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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Communication studies > Decision theory
Highly practical and useful for practitioners - cuts through a highly technical and complex subject in a useable and easy to follow way but without 'dumbing down'. Focuses on the facilitation of risk management, an area that is glossed over or simply ignored in other books on risk management. Brand new chapters on virtual facilitation and the role of group bias in the assessment of risk.
This book statistically confirms that complexity and changing technologies that affect the way operators interact within the systems of the nuclear facili-ties exacerbate the severity of incidents caused by human error and details the application of the systems engineering process to reduce human error given industries' rapidly advancing technology. Technology, Human Performance, and Nuclear Facilities: A Systems Engineering Approach to Reduce Human Error provides a basic understand-ing of Human Error/ P erformance and its relation to industrial operations and advancing technologies incorporated into facilities. The book discusses the context surrounding the complexity of changing technologies at nuclear facili-ties and the potential worsening of problems caused by human error when technology advancements concerning operator interaction with control sys-tems are implemented. It presents how to reduce human error propensity given the incorporation of advanced technology and covers ways to reduce human error using the systems engineering process. Also offered are several concepts related to the operator's involvement in the systems engineering process and the human performance integration with system operational requirements and system testing, evaluation, and validation, and the procedures and training development in the systems engineering process. This book presents empirical evidence for the importance of human performance management in the con-text of nuclear facilities and offers practical recommendations for the improve-ment of this function. Systems engineers, plant/ design engineers, the nuclear industry, plant operations management, and those involved in industrial and nuclear safety will find something of interest in this book.
1) Demonstrates alternative definitions of the fuzzy safety factor 2) Explains properties of materials and their structural deterioration 3) Covers optimal probabilistic design 4) Aids the reader in solving problems associated with uncertainty
Most approaches that contribute to the design of life-critical systems almost only consider nominal situations where procedures can be developed and used to achieve satisfactory operations. These kinds of approaches lead to rigid ways of doing things and poorly address the needs for flexibility, especially when things go wrong. It is not a matter of human adaptation but of human systems integration (HSI) flexibility. HSI flexibility requires cross-fertilization of appropriate experiences combined with creativity. This book provides risk-management approaches and methods for combining prevention and design. Features: Discusses risk-management approaches and methods for combining prevention and design Examines a transdisciplinary approach to risk management in design and operations of safer life-critical systems Proposes an approach of work analysis during design, which enables design teams to consider HSI issues early enough to fix organizational problems upstream Teaches the combination of prevention and design for safety management This book gathers and analyzes relevant field data to rationalize human and systems activity in various life-critical environments and workplaces, in a systemic manner, and in a variety of safety domains (e.g., aviation, road, navy, manufacturing, hospital, transportation, defense, sport). It further formalizes and analyzes risk-taking experience, expertise, stories about critical events, and scientific and professional literature data to help engineering designers, managers, and health and safety specialists. The text is primarily written for graduate students and professionals working in the fields of occupational health and safety, ergonomics, human factors, cognitive engineering, and human-system integration.
Straight Choices provides a fascinating introduction to the psychology of decision making, enhanced by discussion of relevant examples of decision problems faced in everyday life. Thoroughly revised and updated throughout, this edition provides an integrative account of the psychology of decision-making and shows how psychological research can help us understand our uncertain world. The book emphasizes the relationship between learning and decision-making, arguing that the best way to understand how and why decisions are made is in the context of the learning and knowledge acquisition which precedes them, and the feedback which follows. The mechanisms of learning and the structure of environments in which decisions are made are carefully examined to explore their impact on our choices. The authors then consider whether we are all constrained to fall prey to cognitive biases, or whether, with sufficient exposure, we can find optimal decision strategies and improve our decision making. This edition highlights advances made in judgment and decision making research, with additional coverage of behavioral insights, nudging, artificial intelligence, and explanation-based decision making. Written in a non-technical manner, this book is an essential read for all students and researchers in cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, and the decision sciences, as well as anyone interested in the nature of decision making.
