Engaging Stakeholders for Collaborative Decision Making in Humanitarian Logistics Using System Dynamics

Participatory System Dynamics modeling is presented as a methodology to engage stakeholders in collaborative decision making in scenarios involving humanitarian logistics. Using the System Dynamics (SD) model, we simulated different scenarios, the results of which yielded factors that influence performance of humanitarian logistics. Once these were identified and discussed, different options on performance improvement were tested. This approach showed that the SD model can facilitate system thinking for stakeholders and form shared mental models critical to reaching consensus-based decisions in humanitarian logistics situations.