Decision Science and Technology is a compilation of chapters written in honor of a remarkable man, Ward Edwards. Among Ward's many contributions are two significant accomplishments, either of which would have been enough for a very distinguished career. First, Ward is the founder of behavioral decision theory. This interdisciplinary discipline addresses the question of how people actually confront decisions, as opposed to the question of how they should make decisions. Second, Ward laid the groundwork for sound normative systems by noticing which tasks humans can do well and which tasks computers should perform. This volume, organized into five parts, reflects those accomplishments and more. The book is divided into four sections: `Behavioral Decision Theory' examines theoretical descriptions and empirical findings about human decision making. `Decision Analysis' examines topics in decision analysis.`Decision in Society' explores issues in societal decision making. The final section, `Historical Notes', provides some historical perspectives on the development of the decision theory. Within these sections, major, multi-disciplinary scholars in decision theory have written chapters exploring some very bold themes in the field, as an examination of the book's contents will show. The main reason for the health of the Decision Analysis field is its close links between theory and applications that have characterized it over the years. In this volume, the chapters by Barron and Barrett; Fishburn; Fryback; Keeney; Moreno, Pericchi, and Kadane; Howard; Phillips; Slovic and Gregory; Winkler; and, above all, von Winterfeldt focus on those links. Decision science originally developed out of concern with real decision problems; and applied work, such as is represented in this volume, will help the field to remain strong.

Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) has been extensively used in diverse disciplines, with a variety of MCDM techniques used to solve complex problems. A primary challenge faced by research scholars is to decode these techniques using detailed step-by-step analysis with case studies and data sets. The scope of such work would help decision makers to understand the process of using MCDM techniques appropriately to solve complex issues without making mistakes. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Management provides innovative insights into the rationale behind using MCDM techniques to solve decision-making problems and provides comprehensive discussions on these techniques from their inception, development, and growth to their advancements and applications. The content within this publication examines hybrid multicriteria models, value theory, and data envelopment. Ideal for researchers, management professionals, students, operations scholars, and academicians, this scholarly work supports and enhances the decision-making process.

Based on his diverse personal experiences and two decades of interdisciplinary research, Dr. Ehin unveils the "mysteries" and shows the practicality of tapping into the ever evolving, yet extraordinarily powerful, informal networks present in all social groups. What this book reveals is the extraordinarily dynamic and tight linkage between three "hidden" organizational success factors responsible for most work accomplished in both for profit and nonprofit ventures, especially in the development of new innovations. The book shows why in a knowledge economy it is essential to design organizations that facilitate the fundamental collaborative and creative qualities of human nature rather than unconsciously suppressing them. In doing so, it is made obvious why most mergers and change efforts fail and the reasons why an average employee only works at two-thirds of his/her capacity.

This work clearly demonstrates how "smart" institutions can harness, rather than manage, these invisible emergent forces and in the process avoid the dismal record of past organizational transformation initiatives. Hidden Assets is a must read not only for top executives, knowledge professionals, and organizational scholars, but for everyone associated with private, public, or voluntary social institutions.

Enabling Simulation Capability in Organisations addresses the application of simulation modelling techniques in order to enable better informed decisions in business and industrial organisations.

The booka (TM)s unique approach treats simulation not just as a technical tool, but within as a support for organisational decision making, showing the results from a survey of current and potential users of simulation to suggest reasons why the technique is not used as much as it should be and what are the barriers to its further use.

By incorporating an evaluation of six detailed case studies of the application of simulation in industry by the author, the book will teach readers: (1) the role of simulation in decision making; (2) how to introduce simulation as a tool for decision making; and (3) how to undertake simulation studies that lead to change in the organisation.

Enabling Simulation Capability in Organisations provides an introduction to the state of the art in simulation modelling for researchers in business studies and engineering, as well a useful guide to practitioners and managers in business and industry.

This book is an exploration of, not an explanation of, information (in its recorded form), and the keepers of those records, the librarians. It presents a model of the way in which recorded messages are generated by and used by people, and it discusses the role of the intermediary-the librarian-whose task is to bring together those messages with people who would make use of them in some way.

Over the last five to six years, ontology has received increased attention within the information systems field. Ontology provides a basis for evaluating, analyzing, and engineering business analysis methods. It is that type of theology that has allowed many organizations utilizing ontology to become more competitive within today's global environment. Business Systems Analysis with Ontologies examines, thoroughly, the area of ontologies. All aspects of ontologies are covered; analysis, evaluation, and engineering of business systems analysis methods. Readers are shown the world of ontologies through a number of research methods. For example, survey methodologies, case studies, experimental methodologies, analytical modeling, and field studies are all used within this book to help the reader understand the usefulness of ontologies.

Information systems have become so complex and intertwined with process and politics that they now constitute an ecology in which executives must manage subtle human relationships and intricate group interactions as well as computers, networks, software, and individual experts. Hasenyager maintains that for most large corporations building better business technology linkage is a survival essential, enabling them to sustain their vital systems and simultaneously transform them to meet competitive pressures and exploit emerging technology. Written by an experienced manager, this book offers a persuasive discussion of the importance of business technology linkage and practical steps on how to build it in your company. It focuses on management essentials - deciding how much to spend and invest, choosing how to organize, and defining how to measure and reward performance. After an analysis of how to decide how much to spend and what to spend it on, Hasenyager describes how business and technology people within an organization deal with each other. He offers a way to classify relationships based on perceived common interest among people and their relative authority, then focuses on partnerships and teams as the most effective models for business technology linkage. He describes the kinds of teams needed for system development and infrastructure management in the information ecology. With special focus on how ^Iad hoc^R teams relate to an organization's traditional hierarchy, specific suggestions are given on how to establish accountability within teams and how to evaluate team performance. The book concludes with state-of-the-art information connecting organization structure, business technology linkage, and company profitability, followed by 14 principles of information technology management. Senior corporate managers will find this a unique, provocative, and constructive addition to their personal and company libraries on management skills and methods.

