How to determine the performance of a system
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how the performance of a system is determined.
Design/methodology/approach
Systems with the same structure or function often have different performances. What makes the difference? Within a system, the various actors make their decisions by their own and their actions depend on the mechanism of the system. The actors' strategy selection under different mechanisms and the mechanism design are precisely in the range of Game Theory. This paper compares two different pricing mechanisms, the Stackelberg Game and Cournot Game, in a linear supply chain. And the obtained result of the different behavior (Pm*, Pr*) and different performance (Um*, Ur*) of the supply chain obviously approves our proposition that the operational mechanism is of great importance to the performance of the system, the same as structure.
Findings
It is the structure of the system and operational mechanism which determines the performance of the system.
Research limitations/implications
The paper's limitations lie in the fact that it is not yet based on experimental evidence from real‐world systems.
Practical implications
Game Theory is one of the most effective methods to study the systematic mechanism, especially the mechanism designs, because it reveals the inherent nature of the systematic mechanism.
Originality/value
This paper points out that the mechanism which restricts each behavioral subject determines the performance of these systems. It puts forward a new region for the research of general system theory.
Keywords
Citation
Han‐jiang, Z. and Duan‐hong, L. (2012), "How to determine the performance of a system", Kybernetes, Vol. 41 No. 9, pp. 1361-1369. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684921211275414
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited