At that time, he began applying what he had learned about systems during his work in electrical engineering to every day kinds of systems. What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use of feedback loops. Stocks and flows help describe how a system is connected by feedback loops which create the nonlinearity found so frequently in modern day problems.
Computers software is used to simulate a system dynamics model of the situation being studied.
Professor John D. Sterman is the director of the System Dynamics Group. The Group has three main areas of research at this time. The National Model Project strives for a better understanding of how the U.S. economy works. The Group uses the System Dynamics National Model which generates behavior as observed in an actual economy for the interactions of local structures and decision-making policies, building a bridge that joins microstructure with macrobehavior. Corporations and private individuals fund this research.