Principles of Systems explains the ‘sie principles behind system beta ior. It introduces the concepts of structure end dynamie behavior on which were based the author's books, Industrial Dynamies, 1981 (Acaderny ‘of Management, Best Menagement Book of the Year award, 1962) and Urban Dynamics, 1969 (Publications award of the Orgenization Develop. ment Council, 1969) ane Wort Dynemies (1871). Due to the general ‘ature and wide epolicebility of the principles disousee, the book has ‘been accepted as a starting point for ‘multicisciptinary courses on urban, ‘ecologial, corporate and other com: plox social systome. ‘The frst ten chapters of this projected longer book are now availble ina preliminary, papercover edition. The ‘book hes two sections-the text and thn accompanying workbook. Principles of Systems has been ‘adopted by many collegos and univer: sities and is used as a reference text by ‘others, The book serves in its own right a5 well as being an excellent study complement to other books ‘weating socal systems. ‘ Wedghe-alten Room 516 PROGCIPLES oF sxsTENs Text ond Workbook Chapeere 1 chrough 10 ty Jay We Forrester Professor Of Mensgenent Mossachusetta Institute of Technology Press, Tne. 238 Moin Sereat Cenbrhipey he ws, reedPRINCIPLES OF SYSTEMS ALL rights reserved. Mo part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in ony form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, sncleding photocopying, recording, oF by any infornstion storage and retelevel system, without peratssion in veiting ‘ron the publisher. Second Preliminary Bdition FAgch Printing, October 1971 PREPace Chapters 1 chrough 9 contain prinefples of structure. chapter 10 and later chapters yet c0 be written desi with principles of dynamic behavior 96 thete arise from structure,contente ‘PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEAS Jay Forrester Chapter 6 Yodel s--Miscatisneous 6-1 Dimensions Table of Contents 6.2 Solution Interv: 33 fine stratare of computation eo caper pean chapter 7. Plow tages Sit 2k of sree 1b Boat RAZ.GL Be stare of tootte ae a MS Bee Pipes ant reosbece 2 comer Td The Feedback Loop 4 Rinctions wiebeur Teteprecton cuapeer 2 provies of Feedback Srl: arte Sy? purersey ef baneeior tion Uitte Ey pirarsity of Hssciveseetback. 0p eae ae coset oer aagative Poeeboce te E80 Jocecation Bb Seeetitelnck tae ienD metgatig concent 2b oslttae Tecrear Foetback Lore 35g EEEESEIS Gate" epost ‘he positive Loop The Regative Loop Geapusstion of systen opsracion ‘Sime lot of system Operetion chapter 9 Nodate ond Sémilation Sty models: 312 The Bets of Model Usefulness 3.5 Hialacicn teres nslyticel Solutions chapter 4 scmucture of systems Gel Closed Boundary. TLD Reodback taop--seructwrsl Blenent of Systens Ec] Eevee sad saveo--the Substructure within Feesoeck oor fed Meat cgmervation, Diserepancy, Aetion--Sub-substrecssze vuithin # Rete chapter 5 Pquations and Computation Sit computing sequence 5.2 Symbols in Equations 5.3 Uevel Equations S14 Rate Equations SIS. muxiLiary Equactons SL6 Constant ond initial Value EquationsLa onaPrER 1 sysTens Man Lives and vorks within soctel systems, Uke solentisic research 4s exposing the structure of nature's systens. ie technology has produced complex physical systens. But even a9, the principles governing the behavior of systens are got widely understood. As used here 2 "eystea! gome a grouping of parte that operate together for a comon purpose, An automobile 18 a systen of components that work together ¢o provide transportation. Aa eutopilot and ex ateplane form a systen for flying at 2 specified altitude. A warchouse snd loading platform {2 2 eysten for delivering goods into trucks. 4A system may include people as well as physical parts. The stock clerk snd office vorkers are part of the warehouse aysten, Yanagenent $s 4 system of people for allocating resources and regulating the activity of s business. 