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Computer Simulation in Management Science
The Third Edition emphasizes the role of modeling in the computer simulation methods used in management science. Based on modern computing techniques, the use of PCs and workstations, it covers visual interactive simulation, model testing, validation and more. Taking the view that contemporay software and hardware allows rapid model development, it shows why computer simulation models are popular and gives complete instructions on their construction and use.
372 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 1988
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June 14, 2021
Computer Simulation in Management Science is widely regarded as a classic in the MS simulations arena, after reading it is clear to see why. Pidd's highly pedagogical prose, that is easy to follow, concise and humorous at times; goes a long way to explain the concepts in a way that newcomers to the field can understand.
The book itself is divided in 3 parts: Fundamentals of computer simulation in MS, Discrete Event Simulation and System Dynamics.
Fundamentals is about establishing the necessary terminology and concepts that are needed later on to fully grasp what Discrete Event Simulations and Systems Dynamics are all about. For example, time handling (continuous vs discrete) or deterministic vs stochastic processes. There is also a chapter devoted to explaining Monte Carlo simulations, and a practical exercise on how to do this on a spreadsheet.
Discrete Event Simulation is the meatier part of the book, consisting of 8 chapters in total. Pidd does not only explain what DES is about and how to design, build and validate models but also goes to the extent of explaining how DES simulations work and also how to design and build a simulator by yourself. There is one full chapter devoted on how to do this in Visual Basic, and the code was made available on the internet (at the time of writing this review the link doesn't seem to work anymore). There is also a variety of models the reader is challenged to build and validate and a plethora of exercises to put into practice the concepts illustrated in this part. In addition to that, Pidd goes over statistical methods that are essential to recreate randomness and validate DES models with statistical rigors. This is perhaps the most technical and challenging part of the book, readers that haven't seen Maths for quite a while may find those chapters a bit dense.
Lastly, System Dynamics contains 3 chapters, 2 of which are dedicated to explaining SD and one to showcasing a couple of real world case-studies. Unfortunately, this is the part of the book that somehow lacks in depth. While there is nothing wrong with the content, there seems to be less exercises available and Pidd limited himself to write what could be considered a primer on the subject.
This fifth edition of the book is from 2006 I believe, and the downside of this is the fact that some of the software used to provide example of visual interactive modelling software (VIMS) is quite out of date by now. There would be software packages that are widely used nowadays (read Anylogic) that wouldn't be mentioned in here. Therefore, some of the original value this book provided has decayed. However, given the fact that this book deals with the foundational aspects of DES and SD, the concepts and exercises can be naturally be replicated by the reader in other software of his/her choice.
All in all, I quite liked this book. Having read a number of books related to simulations, I found this one to be the first one that gives the best all encompassing view of DES and SD without getting bogged down into abstract minutiae. I would have given it 5 starts if it wasn't because, unfortunately it has aged a little; and also the SD part feels like an extended appendix and I didn't think it got the proper treatment it could deserve.
Recommended to anyone wanting to get started with DES afresh.
The book itself is divided in 3 parts: Fundamentals of computer simulation in MS, Discrete Event Simulation and System Dynamics.
Fundamentals is about establishing the necessary terminology and concepts that are needed later on to fully grasp what Discrete Event Simulations and Systems Dynamics are all about. For example, time handling (continuous vs discrete) or deterministic vs stochastic processes. There is also a chapter devoted to explaining Monte Carlo simulations, and a practical exercise on how to do this on a spreadsheet.
Discrete Event Simulation is the meatier part of the book, consisting of 8 chapters in total. Pidd does not only explain what DES is about and how to design, build and validate models but also goes to the extent of explaining how DES simulations work and also how to design and build a simulator by yourself. There is one full chapter devoted on how to do this in Visual Basic, and the code was made available on the internet (at the time of writing this review the link doesn't seem to work anymore). There is also a variety of models the reader is challenged to build and validate and a plethora of exercises to put into practice the concepts illustrated in this part. In addition to that, Pidd goes over statistical methods that are essential to recreate randomness and validate DES models with statistical rigors. This is perhaps the most technical and challenging part of the book, readers that haven't seen Maths for quite a while may find those chapters a bit dense.
Lastly, System Dynamics contains 3 chapters, 2 of which are dedicated to explaining SD and one to showcasing a couple of real world case-studies. Unfortunately, this is the part of the book that somehow lacks in depth. While there is nothing wrong with the content, there seems to be less exercises available and Pidd limited himself to write what could be considered a primer on the subject.
This fifth edition of the book is from 2006 I believe, and the downside of this is the fact that some of the software used to provide example of visual interactive modelling software (VIMS) is quite out of date by now. There would be software packages that are widely used nowadays (read Anylogic) that wouldn't be mentioned in here. Therefore, some of the original value this book provided has decayed. However, given the fact that this book deals with the foundational aspects of DES and SD, the concepts and exercises can be naturally be replicated by the reader in other software of his/her choice.
All in all, I quite liked this book. Having read a number of books related to simulations, I found this one to be the first one that gives the best all encompassing view of DES and SD without getting bogged down into abstract minutiae. I would have given it 5 starts if it wasn't because, unfortunately it has aged a little; and also the SD part feels like an extended appendix and I didn't think it got the proper treatment it could deserve.
Recommended to anyone wanting to get started with DES afresh.
Displaying 1 of 1 review