BENCHMARKING THE SYSTEM DYNAMICS COMMUNITY - RESEARCH RESULTS

This article reports on the findings of a wide-ranging study designed to 'benchmark' the system dynamics community. The study captured infor mation about individual practitioners across a number of dimensions, i ncluding background, approach to and practice of model building, use o f hardware and software and knowledge of the history and development o f the field. Circulated to all members of the System Dynamics Society, the study attracted responses from 163 members (over 35 percent). The following pages present research results and discuss their possible i mplications, In particular, important conclusions highlight a potentia l quality gap in the model base, postulate a relationship between peda gogy and practice and begin a dialog concerning the dynamics of supply and demand in the field.