Exponential Growth, Exponential Decay, and Goal Seeking Behavior

In this section, we will examine the dynamics of three fundamental behavior modes: exponential growth, exponential decay, and goal seeking, with the intention of illustrating that these well-known time paths can be mimicked, and hence understood and explained, by simple system dynamics structures. We will pull together the building blocks presented in the previous chapter, and for the first time, introduce the reader to some of the fundamentals of system dynamics computer simulation modeling. Before this can be accomplished, however, it is necessary to draw a distinction between analytical solutions and simulated solutions to dynamical systems of equations.