This open access book focuses on both the theory and practice associated with the tools and approaches for decisionmaking in the face of deep uncertainty. It explores approaches and tools supporting the design of strategic plans under deep uncertainty, and their testing in the real world, including barriers and enablers for their use in practice. The book broadens traditional approaches and tools to include the analysis of actors and networks related to the problem at hand. It also shows how lessons learned in the application process can be used to improve the approaches and tools used in the design process. The book offers guidance in identifying and applying appropriate approaches and tools to design plans, as well as advice on implementing these plans in the real world. For decisionmakers and practitioners, the book includes realistic examples and practical guidelines that should help them understand what decisionmaking under deep uncertainty is and how it may be of assistance to them. Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty: From Theory to Practice is divided into four parts. Part I presents five approaches for designing strategic plans under deep uncertainty: Robust Decision Making, Dynamic Adaptive Planning, Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways, Info-Gap Decision Theory, and Engineering Options Analysis. Each approach is worked out in terms of its theoretical foundations, methodological steps to follow when using the approach, latest methodological insights, and challenges for improvement. In Part II, applications of each of these approaches are presented. Based on recent case studies, the practical implications of applying each approach are discussed in depth. Part III focuses on using the approaches and tools in real-world contexts, based on insights from real-world cases. Part IV contains conclusions and a synthesis of the lessons that can be drawn for designing, applying, and implementing strategic plans under deep uncertainty, as well as recommendations for future work. The publication of this book has been funded by the Radboud University, the RAND Corporation, Delft University of Technology, and Deltares.
A new playbook for effective crisis management in higher education. Unlike other industries, in higher education an institution's most important asset is its reputation. Yet as fundamental as it is, many leaders continue to view managing reputation as dishonest and counterproductive, a suspect process that undermines the very idea of reputation as an organic outcome of reality. When leadership credibility is on the line, though, and an institution's reputation is facing potentially irreparable damage, the concept of reputational risk moves from being nebulous to all too tangible. In Preventing Crises at Your University, Simon Barker demonstrates how critical it is for colleges and universities to align strategy and values with decision-making during times of crisis. Arguing that leaders must stop considering the discussion of reputational risk as unseemly, he demonstrates that this discussion is in fact a strategic imperative for every leader. Significant reputational damage, Barker asserts, is not the inevitable outcome of a crisis but of a poor response. Defining a new crisis leadership playbook to deal with self-inflicted crises, he also * explains what typically goes wrong in a crisis; * describes how to prevent crises from escalating; * demonstrates how a stakeholder-centric model of communications can help mitigate reputational damage; and * introduces a number of original concepts, including a Reputational Risk Management Framework, a Reputational Risk Maturity Model, and a Culture and Capability matrix. Moving beyond the theoretical by presenting case studies of real crises involving sexual assault, freedom of speech, student protests, faculty misconduct, and a broad range of financial, social, and ethical issues, the book highlights and underscore key concepts around effective management of reputational risk. Ultimately, Preventing Crises at Your University serves as a wake-up call for all higher education leaders and board members.
The concept of school turnaround-rapidly improving schools and increasing student achievement outcomes in a short period of time-has become politicized despite the relative newness of the idea. Unprecedented funding levels for school improvement combined with few examples of schools substantially increasing student achievement outcomes has resulted in doubt about whether or not turnaround is achievable. Skeptics have enumerated a number of reasons to abandon school turnaround at this early juncture. This book is the first in a new series on school turnaround and reform intended to spur ongoing dialogue among and between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners on improving the lowestperforming schools and the systems in which they operate. The "turnaround challenge" remains salient regardless of what we call it. We must improve the nation's lowest-performing schools for many moral, social, and economic reasons. In this first book, education researchers and scholars have identified a number of myths that have inhibited our ability to successfully turn schools around. Our intention is not to suggest that if these myths are addressed school turnaround will always be achieved. Business and other literatures outside of education make it clear that turnaround is, at best, difficult work. However, for a number of reasons, we in education have developed policies and practices that are often antithetical to turnaround. Indeed, we are making already challenging work harder. The myths identified in this book suggest that we still struggle to define or understand what we mean by turnaround or how best, or even adequately, measure whether it has been achieved. Moreover, it is clear that there are a number of factors limiting how effectively we structure and support low-performing schools both systemically and locally. And we have done a rather poor job of effectively leveraging human resources to raise student achievement and improve organizational outcomes. We anticipate this book having wide appeal for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in consideration of how to support these schools taking into account context, root causes of lowperformance, and the complex work to ensure their opportunity to be successful. Too frequently we have expected these schools to turn themselves around while failing to assist them with the vision and supports to realize meaningful, lasting organizational change. The myths identified and debunked in this book potentially illustrate a way forward.
