System Dynamics Review Vol. 25, No. 4, (October–December 2009): 339–341Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/sdr.439Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

I am Kim Warren, member of the Awards committee which is chaired by Jim Lyneis. The other members of the Committee are Brad Morrison, Erich Zahn and Mark Paich, himself a former winner.

The Applications Award is of great importance to the Society. Given our aim of encouraging widespread and infl uential adoption of system dynamics in the real world, it is vital that we demonstrate to others the power and impact the method can have. Having outstanding examples of such work is the most persuasive way in which we can make that case.

The Award is presented by the System Dynamics Society as often as once every two years for the best ‘real world’ application of system dynamics con-ducted within 10 years of the submission deadline. The basis for the submittal can be a published paper, a conference paper or presentation, or an internal company report or presentation. At least one named author must have been employed at the time of the work by the company or organization whose per-formance was improved by the system dynamics modeling effort. Given the nature of the award, self-nominations are strongly encouraged, and we urge you to keep those nominations coming in future years. Tell us about the great work you are doing out there!

The best application is chosen primarily on demonstrated measurable benefi t to an organization through the use of system dynamics, and secondarily for new ideas that improve the art of applying system dynamics, or for relating work to existing system dynamics literature and/or other disciplines. Winners are announced, and a plaque presented, at the annual conference of the System Dynamics Society—this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The winners are also invited to deliver a talk on the work.

In choosing the winner that best met the broad criteria for the Award, we looked for papers that demonstrated, fi rst, a clear statement of the problem—and why it was a problem. We also wanted to see specifi c actions taken by the organization to deal with the problem, informed by insights from system dynamics work. We wanted a clear explanation of how system dynamics modeling contributed to deciding on those actions. Lastly, we looked for evidence that demonstrable value was gained from taking those actions to address the problem.

These are demanding criteria! Many system dynamics projects are recog-nized to have been helpful, even if detailed actions are not specifi ed—“The work just really helped us understand what was happening and how we could improve things.” So a winning paper must go the extra mile and engage the

The 2008 System Dynamics Applications AwardCitation for the winners: Ken Cooper and Greg Lee

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CITATION ARTICLE

340 System Dynamics Review Volume 25 Number 4 2009

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/sdr

client in identifying exactly what they did differently and why, and in think-ing about the actual benefi t that resulted.

This year’s winning paper is “Managing the Dynamics of Projects and Changes at Fluor” by Ken Cooper and Greg Lee.

Let me introduce the authors of this fi ne work.

Greg Lee was before his recent retirement Senior Vice President, Fluor Corporation. He has held numerous executive positions in both operations and sales during his 30+ years with Fluor. Greg has enterprise-wide respon-sibility for Fluor’s Corporate Project Change Management Initiative. He created Fluor’s Corporate Claims Management Group, and was Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Fluor’s Global Sourcing and Supply Company. Greg led Fluor’s world-wide corporate initiative and business operations for integrated natural gas and gas-to-liquids projects, is a past member of Fluor’s Management Development Board, former President and Managing Director of Fluor Arabia, executive sponsor for various multi-billion dollar proposal efforts, and was Senior Director and Business Unit Manager responsible for the worldwide marketing and execution of lump-sum turnkey combined cycle projects.

Ken Cooper is Managing Director of Cooper Associates, a management consulting fi rm based in Milford, NH (USA). Ken pioneered the use of system dynamics in project management, and has directed over two hundred model-based consulting engagements for clients managing major commercial and defense projects. In addition to Fluor, his clients have included senior executives of Raytheon, Boeing, MasterCard, Northrop Grumman, and more. He is an original author of the project simulation model used in the Change Impact Assessment system, and has published on the topics of project management, rework, and change impacts.

In the award-winning work, Cooper and Lee designed, built, tested, and imple-mented a model-based system to aid project management at Fluor Corpora-tion. Fluor is one of the world’s largest Engineering and Construction fi rms, with 2008 revenues over $20 Billion. The US-based fi rm operates in every major business sector and geography. The system developed by Cooper and Lee rapidly tailors a model to simulate each engineering and construction project. Each model is then used to foresee future cost and schedule impacts of project changes, and most important, test ways to avoid the impacts. This “Change Impact Assessment” system has now been used on over 100 different projects. Hundreds of project managers and planners have been trained in the ongoing internal use of the system. In addition to providing a better under-standing of the project-wide effects of changes, the cost savings identifi ed for Fluor and its clients amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. The award-winning paper can be accessed at http://www.kcooperassociates.com/fi les/SD_Paper_for_Reprint_V3.pdf.

The 2008 System Dynamics Applications Award 341

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/sdr

The paper is both eloquent and inspiring. Not only does it demonstrate out-standing system dynamics work, of course, and explain the specifi c actions and quite enormous benefi ts that resulted, but it also achieves a further crite-rion, beyond those on our list—it shows how system dynamics became embed-ded in the way the organization actually runs. Whilst many projects can rightly claim to have informed organizations as to how they should have done some-thing better, this paper reports that system dynamics would itself be a major part of how large numbers of people in the company do things differently in future—a rare achievement indeed.