John Gunkler writes:
> I do not see this ["people are expendable"] as an underlying value of
> system dynamics nor other kinds of systems thinking -- quite the opposite
> in Senge's work, for example -- but I don't like the unintended message
> being sent by the use of such example models. I would be very happy if I
> never again saw a system dynamics model that included firing/hiring loops
> (especially when naively and exclusively connected with short-term
> economic outcomes.)
I'm quite in sympathy with your basic point (in fact, I regret using the
term "employee retention" for the topic -- I wanted to get the question
out, and simply grabbed a handy bit of corporate-speak). However, I'd
suggest, instead of eliminating the hiring/firing diagrams, it might be
more productive to improve them, to explicitly show the costs associated
with losing good people. Actually, I'd be very interested in seeing such
a model expressed in the language of system dynamics.
Thanks to all for the good replies (and the lively thread), and I hope to
be able to do something useful with them.
Regards,
--Don Dwiggins "The best way out is always through" SEI Information Technology -- Robert Frost d.l.dwiggins@computer.org
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