Journal of Systems Thinking in Practice
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Dec 2022

The coronavirus (COVID-19) spread has significantly affected the city and its citizens from various aspects. Public transport systems are considered one of the essential parts affected by this virus to change citizens' travel behavior. The main aims of this study are, firstly, investigating the travel behavior of citizens in the period before, during, and after the coronavirus epidemic in the three metropolises in Iran (Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan) from four different perspectives. These four aspects include 1) the main reasons for the use of public transport in the pre-coronavirus era, 2) changes in the use of public transport during this epidemic disease, 3) the effect of the public transport system on the prevalence of COVID-19, and 4) behavioral changes in the use of public transport after the end of the epidemic. Secondly, assessing the impacts of these aspects on citizens' confidence in using public transportation after the coronavirus outbreak is based on the system dynamics model. The data collection tool is the Likert scale questionnaire, and the results were analyzed descriptively based on the evidence found.

Problem-solving requires adopting an appropriate approach that is influenced by understanding the nature of problems ranging from soft to hard. Research results indicate that there is still a lack of an accurate understanding of the nature of problems while researchers are engaged in adopting an approach to addressing the problems. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the nature of hard and soft problems and the quality of their resulting solutions. This research endeavors to examine the nature of soft and hard problems. It is believed that identifying the attributes of different types of problems helps strike a balance between the nature of the problem, the problem-solving method, and the methodology used. Therefore, this research has addressed the nature of hard and soft problems and their perspectives on solving problems to fill gaps left in systems thinking studies. Also, current research helps researchers set a balance between attributes of the problem and ways of thinking about it, better identify the nature of the problem and better adapt the methodology to the problem. Based on the results of this research, soft problems are influenced by the context of the problem. In addition, in hard problems, the structure of the solution is determined by the problem structure. In contrast, in soft problems, the structure of the solution demands a proper understanding of the logical and cultural phenomena of the problem context. That is why the quality of the answer to hard problems is a normative, right, and definitive solution, while the answer to soft problems is a procedure composed of concepts and meanings. The findings of this study suggest that, like a soft problem, the solution to a soft problem is a social reality that all interested groups collectively enact. Consequently, the solution is a system of concepts that all the interested groups accept, and over its implementation, there is a shared understanding among all the interested groups.

Nowadays, global competition has penetrated all parts of the world and all businesses. One challenge facing industries is balancing economic and social progress with environmental protection. While industries have understood the importance of sustainable development, they may not know how to operationalize the concept. Industries need to incorporate environmental aspects into the production process and product design to avoid exploitation of unsustainable and adverse environmental impacts. The result of such conditions is the ever-increasing and endless increase in customer expectations. In recent years, the green economy has been proposed as an emerging concept with the aim of sustainable development. The company’s sustainability is achieved at the intersection of economic growth, environmental protection, and social responsibility. The current research is applied from the objective point of view and descriptive from the method point of view. The subject of this research is a production organization in the field of the automobile industry in Shiraz. The research method based on the system dynamics approach was considered because by using this method, different policies can be designed, and the results of each policy can be evaluated. The results show a strong relationship between total quality management and environmentally friendly production systems. According to the results of offensive manufacturing industries, TQM, directly and indirectly, affects environmental sustainability. Based on the research findings, it can be said that the overall effect of efforts to improve the soft factors of comprehensive quality management is more significant in enhancing environmental indicators.

Organizational agility is one approach that allows organizations to rapidly adapt to these conditions, which can be extended to the agility of individual business processes within the organization. Procurement cycle time is one of the most critical performance indicators that measure procurement process agility. This study will study the factors impacting procurement cycle time using a system dynamics modelling approach. To achieve this, the subsystems are defined and modelled, including internal subsystems like production and sales processes and external ones like market and suppliers. Next, the interactions of these subsystems are analysed, and the casual loops and stock-flow model of the problem are analysed and developed. The model has been implemented and validated in a production organization under the seasonal demand factor. Finally, three policies were proposed to reduce the procurement cycle time, and the simulation results of the policies were analysed numerically. According to the obtained results, combining the presented policies will lead to a 22% reduction in the procurement cycle time.

Appropriate maintenance strategies reduce the overall operating cost of medical equipment and its depreciation, leading to increased equipment availability. This study is looking for an optimal strategy to increase access to medical equipment and reduce maintenance costs. It generally aims to increase the net value of the equipment maintenance system. The present study has designed a simulation model of dynamic systems in order to investigate the contribution of preventive and corrective maintenance measures and strategies to improve the overall performance of medical equipment. In this regard, first, the key variables in the maintenance and repair system of medical equipment have been identified, and their relationships have been compiled in the form of causal loops; then, the primary model has been completed in the form of stock and flow charts which have been simulated in Vansim software. The results show that increasing preventive maintenance by reducing the need for corrective measures leads to increased access to equipment and reduced maintenance costs. The ratio of change of resources and the amount of its allocation to each of the corrective and preventive maintenance measures have been obtained through simulation and according to the amount of primary and secondary variables in the case of the study (Razavi Hospital). The simulated model can be implemented for other hospitals considering their internal conditions.

Due to the lack of attractiveness of agricultural entrepreneurship, a significant part of Iran's agricultural capacities has not been properly utilized. This study focused on identifying and analysing the obstacles to developing sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship in Iran. To this end, identifying barriers was conducted using the Fuzzy Delphi method and data were gathered through interviews and questionnaires. In the following, the obstacles were analysed using the ISM approach and with the participation of a group of 8 experts. An interrelationship diagram of the obstacles was designed at five levels. At the fifth level, the fundamental obstacles included a lack of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship development strategies in the country's macro development plans, the dependence of financial resources of the agricultural sector on the government banking system and government subsidies, lack of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship consulting services, insufficient attention to research and low participation on the part of universities and research institutes. This indicates the immense impact of such barriers on the trajectory toward the realization of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship. At the fourth level, lack of binding laws to assure compliance with environmental standards lack of formal training; At the third level: Lack of incentive policies to increase private sector involvement in providing capital for owners of entrepreneurship ideas, a lack of recognition of opportunities in line with the region's climate, lack of distribution channels in the target markets of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship opportunities, and lack of social development toward creating values and establishing innovative and creative sustainable agricultural businesses; At the second level, lack of knowledge on agricultural entrepreneurship opportunities in optimizing cultivation and water consumption patterns, lack of product pricing systems, and inappropriate marketing; and at the first level, lack of investment in knowledge-based and technological opportunities have been identified as the most susceptible obstacles in realizing sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship.