Network optimization is important in the modeling of problems and processes from such fields as engineering, computer science, operations research, transportation, telecommunication, decision support systems, manufacturing, and airline scheduling. Recent advances in data structures, computer technology, and algorithm development have made it possible to solve classes of network optimization problems that until recently were intractable. The refereed papers in this volume reflect the interdisciplinary efforts of a large group of scientists from academia and industry to model and solve complicated large-scale network optimization problems.

Decision Analysis for Management Judgment is unique in its breadth of coverage of decision analysis methods. It covers both the psychological problems that are associated with unaided managerial decision making and the decision analysis methods designed to overcome them. It is presented and explained in a clear, straightforward manner without using mathematical notation. This latest edition has been fully revised and updated and includes a number of changes to reflect the latest developments in the field.

When a door closes in life, how do we navigate what happens next and unlock the opportunity it brings?

Change happens to us all, personally and professionally, sometimes when we least expect it, sometimes intentionally. Change can feel disorientating and daunting but what if, instead of seeing a closed door as an ending, we saw it as a beginning? Eleanor Tweddell brings her expertise as a sought-after change consultant to help you navigate the messiness of transition, be it redundancy, heartbreak, illness or any unexpected detour life throws your way.

Drawing from her five-step framework, she will help you embrace the space between one chapter ending and another beginning to spark ideas, identify opportunities and start to move forward with clarity, purpose and energy. Another Door Opens isn't just a guide to coping with change, it's a manifesto for moving through change boldly, turning fear into fuel and resistance into possibility.

The challenges faced by 21st-century businesses, organizations and governments are characterized as being fundamentally different in nature, scope and levels of impact from those of the past. As problems become increasingly complex and wicked, conventional reductive approaches and data-based solutions are limited. The authors argue that practical wisdom is required. This book provides an integral and practical model for incorporating wisdom into management decision making. Based on a cross-disciplinary conceptualization of practical wisdom, the authors distinguish systematically between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom-based decision making. While they suggest that data, analytics, information and knowledge can assist decision-makers to better deal with complex and wicked problems, they argue that data-based systems cannot replace optimized human decision-making capabilities. These capabilities, the authors explain, include a range of qualities and characteristics inherent in philosophical, psychological and organizational conceptions of practical wisdom. Accordingly, in this book, the authors introduce a model that identifies the specific qualities and processes involved in making wise decisions, especially in management. The model is based on the empirical fi ndings of the authors' studies in the areas of wisdom and management. This book is a practical resource for professionals, practitioners, and consultants in both the private and public sectors. The theoretical discussions, critical arguments, and practical guidelines provided in the book will be extremely valuable to students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as upper-level postdoctoral researchers looking at business management strategies.

Business acumen has emerged as a critical competency for communicators. But if you're a public relations, advertising or communication professional that didn't go to business school, how can you make sure you have the abilities and skills to evolve along with your role? Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators is the book for you. Offering a critical primer for the world of business, Ragas and Culp equip you with the must-have business know-how needed to understand everything from the language and thinking of C-suites and boardrooms, to organizational agility, business models, rules and regulations, the money and the numbers, and even how to read financial statements and reports. Written for communicators by communicators, the concepts in each chapter are illustrated by expert insight essays written by a diverse group of senior communications leaders, and packed full of case studies, interviews, key terms and cutting-edge research. Brands profiled include Aflac, Costco, CVS Health, Levi Strauss, Mayo Clinic, Southwest Airlines, Target and YMCA of America. With these critical business literacy skills in hand, you will be set to serve with success as strategic counselors to the organizational leaders that are your colleagues, clients, and business partners.

Meta-heuristics have developed dramatically since their inception in the early 1980s. They have had widespread success in attacking a variety of practical and difficult combinatorial optimization problems. These families of approaches include, but are not limited to greedy random adaptive search procedures, genetic algorithms, problem-space search, neural networks, simulated annealing, tabu search, threshold algorithms, and their hybrids. They incorporate concepts based on biological evolution, intelligent problem solving, mathematical and physical sciences, nervous systems, and statistical mechanics. Since the 1980s, a great deal of effort has been invested in the field of combinatorial optimization theory in which heuristic algorithms have become an important area of research and applications. This volume is drawn from the first conference on Meta-Heuristics and contains 41 papers on the state-of-the-art in heuristic theory and applications. The book treats the following meta-heuristics and applications: Genetic Algorithms, Simulated Annealing, Tabu Search, Networks & Graphs, Scheduling and Control, TSP, and Vehicle Routing Problems. It represents research from the fields of Operations Research, Management Science, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science.

Planning in a general sense is concerned with the design of communication and decision making mechanisms in organizations where information and choice are decentralized. Non-cooperative planning theory as it is developed in this book treats the incentive aspects hereof. It stresses how strategic behavior and opportunism may impede planning, and how this can be coped with via the organization of communication and decision making, the design of information and control systems, and the development of incentive schemes. In particular, the book contains a thorough investigation of incentive provision in information production.

Most real-life problems involve making decisions to optimally achieve a number of criteria while satisfying some hard or soft constraints. In this book several methods for solving such problems are presented by the leading experts in the area. The book also contains a number of very interesting application papers which demonstrate theoretical modelling, analysing and solution of real-life problems.

This book is the cuhnination of many years' research inspired by the pioneering and seminal works of Sah and Stiglitz. We gratefully acknowledge the influence of these two authors, whose ideas and contributions have brought us together on this collabo ration, despite our divergent scientific backgrounds (while Catalani is interested in quantitative methods, Clerico is a non-quantitative economist) . We thank the Editor of the Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali for permission to use slightly modified versions of papers published in that Review (they are the content of Chapters I and III of Part I, and of Chapter I of Part II). We heartily thank Ms. Laura McLean for carefully revising our English. The publication of this book has been made possible by a grant from the Department of Economics, University of Turin, Italy. Torino, July 1995 Mario S. Catalani Giuseppe F. CIeri co CONTENTS Introduction 1 PART I Some models of decision making structures I. How and when unanimity is a superior decision rule 15 II. Majority rules and efficiency of the decision process 31 III. Team cooperation vs. independent assessment 41 IV. Leadership and dependence 59 V. The decision making process of political organizations 75 PART II Pyramid decision structures I. Pyramidal structures: a preliminary note 91 II. Other properties of pyramids 103 III. Pyramids and dependence 117 IV. Organization, loyalty, and efficiency 133 Conclusions 151 References 163 Mario S."

Discover the role of machine learning and artificial intelligence in business forecasting from some of the brightest minds in the field In Business Forecasting: The Emerging Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning accomplished authors Michael Gilliland, Len Tashman, and Udo Sglavo deliver relevant and timely insights from some of the most important and influential authors in the field of forecasting. You'll learn about the role played by machine learning and AI in the forecasting process and discover brand-new research, case studies, and thoughtful discussions covering an array of practical topics. The book offers multiple perspectives on issues like monitoring forecast performance, forecasting process, communication and accountability for forecasts, and the use of big data in forecasting. You will find: Discussions on deep learning in forecasting, including current trends and challenges Explorations of neural network-based forecasting strategies A treatment of the future of artificial intelligence in business forecasting Analyses of forecasting methods, including modeling, selection, and monitoring In addition to the Foreword by renowned researchers Spyros Makridakis and Fotios Petropoulos, the book also includes 16 "opinion/editorial" Afterwords by a diverse range of top academics, consultants, vendors, and industry practitioners, each providing their own unique vision of the issues, current state, and future direction of business forecasting. Perfect for financial controllers, chief financial officers, business analysts, forecast analysts, and demand planners, Business Forecasting will also earn a place in the libraries of other executives and managers who seek a one-stop resource to help them critically assess and improve their own organization's forecasting efforts.

In practical management, a policy maker often has to make a choice from among various alternatives. Quite often, there are several conflicting criteria to take into account. In addition, some criteria are non-numeric: they can only be expressed as `more' or `less'. The QUALIFLEX method for multicriteria analysis has been developed by the Netherlands Economic Institute to handle such problems. It is designed for use at all levels of decision making, both in the public and private sector. QUALIFLEX has the following features: simultaneous use of qualitative and quantitative data; full flexibility with regard to alternatives and criteria; scores in their own, natural measures; different weighting options for the criteria; sensitivity analysis of the relative weights of the criteria; the result is an optimal ranking of the alternatives. GBP/LISTGBP The Decision Support System QUALIFLEX 2.3 is a fully revised version of the program Micro-Qualiflex. The main improvements are: now user friendly and menu driven; graphical presentation; reversibility and data editing; optional input from (dBase) files.