In the current political climate of the U.S., newcomer immigrant and refugee students seeking an education and a better life for themselves face their most uncertain future yet. Particularly, English learners who have experienced interrupted or limited schooling in their home country and language face challenges in adjusting to a new environment. They deserve differentiated support to succeed both in school and in their new communities. What sets this book apart are the student stories which shed light on the significant resilience they exhibit despite many obstacles faced during all stages of migration. This includes immigration hurdles, housing instability, negative stereotyping and, for some students, the difficult experience of crossing the border as an unaccompanied minor. In Creating Responsive Classroom Communities for Newcomers, readers will hear from educators, counselors and students in a study of 4 high schools across New York State. They will learn what is being done to develop classrooms and schools that can be culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of diverse newcomer students with interrupted schooling. The book shares observations and details of a SIFE-centered English Language Arts curriculum developed with these students' needs in mind, including best practices in both academic instruction and in cultivating a welcoming classroom culture that builds upon student strengths and background knowledge. Readers will come away with a deeper understanding not only of the challenges these students face but also ideas for strategies to better serve them by transforming and improving their own school communities.
This book will serve as a "Think Button" for any educator who has ever heard a student say, "I can't think" or "I can't decide!" Fifty prompts or thinking conduits are the catalysts that will give students a chance to practice thinking. The prompts (many with option answers) are formatted as brief stories, exercises, poems, and activities and are designed so kids can use the same thinking skill sets that are essential in making everyday decisions. Whether the prompts pose silly questions, "Would you rather bathe a gorilla or take an elephant for a walk?" or practical ones, "What's the best way to express your opinion?" they are all crafted to spur children to think hard and sensibly so they can make levelheaded decisions and defend their thinking in a stress-free think forum environment. The intention is for students to take the essence of something they've learned from a prompt and adapt it, stretch it, and use it to help solve a problem or make a tough decision. Every prompt comes with guidance, explanations, and suggestions so educators can clarify why certain options or decisions are better than others, and respond to thinking choices and decisions students may have made.
Critical thinking requires a deep understanding of the topic at hand and the ability to look at content from diverse, and often unfamiliar, perspectives. Critical thinkers engage with material in innovative and creative ways to analyze, synthesize and assess it in order to reach their own informed conclusions. Developing Critical Thinking: From Theory to Classroom Practice invites readers to revisit their pedagogy to promote this type of inquiry. Scholars and practitioners from several content areas introduce several examples of instructional strategies, classroom practices, and projects at multiple grade levels. Their experiences come together to highlight practical ways to foster students' critical thinking skills and encourage them to engage in learning in new ways.
