Using Archetypes to Teach Systems Thinking in an Engineering Master's Course

Systems Thinking can help to solve complex problems in different domains. For an engineering master's program, we designed a seminar course to teach Systems Thinking. For the seminar we use qualitative models known as archetypes as conceptual models and the Covid-19 pandemic as problem context. In this paper we describe the course design and report findings from running it. Based on students' evaluation and the materials they produced throughout the course, our findings (1) support our design assumptions regarding student motivation, (2) give hints on students' struggling with Systems Thinking and understanding and applying archetypes in particular. With this we want to contribute to the discussion of how to teach Systems Thinking in Higher Education. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

An Empirical Study to Identify Consumer Brand Relationships During a Crisis

Countless businesses exist only to serve the varying demands of the world's customers, and those consumers find themselves constantly bombarded by an overwhelming selection of goods and brands. The brand distinguishes the company from its rivals and aids consumers in making educated purchasing decisions. However, when faced with a catastrophic event like the COVID-19 outbreak, consumers' assessment criteria shifted in response to shifting priorities and circumstances. As a result, shoppers are rethinking their brand loyalties and choosing new ones. This article used the brand archetype framework to determine what factors customers value during times of crisis. It also used the brand archetype framework to identify the elements consumers consider important during a crisis. Data were collected from 207 respondents and using the Relative to an Identified Distribution (RIDIT) approach, the top-rated brand elements were identified based on level of importance or agreement. This study will help practitioners incorporate the identified elements into their brand image. Their subsequent actions will help them remain relevant and essential for their consumers, even in challenging situations. © 2023, Associated Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Saving the Life of a National Sport Organization With Strategy and Governance

Endurance Canada is facing a dire situation. It must turn itself around or face bankruptcy. The problems are piling up for Endurance Canada’s Board of Directors. Over the last 20 years, the Board’s Chair, Bill Fitzpatrick, has seen his sport’s athletes go from winning Olympic medals to not having any medals internationally. Within Endurance Canada, he has seen high staff turnover and burnout, power struggles between the national and provincial/territorial levels, and their revenues have been hit hard. COVID-19 was the proverbial nail in the coffin. Something drastic needs to happen. So, Bill brings in Amanda Tsang, a strategy expert. She has 1 month to come up with a plan to bring Endurance Canada back to life. The case follows Amanda as she reviews the strategy, structure, and governance issues in the organization. This fictional case asks students to (a) develop a strategic plan for Endurance Canada, (b) show how structure and strategy are interrelated, and (c) reflect on governance issues in a multilevel governance system.

The multiple impacts of the COVID-19: a qualitative perspective

The world has been highly impacted by the COVID-19 as the coronavirus has spread across the world. Apart from massive publications on this topic, there is no available qualitative analysis that describes the dynamic spreads of the COVID-19 and its impacts on healthcare facilities and the economy. Using the system archetypes analysis, this paper explains that the dynamic spread of the COVID-19 consists of the limits to growth and the success to successful structures. The structure of the limits to growth elucidates that increasing symptomatic and asymptomatic cases may be bounded by self-quarantines and isolation. Moreover, the success to successful structure explains that once the COVID-19 affects the economy through the lockdown, there will be a limited fund to support the government aids and the aggregate demand. Overall, this paper gives readers simplified holistic insights into understanding the dynamic impacts of the COVID-19 in our society. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Cultural story models in making sense of a desired post-corona world

The corona pandemic has been a disruptive event that calls for individual and collective efforts to make sense of the future. This paper aims to delineate the ways in which people from Greece (N=41) and Finland (N=18) draw on cultural story models (narrative schemas for organizing knowledge and experiences) to anticipate and make sense of a post-corona future. Personal anticipations of what their own post-corona future lives and the world should look like were collected using the Letters from the Future method. Using structural narrative analysis, five main storylines were discerned: (1) back to normal through human efforts;(2) back to normal through natural course;(3) persisting problems;(4) safety through technology;(5) transformation through profound value change. We argue that the first, return to normal narrative, functions as a master narrative that is countered in nuanced ways by the other four storylines. At a decisive moment in history, we argue that space for counter narratives is required for democratic engagement in shaping our futures.

