Loopy-System Structural Maps

System Thinking, Causal Loops, System Maps

A business system is composed of a set of describable beliefs, behaviors and/or resources and the relationships between them which can be described and drawn. A system structural map is the result of our working backwards from an event to the people and things involved and their relationships to each other (Kirkwood, 1998). When we detail this out or draw it, we have a representation of the system structure (Anderson & Johnson, 1997). This session introduces and provides practice in a short session for NON-Operations classes to give students a feel for systems thinking and causal loop diagramming.

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