Qualitative <i>vs</i> quantitative modelling: the evolving balance

Wolstenholme, Eric

doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2600700

Cited by 222 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Work often may stop at the first stage with the production of a causal-loop (sometimes called influence) diagram where the aim of the project is simply greater understanding of the situation, or where reliable quantitative information is not available. This is sometimes referred to as qualitative as opposed to quantitative SD (Wolstenholme 1999b). Table 3 lists recent SD applications in a range of different domains.…”

Section: Recent Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to operational research and management science

Mingers

White

2010

European Journal of Operational Research

361

229

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The systems approach, or systems thinking, has been intimately connected with the development of OR and management science initially through the work of founders such as Churchman and Ackoff and latterly through innovations such as soft systems. In this paper we have undertaken a review of the contribution that systems thinking has been making more recently, especially to the practice of OR. Systems thinking is a discipline in its own right, with many theoretical and methodological developments, but it is also applicable to almost any problem area because of its generality, and so such a review must always be selective. We have looked at the literature from both a theoretical and an applications orientation. In the first part we consider the main systems theories and methodologies in terms of their recent developments and also their applications. This covers: the systems approach, complexity theory, cybernetics, system dynamics, soft OR and PSMs, critical systems and multimethodology. In the second part we review the main domains of application: strategy, information systems, organisations, production and operations, ecology and agriculture, and medicine and health. Our overall conclusion is that while systems may not be well established institutionally, in terms of academic departments, it is incredibly healthy in terms of the quantity and variety of its applications.

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Section: Recent Developmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to operational research and management science

Mingers

White

2010

European Journal of Operational Research

361

229

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“…The estimated number of weekly shipments required in each scenario was used to set the rate of asset utilization over the month and the impact that it would have on the carriers' fixed cost structures. Based on the results, a graphic function was generated (Wolstenholme, 1999) that was incorporated into the quantitative computational model. Data recording was not limited to information collected from the standpoint of a single agent.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hockey Stick Phenomenon: Supply Chain Management Challenge in Brazil

Sanches

Lima

2014

BAR, Braz. Adm. Rev.

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The objective of this study is to investigate a phenomenon that occurs in Brazil, specifically the spike in demand at the end of the sales period, known as the hockey stick phenomenon. This analysis will encompass the causes as well as the impacts of this phenomenon, in a way that allows alternative policies to be evaluated. Data was collected from a Brazilian branch of a large multinational in the non-durable consumer goods industry and in semi-structured interviews conducted face-to-face with executives of 26 clients. The data was used to generate a continuous simulation model based on the methods of systems dynamics. The findings showed that the phenomenon negatively impacted the manufacturer's financial performance in the long term and indicated required changes necessary to remediate the phenomenon. This is an empirical study on the hockey stick phenomenon, a problem that affects diverse companies in Brazil. The study showed that companies should not assume the hockey stick phenomenon to be an exogenous problem; it showed that there are policies able to improve financial performance; and it provided ideas regarding ways to carry out the change process.

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“…These studies make very different methodological decisions. Some adopt a qualitative approach, while other adopt a quantitative approach (Wolstenholme 1999). Some focus on building theory, while others focus on testing theory, and yet others combine the two (Colquitt and Zapata-Phelan 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over time, the ideas of feedback loops and endogenous explanations of behavior were also applied qualitatively, through mapping the structure of a system in causal loop or stock and flow diagrams (Wolstenholme 1999). System dynamics based theoretical contributions to organizational theory encompass both qualitative and quantitative research designs.…”

Section: Qualitative Versus Quantitativementioning

confidence: 99%

Developing dynamic organizational theories; three system dynamics based research strategies

Gooyert

2018

Qual Quant

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There is an increasing attention for dynamic organizational theories. The system dynamics methodology, although originally developed for practical contributions, is increasingly used to develop dynamic theoretical contributions. However, these studies differ substantially in the research designs they apply. Some of these studies adopt a quantitative approach while others adopt a qualitative approach. Some of these studies focus on testing existing theories, while other studies focus on building theory or combine both theory testing and building. This variety hinders an effective understanding of the methodology. To increase clarity, this paper provides a systematic review of system dynamics based theoretical contributions in organizational theory between 1990 and 2016. By looking at differences and commonalities I show how various methodological decisions combine into three distinctive internally consistent system dynamics based research strategies for theoretical contributions. These results support making methodological decisions in future research designs when applying system dynamics to develop dynamic organizational theories.

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Qualitative vs quantitative modelling: the evolving balance

Cited by 222 publications

References 10 publications

A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to operational research and management science

A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to operational research and management science

Hockey Stick Phenomenon: Supply Chain Management Challenge in Brazil

Developing dynamic organizational theories; three system dynamics based research strategies

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