Abstract
Sustainable development (SDEV) aspects are increasingly becoming an integral part of managerial discourse in different industries. Stakeholders realise that long-term success is profoundly dependent on a balanced treatment of the Economic, Social and Environmental responsibilities through the lenses of the “Triple Bottom Line” (TBL) framework. As SDEV is becoming more vital for organisations, dealing with its challenges is also becoming more complex and costly. Modelling and Simulation (M&S) techniques could be valuable in providing understanding and insight for coping with systems that have high levels of complexity and uncertainty; However, findings of this research show that the empirical research in this area is still in its infancy; particularly, within the context of healthcare sector. The majority of existing studies are predominately focused on the productivity factors, while social and environmental elements are ignored in system modelling. Systems with SDEV characteristics (defined in this thesis as TBL-based systems) can be very complex and uncertain, particularly in healthcare, as they combine various subsystems comprising numerous elements and stakeholders with diverse interests. Thus, this research shows that developing models to respond to these complexities requires insight into the characteristics of SDEV and sustainable systems, alongside a major rethink of studying sustainability beyond existing modelling disciplines. To address these issues, this research has developed a comprehensive M&S framework for TBL modelling, to guide modellers in developing models for SDEV analysis of healthcare systems. It is argued that this framework could cater for all requirements and characteristics of TBL-based systems, thereby attempting to reduce the gap between TBL-based systems and the current capabilities of M&S methods. The framework is evaluated through existing case studies in a healthcare context, which are then extended to incorporate SDEV characteristics using the TBL framework. The lessons learned from the evaluations were used to make further amendments and revisions, leading to the final framework.