Decisionmaking literature, which has emphasized the act of solving problems, has long neglected the need to identify problems as precisely as possible. This book examines the nature of problems and decisionmaking and their impact on people who direct an organization. It further focuses on how executives respond to take action at the upper levels of their organizations.

The book stresses problem identification, which executives frequently ignore because of their preoccupation with problem solving. It looks at the need to avoid viewing solutions as remedies achieved at predetermined milestones. It examines options other than solutions, such as accommodation and coping, and it looks at the executive environment associated with outcomes along a spectrum ranging from perfection, to progress, to failure. The author argues that executives should abandon the attempt to predetermine objectives over time and adopt a Problem Exchange Ratio (PER) concept. The executive then compares the status of problems over time, creating a ratio. The PER approach considers the problems that solutions themselves trigger. It then allows executives to see where they stand and suggests ways of ameliorating unwanted conditions. The author provides illustrative cases and episodes from both the public and private sectors. Combining theory and practical aspects of executive decisionmaking, this book gives the reader a fuller understanding of the link between decisions and problems.

Praise for The PSYCHOLOGY of RISK

"The Psychology of Risk is equally vital for everyone from the day trader to short-term online trader to long-term investor. A clear, enjoyable insight into what makes trading success."
–Alpesh B. Patel, Financial Times columnist and author of Trading Online

"Once again Dr. Kiev delivers a book that should be read cover to cover and kept as a reference. The Psychology of Risk explores the elements of risk taking as they relate to the human psyche."
–John Floyd, Director, Proprietary Trading, Deutsche Bank AG

"In 2000 and 2001, benchmark U.S. equity indices experienced the worst two-year performance since the bear market of 1973—74. Among the winners in this tumultuous market environment were those that invested with short time horizons rather than those that utilized a rigid buy-and-hold ‘one decision’ philosophy. Against this backdrop, Kiev, in his familiar pull-no-punches style, delivers an insightful, timely, and pragmatic thesis that focuses on the inner game of trading: psychology, discipline, and the holy grail–timing. A captivating read for those in search of a performance edge."
–Ciaran T. O’Kelly, Head of Equity Trading, Salomon Smith Barney

"Ari has proven himself to be a keen coach of world-class traders. The Psychology of Risk is a great read for those looking to better understand what it takes to put oneself at risk in the market."
–Kevin Becker, CIO, Claiborne Capital Management, LP

"Ari Kiev has done it again. One of Wall Street’s preeminent trading coaches, he explores some useful principles of risk taking which will help traders to take their game to the next level."
Jay Goldman, Hedge Fund Manager, Goldman & Co., LP

Intervals of high-activity alternating with long low-activity periods can be found in many areas of daily life, with researchers coining the phenomenon as bursts. As burstiness has become prevalent in many fields, understanding it and knowing how to manage it are crucial in order to be able to get all the benefits associated with it. Burstiness Management for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides innovative insights into burstiness's role in decision-making in business and its function as a predictor of performance. The content within this publication covers topics such as burstiness in business and e-business applications, as well as consumer behavior and sustainable development. It is a vital reference source for business managers, business professionals, academicians, researchers, and graduate-level students interested in understanding how burstiness and its consequences are processed in diverse and dynamic environments.

The concept of the business model has become very popular in the strategy and innovation literature's. Recent research has acknowledged its cognitive underpinnings, its status as a mental construct, and has highlighted how managers' cognitive and social sense-making patterns influence business model design and how shared logics enable innovation. Yet, the specific cognitive underpinnings of business models, though often mentioned, are rarely explicitly studied. Business Models and Cognition addresses this gap by focusing directly on intersections between business model studies and cognitive studies. Gathering an international, multidisciplinary team of business model and cognition scholars, this book not only identifies surprising connections between these two existing literature's, but also offers new reflections on future avenues of research for both in order to explore the cognitive foundations of business modelling. For its interdisciplinary scope, scholarly rigor, and novel insights, this fourth volume of the New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition is a must-read for scholars and students of business, strategy and cognition, and it is of keen interest to executives and managers eager to reflect critically on their own understanding of the "business model" as a concept.

In his landmark bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant-in the blink of an eye-that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work-in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing"-filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

Advanced Topics in Global Information Management includes original material concerned with all aspects of global information management in three broad areas: Global Information Systems in Business Fuctions, Information Technology in Specific Regions of the World, Management of Global Information Resources and Applications. Both researchers and practitioners disseminate the evolving knowledge in these broad categories and the book examines a variety of aspects of global information management dealing with development, usage, failure, success, policies, strategies and applications of this valuable organizational resources.