4 fanfly ie system for Living and raising children, Te systens are so pervasive, uly do not the concepts and principles OF systems appear ore clearly in our Isteratere and in education? Is ft because there has boon no neod for underetanding the basic nature of systens? Or have eysteas scened to possess no general thesry and seaming? Or is it because the principles of aystens, while sought after, hhave been so obscure that they have evaded datection? The anover eecae to have been cach of these three in turn, In 4 primitive society, the existing systene were those aricing in nature and thetr charecteristice were accepted ae divinely given and as being beyond man's comprehension or control. Man eisply adjusted insel£ to the natural systens around him and to the family and tribal social systens which were created by gradual evolution rather then by design. Man adapted to syetene without feeling compelled to understand1? Laz (see. sn to dominate Life as industrial sovisttes emeeged, systems bens ‘as they annifested thenselves sn econonte cycles, political curmeil, pecurring fsnaneiel penics, fluctuating employment, and wnstable ‘pat these social aystens suddenly bocane so coaplex ant thet 7 eneral theory seemed possible. A behavior so confusing that no gs tructure, for cause and effect celetionships, ant search for orderly foe a cheory to explain systen behevior gave way at tines to 4 belief tn random, ferational cases. cratually over the last handved years it has become clear that 1. the abeaace of che barrier to understanding systens has been, not the abs feportant general concepts, but only the 4ifficulty in identifying 1g the body of universal principles that explain the Beonom= aad exprecsing lnuccesses and failures of the systems of vbich we are a parts doe has Sdentéfied many basic rolationshéps withia our industr ‘of the Sncer~ sal aysten, Peycholegy and religion have described sone getions betvaen aystens of people. Medicine has treated biotepicat Gystens, Political setence has explored governmental and inter- ational oystens, Due aost such analysis has been verbal and queli~ tative, Neve deseréption has not been sufficient 0 expose the tbe nuture of systems, Mathematics, which has been used to etrustare has not beon adequate for handling the essential fie have deen overvhelned knowledge in science, realicies of our important social systems. by fagnente of knovledge Bue have had no way to structure this knowledge. (Gee Section Wi of the sceoupanying Workbook) ‘system Principles az she Structure of Knowledge TA structure (or theory) fe essential Lf we are to effectively tnverrelace aad interpret ovr observations in any fleld of knowledge. diehour an integrating structure, inforaetion censins 2 hodge-podge fof Eragnents. Without an organizing structure, knowledge is = weve collection of observations, practices and conflicting incidents. such state of unrelated facts describes much of our knovled bout managersal and economic systems. Ost separate and often fe yet been brought inte focus by bedng conflicting inprecsions have not yet been brought La (See.1.2) assenbled into a unified structure, Without 4 structure to interrelate facts and obsorvetions, 1€ {+ diféicule to Lean from experience, Lt ts Eigticute to use the past to educate for the future. ‘Tho ioportance of structure in education ie well argued by Jesoae 8. Bruner of warvard.' He says, “Grasping the structure of & subject is understanding 1 in sway chat permite many other things co be related co 1€ meaningfully, To learn structure, én short, is to lesen hhov things sre related. good teaching thet expharizes the structure of a subject 1s probably even more valuable for the Less able student han for the gifted one, for it is the former rather than the Latter who 16 most easily throm off the track.....There are two vaye in which learning sezves the future. One £2 through its specific appli- ability to casks that are highly similar to those originelly: lesrncds...+8 second vey ie through the transfer of principles or steitudes.....the continuity of Lesrning that 2 produced by the second type of tanster, transfer of principles, 1¢ dependent upon mastery of the structure of the subject matter... Inherent in the precedtag discussions are et Least four gonerel claims thet can be made for teach- ling the fundanental structure of 2 subject. The first is that under~ standing fundamentals makes a subject sore conprahensible.....the second relates to hunan memory. Porhaps che most baric thing that con be said about human menory, after a century of intensive research, is chat unless detail is placed fate a structured pattern, it is rapidly forgotten. Third, an understanding of fundamental principles ond ideas, ae noted earlier, appears to be the main roud co adequate ‘transfer of training.’ To understand something ae 6 specific inctenee of a move general case--shich is vhat understanding 2 more fundamental principle or structure meane--ie to have learned act only a specific thing Dut also « apdel for understanding other things Like it that one nay encounter. ss-The fourth claim for caphasis on structure end principles fn teaching 1s that by constantly reaxanining material one fs able to narrow the gap between ‘advanced’ knowledge and ‘eleneatery’ knowledge." ‘Bruner, Jerone S., The Process of Education, Harvard University Prese, 1960.4 shore bosk and well worth reading.ca (see. 1.2) he laws of physics form 4 structure to interrelace our many obser~ vations about nature, This structure of physical knovledge is the foundation for today's ceckolegy. ‘Bot in managenent systens, such a basic structure of principles £5 Managers and educators have Tong searched aly new being developed. sychotogieal, for 2 structure to unify the diverse manifestations of anagenent edveation has been industrial, and esononie processe: criticized as being merely descriptive without 9 unifying strectire. Indeed, structure has long been pursued, even though the mature of = suitable structure vas elusive. sy" systeas seem co be emerging as octal ‘But uow the concepts of "Feedbac! the leng-sought basis for structuring our observations of systens, Over the Lest century the theory of systens has slowly been Aevelopod to apply to mechanical and electrical systems. Howevers physicel systens axe far sigpler then octal and biological aystens fend it is only in the last decade that the principles of dyneaic inter actions sa ayateas have been developed far onough to becone practical land useful in dealing vith aystens of people, ‘around the system principles discussed in this book it should be possible to structure sur confusing ebservations shout political and business systeas, When structure and governing principles for “etens have beén accepted, they should go far to explain the contra and resolve the controversies tn » dictions, clarity the aabiguicies, the social seiences, A aystens stricture should give to efucation in human affairs che sane inpetus that che structure of physical lavs has ‘piven to teshsology. The social sciences should become easier to teach Ef they can rest on 2 body of principles chat are comon to all systens, be ehey Henan syotone or technical aystems, In the concepts of systems tee shoutd find a common foundation chat underlies snd unites the evo cultures! of the aciences and hunanities, Béucation {n many areas should be accelerated, Ar Bruner says, “structure.....i# able to narrow tthe gop between ‘advenced" knowledge and ‘elenentary" kavuleilge."* this book deals with the structure and principles of eystens giving epociol enphasie to systens in etononict and industrial organisetion and Ls (See.2.2) : fo eyetene that sonbine people, finance, aod technology. (See Section W1.2 of the accompanying Workbook) 1.9 Syatens--open and Fosdback Systane can be classified as "open systons or “fandback” systans. ‘tn open systen ts one charactecisod by outputs mat respond to Anputs but where the outputs ere {solated from and have no influence fon the dnpute. An op mn system Ls not avere of sts om performance, 4m aa open syste, past action does not control future action. . An open syston doze not obsorvs and react to its own performunce. An auteaabile is an open systen which by itself is nat governed by where i€ has gone fn the past nor does it have @ goal of where to go in the future. A wateh, taken by itself, does not observe ite ove Enaccurocy and adjust itsel fit is an open system, [A feedback system, which ie sometimes called a "elosed” aystea, is snfluenced by its om past behavior. A feedback systen has a closed loop structure that brings results from past action of the systen back to control future action, One class of feedback systen--negative feedback--seeks 2 goal and reeponde a « consequence of felling to achieve the goal. A second class of feedback systen--positive feedback-- generates grovth processes whoroin action builds a result that generetes still greater action. A feedback cystea controls action hased on the results from previous action, The heating eysten of s house is controlled by Chemostat which responds to the heat previously produced by the furnact Because the heat alresdy produced by the system controls the forthconing generation of heat, the heating system eprs ents = negative Feedback aystes that secks the gos! of proper temperature, A watch and its owner form a negative feedback cyeton uhen the watch 49 compared wlth the correct tine 45 a goal and is adjusted to eliminate ersors, An engine vith @ governor senses ite om speod and adjeste the throttle co achieve che preset speed goal--it is a negative feedback eysten, Bacteria multiply to produce more bacteris which increase the rate at which sew bacteria are generated, In this positive feedback aysten the gonoration Fate of nev bacteria depends on the bacteria accumulated from past srovth of becteria,16 (sec.1.3) ldhether aystem should be claseified as an open system or geecback aysten fs not intrinsic eo che particular asseably of parts ‘vat depunds on the observer's viewpoint in defining the purpose of the system. imho way in which the purpose of che system deceriner whether tc is an open or ¢ feedback ayeten can be iTlustrated by considering ‘a gasoline engine in terms of a series of viewpoints. 