-desirable performance, managers adopting corrective actions other than lowering of goals perform better in the long run. Further, it is demonstrated that extending the boundary and experimentation results in designing a better service system and setting benchmarks.Practical implicationsThe best possible way to avoid the pitfall is to hold the vision and not lower the long term goal. The managers must be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.Originality/valueSystems thinking is important in complex decision-making tasks. Managers need to embrace long-term perspective in decision-making. This paper demonstrates the value of systems thinking in terms of a case study on the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.

scholarly journals Silanes for Building Protection: A Case Study in Systems Thinking Approach to Materials Science Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Rosaria Ciriminna ◽  
Yael Albo ◽  
Alexandra Fidalgo ◽  
Laura Ilharco ◽  
Mario Pagliaro
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Vapor Condensation ◽  
Microbiological Contamination ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Water Vapor Condensation ◽  
Organically Modified ◽  
Systems Thinking Approach

Silanes, and organically modified silanes in particular, are commercially used to protect the built environment from deterioration and, in indoor applications, to minimize water vapor condensation and microbiological contamination. Increasing their uptake, we argue in this study, includes the need to adopt a systems-thinking view of this green chemistry technology. After identifying the key advantages of these coatings, we highlight important educational consequences to undergraduate courses and doctoral programs in chemistry and materials science which are common in many research topics, well beyond nanocoating science and technology.

scholarly journals Systems Thinking Skills of Preschool Children in Early Childhood Education Contexts from Turkey and Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Şebnem Feriver ◽  
Refika Olgan ◽  
Gaye Teksöz ◽  
Matthias Barth
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Childhood Education

This study presents an attempt to contribute to the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) by conceptualizing systems thinking skills of four- to six-year-old preschool children with the role of age in this particular skill. For this purpose, we developed and tested a method and instruments to assess and conceptualize systems thinking skills of 52 preschool children in early childhood education contexts from Turkey and Germany. By employing qualitative case study research, we concluded that the young children showed some signs of complex understanding regarding systems thinking in terms of detecting obvious gradual changes and two-step domino and/or multiple one-way causalities, as well as describing behavior of a balancing loop. However, their capacity was found to be limited when it comes to detecting a reinforcing loop, understanding system mechanisms by acknowledging the unintended consequences, detecting hidden components and processes, demonstrating multi-dimensional perspective, solving problems through high-leverage interventions, and predicting the future behavior of the system. Age had a notable effect on the total systems thinking mean scores of the participants.

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