Modelling simple business processes with STELLA

Ballantine and Whittington reviewed a computer-based modelling approach to Finance, using the STELLA object-oriented modelling and simulation environment, in which they outlined the overall structure and conduct of the modelling language. Their review suggested that use of this approach in analysing financial processes might provide a useful adjunct to existing modelling practices, particularly those based on spreadsheet construction and manipulation, and might provide opportunities for developing greater student understanding of the subject matter through direct manipulation of entities on-screen. In particular, one of the claimed benefits of this approach to modelling and simulation by the systems thinking and systems dynamics communities, is that it allows the user to visualise flows of information and resources by experimenting with parameter values, and directly tracking the system responses to these by means of animations of stocks and flows within the modelling environment. This paper attempts to indicate how the STELLA modelling language may be used to represent visually some simple dynamic processes and to render these operational in the context of student models for learning.