Decision-Making Management: A Tutorial and Applications provides practical guidance for researchers seeking to optimizing business-critical decisions employing Logical Decision Trees thus saving time and money. The book focuses on decision-making and resource allocation across and between the manufacturing, product design and logistical functions. It demonstrates key results for each sector with diverse real-world case studies drawn primarily from EU projects. Theory is accompanied by relevant analysis techniques, with a progressional approach building from simple theory to complex and dynamic decisions with multiple data points, including big data and lot of data. Binary Decision Diagrams are presented as the operating approach for evaluating large Logical Decision Trees, helping readers identify Boolean equations for quantitative analysis of multifaceted problem sets. Computational techniques, dynamic analysis, probabilistic methods, and mathematical optimization techniques are expertly blended to support analysis of multi-criteria decision-making problems with defined constraints and requirements. The final objective is to optimize dynamic decisions with original approaches employing useful tools, including Big Data analysis. Extensive annexes provide useful supplementary information for readers to follow methods contained in the book.

Beyond Knowledge Management provides a balance of conceptual and practical aspects of Knowledge Management, offering the opportunity for students and practitioners to understand and effectively consider knowledge management approaches in their organizations. Everyday examples are used to lead the reader into the development of Knowledge Management, then further into a conceptual perspective, and finally to the practical application of Knowledge Management in organizations.

Provocative and controversial, the information found in Empowered Investing reveals powerful tricks of the investment trade. It will give you the education and information to be a confident, informed, and hugely successful investor.

The most successful investors in history, such as Charles Henry Dow, used unique analysis and charting methods. These are the secrets Wall Street doesn't want you to know. Relying on the media and Wall Street research is painful and no longer necessary.

With the advice offered by author Joseph F. LoPresti, you'll learn to chart stocks like Dow, isolate hot sector opportunities, and select the strongest stocks to buy through a series of easy, almost effortless strategies. These exercises will also help you reduce risk and give you a "sell discipline," something desperately needed by most investors. Once you read "Empowered Investing," you'll see how easy it is to implement these startling strategies.

"Empowered Investing" will introduce a different way to make investment decisions that will instantly help you manage your portfolio, build your wealth, and enrich your life.

The book focuses on the next fields of computer science: combinatorial optimization, scheduling theory, decision theory, and computer-aided production management systems. It also offers a quick introduction into the theory of PSC-algorithms, which are a new class of efficient methods for intractable problems of combinatorial optimization. A PSC-algorithm is an algorithm which includes: sufficient conditions of a feasible solution optimality for which their checking can be implemented only at the stage of a feasible solution construction, and this construction is carried out by a polynomial algorithm (the first polynomial component of the PSC-algorithm); an approximation algorithm with polynomial complexity (the second polynomial component of the PSC-algorithm); also, for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, an exact subalgorithm if sufficient conditions were found, fulfilment of which during the algorithm execution turns it into a polynomial complexity algorithm. Practitioners and software developers will find the book useful for implementing advanced methods of production organization in the fields of planning (including operative planning) and decision making. Scientists, graduate and master students, or system engineers who are interested in problems of combinatorial optimization, decision making with poorly formalized overall goals, or a multiple regression construction will benefit from this book.

This work highlights the coming age of management information systems for all types of executives by focusing on executive information systems, or EIS. Serving as a data-intensive system, an EIS offers a snapshot of a company's past and present operations as a way of predicting the future. In this book, Robert Thierauf provides a complete picture of executive information systems, from an introduction of what these systems are all about, to the hardware, software, and applications that form the basis of an EIS environment.

The work is divided into four basic sections. The first provides an overview of executive information systems, discussing the real need for an EIS, the essential characteristics underlying it, and its relationship to prior management information systems. The types of executive decision making typically found in an EIS environment, illustrated with specific examples, are also examined. The second section focuses on the computer hardware and software that is useful within an EIS operating mode, along with on-line databases that assist executives in decision making. The development of executive information systems is covered in section three, which features current approaches for executives and their staffs as well as methods to be followed by the Management Information Systems department. Finally, section four addresses various aspects of working in an EIS environment, including strategic planning, marketing, manufacturing, finance, and personnel. A master case study is presented, and each topic is explored in relation to it. Typical EIS applications are also described for each of the topic areas. With its combination of both EIS theory and practical applications, this work will be a valuable resource for senior executives and MIS professionals as well as for students of management and information systems. Public, academic, and business libraries will also find it to be a useful addition to their collections.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to decision-making in an MCDM framework. Designed as a tutorial, it presents the main concepts and methods to be applied, together with essential background information. This includes the concept of nondominance, Simon's bounded rationality, Tversky and Kahneman's prospect theory, and the concepts of behavioral vs. mathematical convergence and premature stopping put forward by Korhonen, Moskowitz and Wallenius. The book concludes with a non-technical review of many popular decision algorithms, including the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), VIMDA, and a number of classic interactive man-machine algorithms. In essence, the book is a "one-stop" source on everything you need to know about managerial decision-making in the multiple-criteria setting.