Natural disasters, instability in the finance and banking sector, widespread social protests, and other crisis situations have increasingly become the focus of public attention. With the growing visibility of such events, accelerated by the rise and proliferation of social media, the study of risk and crisis management in the Internet age is of vital importance.Uncertainty and Catastrophe Management is a clear and comprehensive guide to a variety of crises, and seeks to offer practical advice on how best to avoid them, minimize loss and damage once they have occurred, and how best to recover from these situations. The book examines 104 cases that run the gamut from natural disasters such as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, to social movements like the Ukrainian protests in 2013, from the Syrian Electronic Army's cyber-attacks, to the reputational damage to firms in the wake of a corporate scandal.This book is a revised and expanded edition of Akira Ishikawa and Atsushi Tsujimoto's book, Risk and Crisis Management: 101 Cases, and explores a number of recent events. It draws on the expertise of the contributors to the volume to create a well-rounded book that will benefit professionals, academics, and the general public alike. In particular, safety professionals, public management professionals, CEOs, CIOs, students and researchers will appreciate its pragmatic approach to dealing with and recovering from crises in the interest of long-term survival and sustainability.
This book is about realistic solutions for the threat of zero-interest rates and excessive liquidity. Central banks do not print growth. The financial crisis was much more than the result of an excess of risk. The same policies that created each subsequent bust are the ones that have been implemented in recent years. This book is about realistic solutions for the threat of zero-interest rates and excessive liquidity. The United States needs to take the first step, defending sound money and a balanced budget, recovering the middle-class by focusing on increasing disposable income. The rest will follow. Our future should not be low growth and high debt. Cheap money becomes very expensive in the long run. There is an escape from the central bank trap.
School leaders know that instructional leadership is a crucial aspect of education. However, many of those leaders lack the knowledge and credibility to lead this work. Leaders must be empowered to enter into and guide instructional conversations while building leadership capacity of their teachers in the process. It is easy for administrators to get caught up in the daily managerial tasks of running a school. Passionate educators become principals, however, to make a positive impact on the classroom opportunities and experiences of young people. Because principals may not be experts in all areas of instruction, they must develop their own skills to become genuine participants in instructional conversations. However, the task of a true leader is also to develop the leadership capacity of those around them to ensure that best practices are embraced in all classrooms. The most important and consequential work in schools is happening in the trenches. Principals must commit to join their teachers in that space. With these new skills and a renewed commitment to genuine instructional leadership, administrators can work collaboratively with teachers to transform the educational experience of all students.
School leaders know that instructional leadership is a crucial aspect of education. However, many of those leaders lack the knowledge and credibility to lead this work. Leaders must be empowered to enter into and guide instructional conversations while building leadership capacity of their teachers in the process. It is easy for administrators to get caught up in the daily managerial tasks of running a school. Passionate educators become principals, however, to make a positive impact on the classroom opportunities and experiences of young people. Because principals may not be experts in all areas of instruction, they must develop their own skills to become genuine participants in instructional conversations. However, the task of a true leader is also to develop the leadership capacity of those around them to ensure that best practices are embraced in all classrooms. The most important and consequential work in schools is happening in the trenches. Principals must commit to join their teachers in that space. With these new skills and a renewed commitment to genuine instructional leadership, administrators can work collaboratively with teachers to transform the educational experience of all students.
This collection calls for improved technical communication for the public through an embodied, situated understanding of environmental risk that promotes social justice. In addition to providing a series of chapters about recent issues on risk communication, this volume offers a diverse look at methodological practices for students, researchers, and practitioners looking to address embodied aspects of crisis and risk that incorporate UX, storytelling, and dynamic text. It includes chapters that bring embodiment to the forefront of risk communication, highlighting the cycle of content creation, dissemination, public response and decision making, continuing iterations of educational efforts, and recovery, toward increasing adaptive capacity as a whole. In addition, this work directs necessary attention to overcoming perceptual difficulties, memory lapses, definitional differences, access issues, and pedagogical problems in the communication of risks to diverse publics. This collection is essential reading for scholars and can be used as a supplemental text or casebook for courses in technical communication, environmental communication, risk and crisis communication, science communication, and public health.