An insight into the latest results from the world of operations research - a wide-ranging field, as is shown by the book's 24 sections, corresponding to the conference program itself. Although problems of a primarily methodological nature are discussed, the emphasis is placed firmly on practical subjects, such as reports from the fields of healthcare, environmental protection, logistics and traffic engineering. This selection also clearly illustrates the extent to which OR is spreading into and already interwoven in other scientific disciplines.

The Agile Guide to Business Analysis and Planning presents clear, actionable guidance for every product owner, product and program manager, business analyst, requirements engineer, and project manager seeking to improve agile analysis and planning. Renowned author and consultant Howard Podeswa teaches best practices drawn from agile and agile-adjacent frameworks, including ATDD, BDD, DevOps, CI/CD, Kanban, Scrum, SAFe, XP, Lean Thinking, Lean Startup, Circumstance-Based Market Segmentation, and theories of disruptive innovation. He offers a comprehensive agile roadmap for analyzing customer needs and planning product development, including discussion of legacy business analysis tools that still offer immense value to agile teams.

Using a running case study, Podeswa walks through the full agile product lifecycle, from visioning through release and continuous value delivery. You learn how to carry out agile analysis and planning responsibilities more effectively, using tools such as Kano analysis, minimum viable products (MVPs), minimum marketable features (MMFs), story maps, product roadmaps, customer journey mapping, value stream mapping, spikes, and the definition of ready (DoR). Podeswa presents each technique in context: what you need to know and when to apply each tool. Read this book to

• Master principles, frameworks, concepts, and practices of agile analysis and planning in order to maximize value delivery throughout the product's lifecycle
• Explore planning and analysis for short-term, long-term, and scaled agile initiatives using MVPs and data-informed learning to test hypotheses and find high-value features
• Split features into MMFs and small stories that deliver significant value and enable quick wins
• Refine, estimate, and specify features, stories, and their acceptance criteria, following ATDD/BDD guidance
• Address the unique analysis and planning challenges of scaled agile organizations
• Implement 13 practices for optimizing enterprise agility

In this contributed volume, issues of what counts as evidence of risk are discussed. The authors show that value judgements enter into expert and non-expert characterization of evidence of risk, but they deny that this means that no choice about risk management is better than another, and demonstrate the possibility and importance of objectively grounded risk assessment.

A well-crafted business plan generates enthusiasm for your idea and boosts your odds of success--whether you're proposing a new initiative within your organization or starting an entirely new company. Creating Business Plans quickly walks you through the basics. You'll learn to: * Present your idea clearly * Develop sound financial plans * Project risks--and rewards * Anticipate and address your audience's concerns Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

"Brick by Brick" takes you inside the LEGO you've never seen. By following the teams that are inventing some of the world's best-loved toys, it spotlights the company's disciplined approach to harnessing creativity and recounts one of the most remarkable business transformations in recent memory.
"Brick by Brick" reveals how LEGO failed to keep pace with the revolutionary changes in kids' lives and began sliding into irrelevance. When the company's leaders implemented some of the business world's most widely espoused prescriptions for boosting innovation, they ironically pushed the iconic toymaker to the brink of bankruptcy. The company's near-collapse shows that what works in theory can fail spectacularly in the brutally competitive global economy.
It took a new LEGO management team - faced with the growing rage for electronic toys, few barriers to entry, and ultra-demanding consumers (ten-year old boys) - to reinvent the innovation rule book and transform LEGO into one of the world's most profitable, fastest-growing companies.
Along the way, "Brick by Brick" reveals how LEGO:
- Became truly customer-driven by co-creating with kids as well as its passionate adult fans
- Looked beyond products and learned to leverage a full-spectrum approach to innovation
- Opened its innovation process by using both the "wisdom of crowds" and the expertise of elite cliques
- Discovered uncontested, "blue ocean" markets, even as it thrived in brutally competitive red oceans
- Gave its world-class design teams enough space to create and direction to deliver
built a culture where "profitable" innovation flourishes
Sometimes radical yet always applicable, "Brick by Brick" abounds with real-world lessons for unleashing breakthrough innovation in your organization, just like LEGO. Whether you're a senior executive looking to make your company grow, an entrepreneur building a startup from scratch, or a fan who wants to instill some of that LEGO magic in your career, you'll learn how to build your own innovation advantage, brick by brick.

