Solving complex problems through strategic analysis - PA leads the debate at the 2011 System Dynamics Society conference

On 25 July 2011, PA Consulting Group's Tom Mullen, Head of Federal and Defense Consulting, gave a keynote presentation at the annual 2011 System Dynamics Society conference in Washington DC.

Together with Colonel James Baker, US Air Force, Tom's presentation, 'Lots of loops: lessons from using system dynamics', considered some of the key challenges facing the US Government and drew on experience from the last eight years of policy and decision analysis work in order to demonstrate how strategic analysis can improve the rigour of decision making.

Tom and James used a number of real situations to illustrate the effective use of strategic analysis to understand complex problems, and offered perspectives from both inside and outside government. Some of the key challenges they examined included how military power can be leveraged to improve stability and how to take a more structured approach to managing a huge but limited budget to achieve a wide range of evolving strategic objectives.

To find out more about PA's insight and experience in using system dynamics to help address complex strategic challenges in both the public and the private sectors, please contact us now.

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PA works with major public and private sector organisations to help solve some of their most important strategic challenges. Our insight and expertise includes: 

Corporate strategy and market analysis – analysing company and market behaviour under a range of scenarios to identify actions and strategies that will transform performance

Government policy, planning and assessment – addressing complex government challenges on a range of issues including operational restructuring, counterinsurgency, regional stability, economic development, healthcare policy and energy security

Prioritising major investments – identifying ‘high leverage’ strategies and actions to achieve objectives, then mapping investments to those actions to provide a more rigorous process to prioritise investments and effort

Strategic management and performance improvement on major projects – analysing strategic risks and finding leverage points to improve performance on large, complex programmes and project portfolios

Negotiation support and dispute resolution – using dynamic analysis to help quantify and explain different positions in dispute, and working with the parties to help reach equitable solutions in negotiation, arbitrations or formal disputes, including serving as expert witnesses.

To find out more about how PA can help your organisation address complex strategic challenges, please contact us now.