Presents Total Manufacturing Assurance (TMA) as a holistic approach to manufacturing operations Focuses on analytics and performance assessment, along with Industry 4.0 and its role in advanced manufacturing, strategic planning, Innovation and engineering economics, as well as manufacturing processes, materials, and operations. It also covers product and manufacturing system reliability, maintainability, availability, quality, and safety, financial issues in decision making and engineering analysis Offers a case study for each chapter highlighting key TMA connections all with the same structure of overview, issue, objective, approach, results, and conclusion Discusses management and engineering techniques and tools, and their practical implementation, required to achieve TMA Expands on integrating fundamental manufacturing, engineering, and management topics, which are key in achieving TMA PowerPoint slides and a solutions manual are available to instructors for course adoptions.
Hazard Mitigation in Emergency Management introduces readers to mitigation, one of the four foundational phases of emergency management, and to the hazard mitigation planning process. Authors Islam and Ryan review the hazard mitigation framework in both private sector and governmental agencies, covering the regulatory and legal frameworks for mitigation, as well as risk assessment processes and strategies, and tools and techniques that can prevent, or lessen, the impact of disasters. The book specifically addresses hazards posed by human activity, including cyber threats and nuclear accidents, as well as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Readers will learn about the framework for the mitigation process, hazard identification, risk assessment, and the tools and techniques available for mitigation. Coverage includes both GIS and HAZUS, with tutorials on these technologies, as well as case studies of best practices in the United States and around the world. The text is ideal for students, instructors, and practitioners interested in reducing, or eliminating, the effects of disasters.
Existing research methods textbooks emphasize the mechanics of HOW to conduct research studies. However, many students fail to see WHY it is important to learn about research because they will never conduct research studies. These students do not become engaged in learning and believe that research courses and textbooks are useless. They do not see the need of developing "research literacy" to understand the applications and limitations of research to their daily lives. This book engages students with a nonmathematical presentation that includes real examples of the consequences of research errors in daily life. The organization facilitates learning with objectives, concepts, description of errors, best practices, and examples. This is a research methods textbook for students who fear research textbooks. The diversity of topics in this book permits application to research methods courses in these academic fields: Economics, Education, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. This should be the first book for all students to introduce research and develop "research literacy".
This book discusses risk management as it applies to problem-solving for simple, complex and wicked problems faced by policy creators and implementors, project managers and systems engineers in the context of policies, large engineering projects (LEPs), projects and systems. When applying systems thinking to risk management, it can be seen that risk management applies to almost every action taken in daily life. This book: Introduces the systems approach of integrating risk management into policy creation and implementation, project management and systems engineering, such as the risk framework and the Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract with penalties and bonuses. Introduces a number of out-of-the box concepts building on the application of the systems thinking tools in the system thinker's toolbox. Points out that integrating risk management into policy and project management and systems engineering is just good management and engineering practice. Discusses the flow of risk in a policy from creation through implementation via LEPs and simpler projects, identifying where risks arise and where they should be dealt with. Presents the risks in the relationship between policy creation, implementation, project management and systems engineering. Discusses risks throughout the policy implementation process and shows how the nature of risks changes from political to financial to technological as implementation proceeds. Discusses managing complexity and specifies the minimum number of elements in a system for it to be defined as, and managed as, complex. Points out that in most instances the traditionally ignored major implementation risk is that of poor performance by personnel. Shows how to proactively incorporate prevention into planning in order to prevent risks, as well as how to mitigate them when they occur.
This collection calls for improved technical communication for the public through an embodied, situated understanding of environmental risk that promotes social justice. In addition to providing a series of chapters about recent issues on risk communication, this volume offers a diverse look at methodological practices for students, researchers, and practitioners looking to address embodied aspects of crisis and risk that incorporate UX, storytelling, and dynamic text. It includes chapters that bring embodiment to the forefront of risk communication, highlighting the cycle of content creation, dissemination, public response and decision making, continuing iterations of educational efforts, and recovery, toward increasing adaptive capacity as a whole. In addition, this work directs necessary attention to overcoming perceptual difficulties, memory lapses, definitional differences, access issues, and pedagogical problems in the communication of risks to diverse publics. This collection is essential reading for scholars and can be used as a supplemental text or casebook for courses in technical communication, environmental communication, risk and crisis communication, science communication, and public health. |
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