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Structure and Fundamental Modes of Behavior in Dynamic Systems

In: Introduction to Modeling Sustainable Development in Business Processes

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  • Dirk Inghels

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

You may have already observed that many different systems behave the same way. For example, there is a similarity between global population growth over the last 200 years and the annual accumulation of money on a saving account given a fixed yearly net interest rate. Both systems show the same exponential growth behavior because they have a common underlying structure somewhere. The behavior of systems is generally determined by their structure. That structure may consist of feedback loops, stocks and flows, or nonlinearities created by the structure’s interaction with the decision-making processes (Sterman 2000). In this chapter, we discuss the three basic modes of behavior in dynamic systems and their underlying structure: exponential growth, goal seeking, and oscillation. Then we discuss the behavior of more complex dynamic systems and how they interact with some basic structures: S-shaped growth, S-shaped growth with overshoot, S-shaped growth with overshoot and collapse, and tragedy of the commons. These so-called archetypes of system behavior are often observed in the domain of sustainability, as we will show in the following sections.

Suggested Citation

  • Dirk Inghels, 2020. "Structure and Fundamental Modes of Behavior in Dynamic Systems," Springer Books, in: Introduction to Modeling Sustainable Development in Business Processes, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 155-168, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-58422-1_9
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-58422-1_9
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