1. the engine, operating without 2 governor, has 90 goal Te de on open aysten in comms of speed Changing the ehrottle will change the For oped. regulation. apeed but the speed has no effect on che throteh Fucthersore, chenges sa oad will change the speed without causing + ehrottle adjustments Adiga governor produces foodback systen in teres of a constant-specd goal. changes im Yoad cause ‘changes in speed which produce @ compensating change in ehrottle setting 2# the governor tries to hold the speed for which it has been set 3. Rut suppose the engine 46 part of « Law: mower and we ‘change the goal from coustant-epead operation £0 8 geal of moving the Lava, Now, from the broader purpose of cutting grass, the Lave aover {s an open systen because it has no asaranets of vhat grass hes been cut for where €0 cut next. 4. By adding the person operating the Lava sover, we sgsin see a feedback eyotea in terme of the goal of cutting a particular Lam, The operator and mover fora feedback systen (that ie, « goal seeking system) rather than an open system (that is, one aot striving for en objective) because the guidance of the aower is in ‘accordance uith the pattern of gress already cuts (52e.1-3) Lab 5. Woe Lf che viewpoint is broadened again to that of the ower of a Lavo-care eatorpriss with « goal of mocting hts customer demands, the operator and his Lama nover sre properly considered component of a Larger manage- ment systen. As such, the operator and his equipaent represent an open systen that is undirected in ite sequence of separate tasks. 6. By adding the management fonction, instructions arising from customer requirensats are introduced as a guider In terme of the gosl of properly scheduled werk, the ‘operator, equiprent, and omer must be taken together to form a feedback system for che purpose of serving customer Iaim-cars needs, | broad purpose may imply 2 feedback system heving many conponents. But each conponent can itself be a feedback ayeten in terms of some subordinate purpose, One must then recognize 2 hferarehy of feedback structures uhere the broadest purpose of fntei 1 determines the ecope of the percinent systen. ‘This book is davoted to the theory, principles, and behavior of feedback systens. Tt ix in the positive feedback fom of syscen structure that one Finds che forces of grovth, It is in the nagative feedback, or goal-secking, structure of systens that one finds the causes of fluctuation and instability. (See Section Wi.3 of the accoupenying Workbook) The baste structure of a feedbsck Loop ars in Pigure Lba. ‘The feedback loop is 2 closed path connecting in sequence 2 decision that controls action, the tevel” of the eysten, and information about the level of the aysten, the Latter returning to the decision-making potats "The cern “level” is used in chis book to mean a state or condition of the systemLa (see.1-4) Source Decision ial ye. or condition of the system / 7 Figure 1.4e Feedback loop ‘the avetlobic infornstion, as it exists at any sowent, is the is for the current decision that controls the action stream. she action alters the Level of the system. The level (trve level) ten, at of the systen is the generator of information about ths the information itself may be Late or errosecus, The information Ss the agpacent Level of the system which may differ from the erue level. Te Ae the inforaation (apparent Level), not the true Level, that {2 the basis for the decision process. (Seerson 1.4) "The singlo-Loop structure of Figure Lute is the siaplest fora of facdback system, There may be additional delays and distortions sppearing sequentially in the loop, There may be many Loops that, sntezconneet. Ordering replacenent goods to maintain an inventory ta ¢ warchouse illustrates che cireular cause-and-effect structure of the feedback Ioop ae in Figure 1e4b, Orderin decis[on Inventor) information Figure 4b Jnventory ordering boop.