This book looks at the social aspects of how virtual and geographically dispersed groups work together using information and communication tools (groupware). It introduces the basic concepts and brings together ideas from various disciplines to provide an integrated approach to the evaluation and design of groupware technology. Key topics include: =B7 Why some collaboration technologies succeed and others fail =B7 The conditions needed for successful distributed collaboration =B7 How to take a systematic, user-oriented, design-related approach to the evaluation of computer supported collaboration Primarily intended for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Information and Communication Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Communication Sciences, Human Factors, Interface Design and Multimedia Systems, this book will also be of interest to researchers, practitioners and lecturers in social and organisational sciences.

Have you ever wondered why most newspapers are so large? Or why management consultants work such long hours? Or why hotels still insist on having check-in desks? Ask anyone in these industries, and their answer will be the same: "That's the way we've always done it."

"Best practices" may be widespread, but that doesn’t mean they're effective. In many instances the opposite is true: best practices can be outdated, harmful, and a hindrance to innovation. These bad practices are all too common in organizations, and managers and executives can be blind to their pernicious effects. Since they've worked in the past, or have been adopted with success by other firms, their purpose or effectiveness is rarely questioned. As a consequence, these practices spread and persist.

In Breaking Bad Habits, Freek Vermeulen, a strategist with a keen eye for the absurd, offers the tools to identify these practices and rid them from your organization. And, most of all, he presents a compelling case for how eliminating popular but outworn ideas, processes, and strategies can create new opportunities for innovation and growth.

Brimming with examples of norm-defying organizations in an eclectic range of industries--including IVF clinics, hotels, newspapers, and a famous London theater--Breaking Bad Habits will make you rethink your long-held beliefs about industry norms while encouraging you to reinvigorate your business by breaking out of the status quo.

'The way that Ricardo Semler runs his company is impossible; except th at it works, and works splendidly for everyone. I relish this book. It revived my faith in human beings and my hope for business everywher e' Charles Handy--Workers make the decisions previously made by their bosses--Managerial staff set their own salaries and bonuses--Everyone has access to the company books--No formality - a minimum of meetings, memos and approvals--Internal walls torn down--Shopfloor workers set their own productivity targets and schedulesResu lt - Semco is one of Latin America's fastest-growing companies, acknow ledged to be the best in Brazil to work for, and with a waiting list o f thousands of applicants hoping to join it. This book offers the chanc e to learn Ricardo Semler's secrets and let some of the Semco magic ru b off on you and your company

This graduate-level textbook covers modelling, programming and analysis of stochastic computer simulation experiments, including the mathematical and statistical foundations of simulation and why it works. The book is rigorous and complete, but concise and accessible, providing all necessary background material. Object-oriented programming of simulations is illustrated in Python, while the majority of the book is programming language independent. In addition to covering the foundations of simulation and simulation programming for applications, the text prepares readers to use simulation in their research. A solutions manual for end-of-chapter exercises is available for instructors.

Thinking strategically is what separates managers and leaders. Learn the fundamentals about how to create winning strategy and lead your team to deliver it. From understanding what strategy can do for you, through to creating a strategy and engaging others with strategy, this book offers practical guidance and expert tips. It is peppered with punchy, memorable examples from real leaders winning (and losing) with real world strategies.

The Strategy Book focuses on how you can create powerful strategies to deliver success in a competitive world. It answers the following questions:

• What do we know about strategy?
• What can creative strategy do for you?
• How can you effectively create winning strategies?
• How to think and act strategically?
• How can you engage people with strategy?
• How do you avoid pitfalls, problems, and screw-ups?

As the most comprehensive reference work dealing with knowledge management (KM), this work is essential for the library of every KM practitioner, researcher, and educator. Written by an international array of KM luminaries, its approx. 60 chapters approach knowledge management from a wide variety of perspectives ranging from classic foundations to cutting-edge thought, informative to provocative, theoretical to practical, historical to futuristic, human to technological, and operational to strategic. The chapters are conveniently organized into 8 major sections. The first volume consists of the sections: foundations of KM, knowledge - a key organizational resource, knowledge processors and processing, influences on knowledge processing. Novices and experts alike will refer to the authoritative and stimulating content again and again for years to come.

Risk Management and Business Continuity are essential for the competitive capacity of any international corporation. The temporary unavailability of technology and services can endanger the existence of any company. It is cruical to develop an international strategy to deal with these problems. This book provides theoretical analysis and practical solutions on these topics.

This is a book in which successful, experienced IT solutions providers talk about their actual practical experiences in IT risk management. Tony Moynihan has asked successful IS/IT project managers to compare and contrast their recent projects in terms of the various important and different factors they had to deal with in each project. Coping with IS/IT Risk Management discusses how to:- handle unrealistic client expectations; - decide on the 'ownership' of a project; - set targets that work in practice! The result is a very well-written, interesting book, which will be enormously helpful to any professional needing to cope with the many and varied problems which can be encountered in IS/IT risk management. About the Author: Tony Moynihan is a Professor at the School of Computer Applications at Dublin City University, researching in the field of software engineering and software project risk-analysis. "This is probably one of the most real, useful, and entertaining books I have ever read on project management."(Robert L Glass, Editor, The Software Practitioner)"In my opinion, this book contains great practical advice to IS/IT project managers, based on the experience of other IT project managers. Tony succeeds in getting project managers to talk about their projects and the associated risks. He then distils these candid interviews into practical advice for other IS/IT project managers." (Nancy Mead, SEI, Carnegie-Mellon University, USA) "A useful book for any project manager to use and to reflect on, as they undertake their day-to-day activities." (Robert Cochran, Director, Centre for Software Engineering, Dublin)

Flashes of insight-the "Eureka!" moments that produce new and useful ideas in a single thought-are behind some of the world's most creative and practical innovations. This book shows how to cultivate more and better flashes of insight by harnessing the science and practice of the "seventh sense." Drawing from psychology, neuroscience, Asian philosophy, and military strategy, William Duggan illustrates the power of the seventh sense to help readers aspire to and achieve more in their personal and professional lives. His examples include Gandhi, Joan of Arc, Starbucks founder Howard Shultz, and executives and students he has taught in his classes. His book presents specific steps in the form of three practical tools to help prepare the mind, see and seize opportunity, and follow through on one's resolution. Based on Duggan's perennially popular Columbia Business School course, this book teaches the mental skills and discipline that power the seventh sense.

The volume contains 43 (out of 185) papers that were presented at the 15th International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making held in Ankara, Turkey July 10-14, 2000. The conference was one of the regular conferences of the International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making, which are held at approximately two-year intervals. The Ankara conference had 195 participants from 38 countries. The volume covers all relevant aspects of the field and presents the latest research results on MCDM.

This book is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of St. Gallen in October 1999. I would like to thank Dr. oec. Marc Wildi whose careful reading of much of the text led to many improvements. All errors remain mine. Pfiiffikon SZ, Switzerland, March 2001 Pierre-Yves Moix Preface to the dissertation "Education is man's going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty" Don Clark's Scrapbook quoted in Wonnacott and Wonnacott (1990). After several years of banking practice, I decided to give up some of my certitudes and considered this thesis project a good opportunity to study some of the quantitative tools necessary for the modelling of uncertainty. lowe very much to Prof. Dr. Karl Frauendorfer, the referee of my thesis, for the time he took to read the manuscript and for the numerous valuable suggestions he made. I am also very grateful to Prof. Dr. Klaus Spremann who kindly accepted to co-refer my thesis and who strengthened my inter est in finance during my study period. During my time at the Institute for Operations Research of the University of St. Gallen (lfU-HSG) I had the opportunity to participate in the project "RiskLab" which provides a very profitable link between finance practice and academics. I would especially like to thank Dr. Christophe Rouvinez from Credit Suisse for his comments and all the data he provided so generously."

Being able to change to keep pace with a rapidly changing world is the key to business success in the '90s. Enlightened Leadership is a practical, hands-on guide to breaking through the barriers to organizational change. Doug Krug and Ed Oakley show why most efforts at change fail -- and they provide leaders with proven methods for getting their people moving in the right direction.

The key lies in showing those who would be change agents how to capitalize on their organization's greatest asset: the under-utilized talent, expertise, and energy of its existing staff. The authors' program is based on maximizing the contributions of all employees -- by sharing information, decision-making, and planning with them -- creating a shared culture of organizational goals, strategies, and methods.

Managers and leaders at all levels -- from small business owners to corporate strategists -- can use Oakley and Krug's proven techniques, including planning, communication, and motivational tools, to support their employees in effecting the positive changes that will make the difference in achieving their organizations' bottom-line goals.

Aspects of Safety Management contains the invited papers presented at the ninth annual Safety-critical Systems Symposium, held in Bristol, February 2001. For some time, it has been recognised that technical issues are only one side of the safety coin. The other, often dominant feature, is active, informed and committed management. An understanding of risk, emphasis on education and the use of language, attention to learning lessons from both research and other industry sectors, and the development of the appropriate staff competences, are all aspects of safety management. The papers contained within this volume cover a broad range of subjects, but all have the common link of safety management. They present a great deal of industrial experience, as well as some recent academic research.

This book reports on an operational management approach to improving bike-sharing systems by compensating for fluctuating demand patterns. The aim is to redistribute bikes within the system, allowing it to be "actively" balanced. The book describes a mathematical model, as well as data-driven and simulation-based approaches. Further, it shows how these elements can be combined in a decision-making support system for service providers. In closing, the book uses real-world data to evaluate the method developed and demonstrates that it can successfully anticipate changes in demand, thus supporting efficient scheduling of transport vehicles to manually relocate bikes between stations.

A company's reputation is one of its most valuable assets, and reputational risk is high on the agenda at board level and amongst regulators. Rethinking Reputational Risk explains the hidden factors which can both cause crises and tip an otherwise survivable crisis into a reputational disaster. Reputations are lost when the perception of an organization is damaged by its behaviour not meeting stakeholder expectations. Rethinking Reputational Risk lays bare the actions, inactions and local 'states of normality' that can lead to perception-changing consequences and gives readers the insight to recognize and respond to the risks to their reputations. Using case studies, such as BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Volkswagen's emissions rigging scandal, Tesco, AIG, EADS Airbus A380, and Mid-Staffordshire NHS Hospital Trust, and analysis of their failures, this hard-hitting guide also applies lessons drawn from behavioural economics to the behavioural risks that underlie reputation risk. An essential read for risk professionals, business leaders and board members who need to understand and deal with business-critical threats to their reputation, this book presents a new framework that will be invaluable for all involved in safeguarding an organization's reputation.

This long-awaited textbook provides a unified perspective of a rich and varied field. It recognises that in order to develop strategies for improving the decision-making process one needs to understand how decisions are made in practice and in what ways behaviour differs from guidelines implied by normative theories of choice. It is the interplay between descriptive, normative, and prescriptive analysis that gives this book a special flavour. Using a set of illustrative examples, Decision Sciences synthesises current research about different types of decision making, including individual, group, organisational, and societal. Special attention is given to the linkage between problem finding and problem solving. The principal message emerging from the book is that decision making entails a complex set of processes that need to be understood in order to develop sound prescriptions or policy advice.

Managing environmental contamination requires decision makers to weigh eXlstmg risks against the potential effects of implementing environmental policies - considering both the benefits and disruptions that may result from different actions. The NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Lisbon was an important step in the development and application of cost efficient methods of risk assessment especiaIly within the constraints of a budget. The goal of the workshop was to evaluate the potential for risk assessment to serve as a unified and unifying technique in addressing a wide range of environmental problems. Papers presented in this book discuss issues ranging from specific and local studies (specific site, ecosystem, pollutant) to global decision and management frameworks (watersheds, regions, integration of multiple poIlutants and stressors); they develop a range of approaches starting from specific methods to widely applied public policies (Figure 1). The papers show that the use of risk assessment can provide the scientific basis for environmentaIly sound and cost-efficient policies, strategies, and solutions to our environmental chaIlenges. The organization of the Proceedings reflects sessions and discussions during the workshop. The papers in the introductory Chapter summarize the positions of Drs. Glenn Suter (EPA) and Jim Wilson (Resources for the Future) regarding whether the use of often-expensive risk assessments in developing countries can be justified, given evolving regulatory institutions and limited resources.

This practical 'how-to'book describes all the key operations of ARIS Toolset - the market leading Business Process Modelling Tool. Using lots of screen shots and plenty of practical examples, Rob Davis shows how ARIS can be used to model 'your' business processes.Based on his experience of using ARIS in British Telecommunications plc, the author describes practical ways of using ARIS Toolset:- Explaining the models and techniques that will enable new users to start modelling quickly and effectively.- Introducing tips and short cuts which make using the tool much easier.- Giving insights into the ARIS concepts.- Explaining the rationale behind alternative ways of using the tool, their benefits and the trade-offs involved.- Tackling issues found in real projects (e.g. complex model structures, handling variety, etc), as opposed to the simple examples given in many books.In addition to describing how to use the tool, Rob Davis discusses how to create standards for using ARIS as well as giving guidance on how to use ARIS for process capture and design.Business Process Modelling with ARIS is a 'must have'for every user of ARIS.

