SD Meets OR: A New Synergy to Address Policy Problems

Area of Science:

• Systems Modeling
• Operations Research
• System Dynamics

Background:

• Seven years of collaborative research focused on systems models for U.S. higher education.
• Development of models for scientific workforce development.

Purpose of the Study:

• Propose methodological improvements for traditional Operations Research (OR) models.
• Enhance systems modeling by incorporating feedback processes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of three recent systems modeling examples.
• Integration of system dynamics (SD) feedback principles into OR models.
• Development of hybrid modeling approaches.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that incorporating feedback processes improves OR models.
• Showcased the power, insightfulness, and effectiveness of hybrid models.
• Highlighted the benefits of combining OR and SD modeling strengths.

Conclusions:

• Synergistic modeling approaches combining OR and SD offer significant advantages.
• Future modeling efforts should leverage the strengths of both OR and SD.
• Simple, approximate models with feedback can be highly effective for complex systems.