Supply Chains: A Manager's Guide

Conceptual Models

The conceptual model is by far the simplest of the three types. This sort of model is basically a description of a business system and is usually expressed as some combination of diagrams and explanations. To a large extent, the format depends on the experience of the modelers—those with the most training in modeling usually rely on detailed diagrams with formal notation to reduce ambiguity. By contrast, those with little or no training tend to express their models as verbal descriptions mixed with stories about how the business works—stories that can often be formalized as scenarios. Although generally less precise than diagrams, descriptions and scenarios often capture the nature of the business in a way that formal diagrams ...