Group model building effectiveness : a review of assessment studies

Abstract

Over the last decades system dynamicists have experimented with approaches to achieve more involvement of their clients in the model building process. As a result the number of reports in the literature on the use of system dynamics as an organisational intervention tool has increased dramatically. From the literature we have identified 107 cases that provide details on the modelling process and the assessment of results. This article reports on a meta analysis of findings of these studies. It attempts to draw some general conclusions on the effectiveness of system dynamics modelling interven-tions, to clarify differences in definitions of outcomes, and to provide guidelines for more standardised assessments and reports, so that accumulation of research results will become easier in the future.