During the past two decades, the consideration of mUltiple objectives in modeling and decision making has grown by leaps and bounds. The nineties in particular have seen the emphasis shift from the dominance of single-objective modeling and optimization toward an emphasis on multiple objectives. The proceedings of this Conference epitomize these evolutionary changes and contribute to the important role that the tield of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) now plays in planning, design, operational, management, and policy decisions. Of special interest are the contributions of MCDM to manufacturing engineering. For example, it has recently been recognized that optimal, single-objective solutions have often been pursued at the expense of the much broader applicability of designs and solutions that satisfy multiple objectives. In particular, the theme (MCDM and Its Worldwide Role in Risk-Based Decision Making) of the XIVth International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making (Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, June 8-12, 1998) represents the growing importance of risk-cost-benefit analysis in decision making and in engineering design and manufacturing. In such systems, minimizing the of rare and extreme events emerges as an essential objective that risk complements the minimization of the traditional expected value of risk, along with the objectives attached to cost and performance. These proceedings include forty-five papers that were presented at the Conference. A variety of techniques have been proposed for solving multiple criteria decision-making problems. The emphasis and style of the different techniques largely reflect the fields of expertise of their developers.

Sociotechnical principles are now widely used around the world in both information systems and organisational design. First established in the 1940s to examine the effect of mechanised, mass-production systems on workers in the coal mining industry, they are now an important tool for ensuring that people and technology work together to optimal effect within an organisation. One of their main aims is the development of organisations where small groups work independently, handling sets of varied tasks, and managing their own activities.
The main features of this book include: Practical experiences of applying sociotechnical approaches from around the world; Focus on future directions for the topic and modern applications of existing principles; Contributions from leading figures such as Enid Mumford; A Foreword by Frank Land.

Mathematical models are being increasingly used to estimate the concentrations of a wide range of substances in the environment for a variety of reasons, including government control and legislation, and risk and hazard estimation. Exposure assessment has to be performed for many types of substances, including pesticides, industrial chemicals, pollutants, accidental discharges, etc. The interpretation of the results of model equations should always bear in mind the purpose for which the model used was built in the first place. Further, models are always an abstraction of reality, requiring simplifying assumptions to keep the models within the restraints posed by computer performance and/or scientific knowledge. The present book treats the theme of modelling chemical exposure and risk in terms of four main topics: model characteristics, applications, comparison of estimated with measured concentrations, and modelling credibility.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the Symposium on Operations Research 2000 (OR 2000) held at the Dresden University of Technology, September 9-12, 2000. This international Symposium was organized by the German Operations Research Society GOR in the series of its annual conferences. The Symposium had 354 participants from IS countries around the world. The 210 lectures reflected the broad spectrum of Operations Research and its interdisciplinarity, involving economics, mathematics and computer science. The volume is arranged in 14 Sections, like the conference, and a special section with the papers of the winners of the GOR Diploma Thesis award. The 86 papers have been selected by the chairpersons of the sections and the editors. Compared to previous conferences, the number of sections has been reduced by combining some overlapping sections: The former sections for linear and nonlinear programming are now contained in the 'Continuous Optimization' Section, the graph theory has been included in the 'Discrete and Combinatorial Optimization' Section. The traditional application fields are growing together in the scope of the current 'Supply Chain Management' thinking. This is considered in a corresponding section. Its high number of papers at the conference and in this volume underlines the importance of Operations Research for this modem management concept. For the first time, the conference included a section on 'Didactics of Operations Research', which found a great echo and is represented by four papers in this volume.

That's what every business wants to be.  And that's why the U.S. Marines excel in every mission American throws at them, no matter how tough the odds.  In Corps Business, journalist David H. Freeman identifies the Marine's simple but devastatingly effective principles for managing people and resources -- and ultimately winning.  Freedman discusses such techniques as "the rule of three," "managing by end state," and the "70% solution," to show how they can be applied to business solutions.

'The New Knowledge Management' is the story of the birth of "second-generation knowledge management," told from the perspective of one its chief architects, Mark W. McElroy. Unlike its first-generation cousin, second-generation Knowledge Management seeks to enhance knowledge production, not just knowledge sharing. As a result, 'The New Knowledge Management' expands the overall reach of knowledge management to include "innovation management" for the very first time.
'The New Knowledge Management' introduces the concept of "second-generation knowledge management" to the business community. Mark W. McElroy has assembled a collection of his own essays, written over the past four years, chronicling the development of related thinking in the field.
Unlike first-generation KM, mainly focusing on value derived from knowledge sharing, second-generation thinking formally adds knowledge making to the scope of KM. In this way second-generation KM expands the overall reach of KM to include "innovation management" for the very first time. 'The New Knowledge Management' finally begins to bridge the gap between KM and the field of organizational learning, which up until now have been viewed as miles apart.
* Charts the next generation of knowledge management thinking by the President of KMCI: the leading KM organization
* Expands the overall reach of knowledge management to include "innovation management" for the very first time
* Mark W. McElroy, chief architect of second-generation Knowledge Management, shares his vast experience in a collection of his own essays