System Dynamics at the Design-Science Interface: Past, Present and Future

摘要

In this provocative paper, the authors argue that system dynamics is, and always hasbeen, about design science. Design activities are aimed at changing and improvingthe world, not just describing and analyzing it, as is the overall goal of science. Assuch, design science is a research perspective that has been second nature to theengineering and medical disciplines, but that has been problematic for the socialsciences, in particular the field of management and organization. This is because adesign focus leads one to look for major real-world problems, where real-worldrelevance is high, but where academic rigor is often difficult to achieve.System dynamics intends to improve the world based upon rigorous analysis ofthat world. Its design orientation has led to significant real-world impact and presentdaybusiness relevance, but has long hampered its academic respectability. Thesedays, both goals appear to have been achieved. However, the academic success of SDhas been largely accomplished by positioning SD as part of mainstream science. Inthe future, this positioning might lead to a reduced design orientation of academic SDresearchers. In turn, this may split the field into two disconnected segments, one forpractitioners and the other for academics, and, over time, lead to reducedsuccessfulness in both areas. The authors outline how adopting an explicit designscience methodology may reduce the likelihood of this future to enfold.