Momentum is your greatest ally - with it you can do anything, without it you will stall. As CEO you hate surprises, especially the kind that undermines momentum - yours or the organization you lead. Every CEO's journey is unique. However, there exists a very predictable, but previously unknown pattern: the CEO life cycle. The Four Dilemmas of the CEO outlines the common challenges that every CEO will face during their tenure, irrespective of geography or industry. Once understood, action can be taken to break through these glass ceilings that cause CEOs to get stuck in the business, while their mandate for working on the business is continually diverted. Framed within the life cycle of a CEO, the Four Dilemmas are: 1. You're in charge of everything, but cannot completely trust anything. 2. You know that today's executive cannot deliver tomorrow's results. 3. How do you engage the full capability of your executive on the business when their reputations were earned working in the business? 4. At what point does the price of remaining personally relevant outweigh your other options? In the first book to focus on the life cycle of a CEO, the authors draw on decades of international experience, both as former CEOs and trusted advisers, to show every executive how to recognize and anticipate the individual dilemmas, master them, and accelerate through them.

Business analytics has grown to be a key topic in business curricula, and there is a need for stronger quantitative skills and understanding of fundamental concepts. This book is intended to present key concepts related to quantitative analysis in business. It is targeted to business students, undergraduate and graduate, taking an introductory core course. Topics covered include knowledge management, visualization, sampling and hypothesis testing, regression (simple, multiple, and logistic), as well as optimization modeling. It concludes with a brief overview of data mining. Concepts are demonstrated with worked examples.

The local levels of economies have felt the impact of technological change and globalization. These forces have triggered the need to understand the dynamic mechanisms that enable locales to respond to such changes. For example, the downsizing of traditional employers because of a major loss in market share due to new competitors, acquisition by global firms, or off-shoring of production or services was traditionally thought to be beyond the scope of powers of local policy makers, thinkers, and business leaders. In the world of practice, those concerned about the economic performance of place-city, region or state-are increasingly focused on how to adapt to these trends and leverage their existing resources to respond to these global challenges as a positive opportunity. The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness brings together some of the leading minds in the fields of business, economics, and the social sciences to identify, articulate, and analyze what influences and shapes local competitiveness and what places can do to enhance their economic performance. The contributors to the Handbook provide a body of systematic analyses suggesting that the local context is a critical element of the forces that shape competitiveness. The challenges to generate and sustain economic performance vary across places, and the factors and conditions that either enhance or impede competiveness also are place-specific. Finally, the characteristics and nature of what constitutes success also vary across places. This Handbook is essential reading material for academics in the fields of economics and public policy, as well as business leaders who hope to gain a more in-depth understanding of their field. Informative and intellectually rigorous, The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness is the definitive volume of scholarly analysis regarding the relationship between place and economic competition.

One thing in life is certain: change is constant. Thanks to the rapid pace of technological innovation in the digital age-and further accelerated by the global COVID-19 pandemic-massive structural change is happening more frequently and on a greater scale than ever before. Faced with unprecedented complexity and uncertainty, most business leaders struggle to see the way forward. Yet company organization, systems, and management are still largely based on what was most effective in the Industrial Age. Disruption Proof offers a new approach that addresses our current needs. Through powerful case studies of Moves the Needle's notable corporate clients like Intuit, General Mills, Proctor & Gamble, and more, Cooper demonstrates how, with the right tools, anyone can weather turmoil and protect future profits. Disruption Proof provides readers with detailed instructions on for progressing through four stages of implementation in order to embrace a new way of working company-wide, including how to: * develop an understanding of customers and colleagues that lead to insights (empathy) * run tests to challenge assumptions (exploration) * leverage data and insights to breakthrough biases (evidence) * balance operational execution with learning (equilibrium) * manage behavior to match corporate values (ethics) By adopting these "5E"s, all employees can ensure their company's ability to navigate moments of crisis and find transformative opportunities. Cooper explains how innovation at every level is the key to organic and sustainable growth, and guides leaders to create lasting value in the world. With Cooper's action-oriented advice and tools, anyone can help steer their company toward durable success.