15.879  Research Seminar in System Dynamics

Week 12

Hi all,

This week coming is our last class for 15.879.

For the weekly modeling exercise, we are going to work with the very interesting paper John sent around recently by Massey et al on Why Border Enforcement Backfired (on Stellar). Please develop a causal loop diagram that captures the dynamic hypothesis proposed in this paper.

Our reading for this week will be Hazhir's paper on the Effect of Delays on Organizational Learning. Please prepare your written response to this paper in the form of a personal reflection, to be submitted by noon on Thursday.

In the final hour we will reflect on what we have learned, what we would still like to learn, what questions you have that are unanswered and what your next steps might be as you move forward with your research. Come prepared with your questions and comments!

Cheers,
David.

Announced on 30 April 2016  10:17  p.m. by David R. Keith

Week 11

Hi all,

Our reading for this week is Nickerson and Zenger's "Being Efficiently Fickle: A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Choice". Please prepare your written response in the form of a review for a leading management journal, to be uploaded to Stellar by noon on Thursday.

For the modeling exercise, please prepare a differential-equation model of the classic Standing Ovation Problem. Put simply, the SOP can be stated as: "A brilliant economics lecture ends and the audience begins to applaud. The applause builds and tentatively, a few audience members may decide to stand. Does a standing ovation ensue or does the enthusiasm fizzle?" (Miller and Page 2004). You may find it useful to read the Miller and Page paper, which I have uploaded to Stellar, which introduces various approaches to this problem, including spatial dimensions. We will compare our respective solutions in class.

Finally, your term papers! While the syllabus says these are due on May 6th, I think May 13th may be more reasonable, a week after our last class? Please review the syllabus to see my expectations regarding formatting, length etc. For class this week, I would like you to each make a brief presentation on what you believe the key model-based insights are that result from your research. What have you learned that is not obvious without the application of your model?

See you on Friday!

Cheers,
David.

Announced on 24 April 2016  3:38  p.m. by David R. Keith

Room Change for 15.879 2-4pm this afternoon

Hi all,

We will be in Room E62-326 this afternoon for our one-off Wednesday afternoon class (at the bottom of the stairs that are outside Nelson's office). See you there.

Cheers,
David.

Announced on 20 April 2016  11:22  a.m. by David R. Keith

Week 9

Hi all,

Our reading this week is Kovari and Pruyt's Prostitution and Human Trafficking: A Model-Based Exploration and Policy Analysis. Please prepare your written response in the form of a review for a leading management journal, to be uploaded to Stellar by noon on Thursday.

For the modeling exercise, I want you to prepare a small model capturing your thoughts on how the practices of the SD group and the physical environment in which we work at MIT Sloan shape the quality and quantity of research completed by the group. Using the model, please identify specific, actionable strategies for improved research outcomes that are testable in the real world, such as changing where students and faculty sit and how we interact. For some motivation, I have posted a related article by George Richardson on Stellar.

For your term papers, it is critical at this point in the semester that you are at the point of having a running model. Please be prepared to make a short presentation of your running model to the class, demonstrating the behavior of the model, and identifying one or more modeling questions you would like help from the group with.

Cheers,
David.

Announced on 10 April 2016  10:14  p.m. by David R. Keith

Week 8

Hi all,

Our reading for this week is Groessler and Zock's Supporting Long-Term Workforce Planning with a Dynamic Aging Chain Model: A Case Study from the Service Industry. Please write your response to this paper in the form of a personal reflection, to be submitted by noon on Thursday.

For the modelling exercise, I would like you to model the famous Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotka%E2%80%93Volterra_equations). Explore the behavior of the model for plausible inputs, and critique the boundary of this model.

Finally, for your term papers, I would like you to respond to what you consider the most significant critique of your model from last week's class. We will discuss each person's progress on these issues as a group. Let me know if you would like to discuss your project in person.

Cheers,
David.

Announced on 03 April 2016  9:45  p.m. by David R. Keith