System Dynamics Glossary
What is the meaning of CATWOE?
CATWOE is a mnemonic of the six crucial
characteristics which should be included in a well formulated root
definition used in Soft Systems Methodology:
Customer: beneficiary or victim of
the system’s activity.
Actor: a person who carries out one or
more of the activities in the system.
Transformation Process: the core
transformation process of a human activity system is expressed as
the conversion of some input to some output.
Weltanschauung: the (unquestioned)
image or model of the world which makes this particular
human activity system (with its particular transformation process) a meaningful
one to consider.
Owner: he person or persons who could modify
or demolish the system.
Environmental Constraints: impositions which the system takes
as given (Checkland, 1993: 312-319).
Other topics in our resources on System Dynamics related to CATWOE include:
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