Proposal for sustainability action archetypes for higher education institutions

Purpose>Higher education institutions (HEIs) should assume their role as leaders in the search for a sustainable future. Consequently, such institutions need to incorporate sustainability into their activities. However, this needs to be done holistically and not with isolated and independent actions. Therefore, this study aims to develop a structure of sustainability action archetypes to help HEIs holistically incorporate sustainability in their strategies.Design/methodology/approach>A systematic review of the literature was conducted focusing on the subject of sustainability in HEIs.Findings>A structure of sustainability action archetypes for HEIs was proposed. Further, based on scientific literature, examples of actions were presented within each archetype.Practical implications>This study provides HEI administrators and other organizations with a practical structure to enable the systemic incorporation of sustainability objectives and actions into institutional activities.Originality/value>This study adapts the tool “sustainable business model archetypes” for a new purpose. This tool was initially developed to classify innovations of sustainable business models.

Coronavirus: does its activation of archetypes of evil cause added psychological suffering?

Fear and grief caused by the pandemic have produced a powerful unconscious narrative in the collective psyche that the coronavirus is driven by an innately evil, and possibly divine, force. The resulting archetypal dimension of fear causes an extra layer of psychological suffering in individuals. This paper discusses how and why this narrative was created and why it is so compelling by looking at 1) the myth-making nature of the human psyche, 2) the psychodynamics of fear that drive the narrative, 3) the properties of the coronavirus and the pandemic that activate negative poles of some archetypes, in particular, archetypes of evil, and 4) asking how analytical psychology can help ease psychological suffering caused by these negative narratives, where one possibility is to invoke the transcendent function. The author's personal experiences as both biochemist and analytical psychologist elucidate how the transcendent function can promote healing.

La peur et la douleur causées par la pandémie ont produit un puissant récit inconscient dans la psyché collective, à savoir que le coronavirus est dirigé par une force intrinsèquement maléfique ou éventuellement divine. La dimension archétypale de peur qui en résulte produit une couche supplémentaire de douleur psychologique chez les individus. Cet article étudie comment et pourquoi ce récit est créé et pourquoi il est si convaincant. L'article procède en examinant 1) la nature de la psyché humaine qui tend à fabriquer des mythes, 2) les dynamiques psychanalytiques de la peur qui motivent le récit, 3) les propriétés du coronavirus et de la pandémie qui activent les pôles négatifs de certains archétypes, et en particulier l'archétype du mal, et 4) comment la psychologie analytique peut aider à soulager la douleur psychologique produite par ces récits négatifs. Une possibilité est d'invoquer la fonction transcendante. Les expériences personnelles de l'auteur à la fois en tant que biochimiste et en tant que psychologue analytique éclairent comment la fonction transcendante peut promouvoir la guérison.

El miedo y el dolor causado por la pandemia han producido una poderosa narrativa inconsciente en la psique colectiva, significando que el coronavirus es producido por una fuerza divina, innata del mal. La resultante dimensión arquetípica del miedo causa un estrato extra de sufrimiento psicológico en los individuos. El presente trabajo examina cómo y porqué ha sido creada esta narrativa y porqué resulta tan atractiva, prestando atención a: 1) la naturaleza creadora de mitos de la psique humana, 2) los psico-dinamismos del miedo que impulsan dicha narrativa, 3) las propiedades del coronavirus y de la pandemia que activan los polos negativos de ciertos arquetipos, en particular arquetipos del mal, y 4) pregunta cómo la psicología analítica puede ayudar a aliviar el sufrimiento psicológico causado por estas narrativas negativas, donde una posibilidad es invocar la función trascendente. Las experiencias personales de la autora como bioquímica y psicóloga analítica elucidan como la función trascendente puede promover la curación.

OpenEHR modeling: improving clinical records during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had put pressure on various national healthcare systems, due to the lack of health professionals and exhaustion of those avaliable, as well as lack of interoperability and inability to restructure their IT systems. Therefore, the restructuring of institutions at all levels is essential, especially at the level of their information systems. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic had arrived in Portugal at March 2020, with a breakout on the northern region. In order to quickly respond to the pandemic, the CHUP healthcare institution, known as a research center, has embraced the challenge of developing and integrating a new approach based on the openEHR standard to interoperate with the institution's existing information and its systems. An openEHR clinical modelling methodology was outlined and adopted, followed by a survey of daily clinical and technical requirements. With the arrival of the virus in Portugal, the CHUP institution has undergone through constant changes in their working methodologies as well as their openEHR modelling. As a result, an openEHR patient care workflow for COVID-19 was developed.