The importance of strategic and dynamic behaviour in real-world systems is paramount, especially when we consider the large technical infrastructures that make society work. Modelling social aspects are complicated because they are usually not well defined and can highly depend on individuals. This paper proposes and describes a framework on how to combine system dynamics and Q methodology to better understand complex systems. The proposed framework is the tool to work with systems where connections can be explained only by subjective opinions, and it gives opportunities to simulate sociotechnical systems, where social behaviour cannot be described with observation data.

As a public organisation, road administrations have the responsibility to improve the road construction process. However, the changes in such process involve a number of the stakeholders, who have different perceptions about what is most important in the road construction process. Perspectives on the necessity and nature of change will differ too. In order to provide an environment in which the potential consequences of changes in procurement can be tested, it is important to develop a model that simulates the process, especially the social part of the system. To achieve this, the model requires perceptions of stakeholders. The paper presents a new framework that obtains worldviews of the stakeholders in the complex adaptive system and transforms them into a System Dynamics model. As a result, a computational model is developed to observe the behaviour of stakeholders in the system. The model can become a tool for testing policies in the complex adaptive system.

Nowadays much emphasis is given to innovative procurement in the road construction sector. However, typical discussions about it do not focus on all the stakeholders involved in the process and all aspects. However, one cannot forget that procurement is a complex system, and everyone’s perspective is important for success. This paper looks at the worldviews of stakeholders in the road construction industry. The Q methodology is used to analyse the subjectivity of the worldviews. As a result, it is possible to look deeper into the perspectives and to see what each stakeholder sees as most important, and also to compare different worldviews among stakeholders.