Why aren't we investing more in disaster resilience, despite the rising costs of disaster events? This book argues that decision-makers in governments, businesses, households, and development agencies tend to focus on avoiding losses from disasters, and perceive the return on investment as uncertain - only realised if a somewhat unlikely disaster event actually happens. This book develops a new business case for investment based on the multiple dividends of resilience. This looks beyond only avoided losses (the first dividend) to the wider benefits gained independently of whether or not the disaster event occurs. These include unleashing entrepreneurial activities and productive investments by lowering the looming threat of losses from disasters and enabling businesses, farmers and homeowners to take positive risks (the second dividend); and co-benefits of resilience measures beyond just disaster risk (the third dividend), such as flood embankments in Bangladesh that double as roads, or wetlands in Colombo that reduce urban heat extremes.

Learn how to manage and leverage risk

Like all organizations in today’s volatile marketplace, nonprofits are under tremendous pressure to be more accountable for their operations, specifically to funders, donors, clients, and the public at large. Proper risk management can not only help nonprofits create a sound and transparent financial structure, but also exploit new development opportunities that may not otherwise be realized. Managing Risk in Nonprofit Organizations shows managers how to implement sound risk management procedures in every aspect of their organization.

The authors divide their guide into three sections–The Nature and Purposes of Risk Management, Recognizing the Context for Risk Management, and Risk Financing for Nonprofits. A large array of potential risks is covered, including:

• Human resource issues
• Fundraising
• Internet use
• Mergers
• Volunteer management

Senior level managers and executives at nonprofits, board members, and professional risk managers will find Managing Risk in Nonprofit Organizations to be an invaluable guide to this vital topic.

The cultural, social, and economic history of mankind is characterized by a succession of needs and problems that have stimulated the invention of operational and conceptual tools to facilitate their solution. The continuous presentation of new needs, an attempt to improve partial solutions to old problems, curiosity, and the disinterested search for knowledge then constituted the fundamental push for scientific, cultural, economic, and social progress. In an increasingly digital society, where software technological tools permeate daily life and, consequently, change the management of reality, mastering of transversal skills is crucial for success. Computational thinking is a set of transversal skills related to the foundations of computer science as a scientific discipline and means a mastering to the process of solving problems. The goal of computational thinking is to acquire interpretative perspectives of reality, which allows one to read the digital experience competently and responsibly. Computational Thinking for Problem Solving and Managerial Mindset Training explores how individuals can be trained into managerial mindsets through computational thinking and computer science. It explores how computer science can be used as a valid guideline to develop skills such as effective soft skills, communication skills, and collaboration. Further, the chapters explore the adoption of computational thinking for individuals to gain managerial mindsets and successfully solve questions and problems in their domain of interest. This will include artificial intelligence applications, strategic thinking, management training, ethics, emergency managerial mindsets, and more. This book is valuable for managers, professionals, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how computational thinking can be applied for the training of managerial mindsets.

Responsible behaviors in the realm of business continue to remain a crucial component of organizational development. By exploring core aspects of contemporary corporate strategies, businesses can create more value in social welfare initiatives. CSR 2.0 and the New Era of Corporate Citizenship is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the ways in which corporate entities can implement responsible strategies and create synergistic value for both businesses and society. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives and topics, such as corporate citizenship, stakeholder engagement, and business ethics, this publication is ideally designed for students, academics and researchers seeking current concise and authoritative research on the business case for corporate social responsibility.

This book presents recently developed intelligent techniques with applications and theory in the area of quality management. The involved applications of intelligence include techniques such as fuzzy sets, neural networks, genetic algorithms, etc. The book consists of classical quality management topics dealing with intelligent techniques for solving the complex quality management problems. The book will serve as an excellent reference for quality managers, researchers, lecturers and postgraduate students in this area. The authors of the chapters are well-known researchers in the area of quality management.

Forged at the heart of international political bodies by expert researchers, the innovation cluster concept has been incorporated into most public policies in industrialized countries. Based largely on the ideas behind the success of Silicon Valley, several imitative attempts have been made to geographically group laboratories, companies and training in particular fields in order to generate "synergies" between science and industry. In its first part, Innovation in Clusters analyzes the infatuation with the system of clusters that is integral to innovative policies by analyzing its socio historical context, its revival in management and its worldwide expansion, looking at a French example at a local level. In its second part, the book explores a specialized biotechnology cluster dating back to the end of the 1990s. The sociological survey conducted twenty years later sheds a different light on the dynamics and relationships between laboratories and companies, contradicting the commonly held belief that innovation is made possible by geographical proximity.