System Feedback Loops - Systems Thinking and Archetypes - Essay Example

The Balancing Loop attempts to move some current state to a desired or reference state through some Action (Bellinger, 2004). A Gap is produced when the desired state interacts with the current state. When the gap is larger, it means the influence is stronger and produces Action which then causes the current state to move towards the desired state. According to Bellinger (2004), this is done until the Gap is reduced to zero where there is no more influence toward Action. A Reinforcing Loop is a structure that feeds on itself to produce growth or decline (Bellinger, 2004). State 1 either increases or decreases which influences State 2 to move in the same direction. This structure produces growth or decline, hence, it is reinforcing it.

Learning Organizations for NutriSystem

The increasing demand for a healthy diet in the U.S. has an impact on the weight loss market. NutriSystem has been a leading provider of weight management. Using the system feedback loops, events can be affected by determining the patterns observed in behaviors and desired outcomes. These feedback loops illustrate the interactions between events or states. Based on the example of diabetes cases, many people are diagnosed with diabetes and NutriSystem is aiming at promoting health for diabetics.

Figure 1 - Reinforcing Loop

This diagram shows one example of the relationship between the diagnosis of diabetes and the number of potential diabetic customers. The more people who are diagnosed with diabetes, the greater the number of potential diabetic customers are for NutriSystem. In other words, the potential diabetic customers increase when more people are likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. The potential diabetic customers can be predicted because the likelihood of people having diabetes is evident. Getting a diagnosis for individuals is likely to be an outcome of predicted potential diabetic customers who are at high risk due to factors such as pregnancy, pre-diabetes conditions, or trends in sugar intake.

In 2011, statistics from National Diabetes Fact Sheet show that there are about 25.8 million or 8.3% of the U.S. population have diabetes.  There are 18.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes, 7.0 million who are undiagnosed, and 79 million who have pre-diabetes. There are millions of new cases of diabetes every year (American Diabetes Association, 1995-2011). This

System Feedback Loops 3

was become an opportunity for NutriSystem to serve diabetics as they have formed a strategic alliance with American Diabetes Association to promote weight loss for people with Type 2 diabetes.

A view of the benefits of health and nutrition using NutriSystem can be depicted in the following diagram:

Figure 2 – Reinforcing Loop

NutriSystem offers over 100 food items designed to combine “good” carbohydrates, proteins, and fats (Pechman, 2011) in addition to the glycemic index (GI) prepared meals for diabetics. They provide customers with a home delivery meal program that includes balanced, pre-prepared, and portion-controlled meals. (Pechman, 2011). Demand for products such as that of NutriSystem has increased with the growth of the obesity epidemic.

System Feedback Loops 4

To make a profit, NutriSystem must target potential customers by using new and improved marketing strategies such as pricing, better meals, advertising, etc. This will result in drawing more customers to sign up with the NutriSystem weight loss program and therefore increase the number of current customers.