In this age of international terrorism and international economic contagion, it is clear that "globalization" in its broadest sense - i.e., the "breaking down of barriers"- is often a double-edged sword. The world economy of the early twenty-first century offers substantial growth potential and strategic benefits for firms, but it also entails much risk, which must be measured and managed effectively. Consequently, business in today's world must constantly be alert to opportunities afforded by improving technology and financial market integration as they seek to develop successful risk management programs.

Often viewed as a narrow field focusing on derivatives or insurance, risk management is in fact a much broader discipline, encompassing operational strategies as well as the financial and/or insurance decisions of the firm. This is particularly true for complex business enterprises operating in the international market.

In view of the importance of risk management in practice as well as in the academic literature, the Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University invited leading scholars of finance, risk management, and international business to examine the current status and future direction of global risk management as a discipline.

The conference was held on April 20, 2001 at the Fox School under the auspices of the Institute of Global Management Studies (IGMS) and the Advanta Center for Financial Services Studies, as the Second Annual International Business Forum sponsored by the IGMS.

The conference was designed to be international in perspective and comprehensive in coverage. It included discussions of concepts, measurement, andmanagement of various types of risk. Each speaker was asked to make a presentation on one topic within the broad theme that not only would address the state of the art but also would provide insights into specific emerging issues within the chosen topic. Much of this volume is a collection of articles presented at that conference. It is hoped that this collection will provide a new research agenda for the risk management discipline, as well as a source of reference for scholars, practitioners, and graduate students.

Scientists and regulators have struggled to define the role of theory, experiments, models and common sense in risk analysis. This situation has been made worse by the isolation of theory from modeling, of experimentation from theory, and of practical action from basic science. This book arises from efforts at regulatory agencies and industries to bring more science into health risk analysis so that society may better use limited resources to improve public health. This book covers: the characterization of exposure to pollutants and other sources of risk; the movement of pollutants into the body via inhalation; ingestion, dermal absorption, and exposures to radiation; the movement of a pollutant as it cascades through the tissues and organs of the body; and the development of principles and models for dose-response modeling. The book shows how an understanding of the biological, chemical, and physical properties of the environment and of the human body can guide the selection of mathematical models, and how these models can aid in estimating risks. Included in the book are models covering the full range of topics in human health risk analysis: exposure assessment, rates of intake, deposition and uptake by organs, absorption across membranes, biokinetics, dosimetry, and dose-response. The reader will gain from the book a better understanding of how environmental health science, as applied in risk analysis, can be used to create a more rational basis for the improvement of public health.

There are two main approaches to knowledge management (KM), the process-centred approach which treats KM as an interpersonal communication process and the product-centred approach which focuses on the artefacts for knowledge, i.e. the documents, their creation and reuse in corporate computer-based systems. Knowledge Asset Management presents a knowledge asset-centric approach which fuses the previous two approaches together. It provides a conceptual framework to guide managers in the planning and development of the initiative and presents a methodology for organisations to: define and document their knowledge management strategy.- audit and design business processes that enhance and facilitate corporate learning.- facilitate knowledge sharing between people in the organisation.- measure and evaluate the quality and value of the organisation's intellectual capital. The book also introduces a way for developing an intranet-based environment to support: the collection and classification of internal and external information.- reuse of stored knowledge using flexible and customisable knowledge navigators and advanced search mechanisms including keyword and concept-based searching (e.g. visualization of the information space).- collaboration via on-line workspaces. Knowledge Asset Management gives an in-depth look at the technologies and methodologies required for knowledge management. Written by four highly experienced consultants in the field, the books also includes case studies showing how the principles work in practice. "One of the rare books today on Knowledge Management that addresses the leveraging of an organization's intellectual assets by using an integrative and holistic approach. Well worth reading!" Michael Stankosky, Professor of Knowledge Management and Co-founder/co-director of the Institute for Knowledge Management, The George Washington University "This book is a useful illustration of Knowledge Management implementation principles: it synthesizes theoretical and pragmatic approaches to the subject and does a competent job of embracing the various dimensions of a Knowledge Management initiative." Daniele Chauvel, Director, European Center for Knowledge Management; Business School Marseille-Provence "For those organisations who wish to take a strategic view of knowledge management, this book shows how they can take KM to the next level - not driven by a technology solution but based on the strategy and needs of the business." Marc Auckland, Chief Learning Officer and Head of the BT Academy, BT "The KM method proposed in this book enables enterprises to exploit their knowledge more effectively by making it easily available to employees and by facilitating the exchange and integration of information used by knowledge workers in a variety of business situations" Ciro Maddaloni, SOGEI S.p.A., Gruppo Telecom Italia.

The focus of this book is upon the implementation of new technology, strategy, business models, and new innovations. It takes a social-psychological perspective on the management of change and technology/strategy implementation and crosses the boundaries of change management, technology implementation, and organizational strategy.

In this book Dimitris N. Chorafas has uncovered the hidden risks behind alternative investments through extensive research in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, and Switzerland. He also provides solutions to the problems identified. This book is particularly important in light of recent scandals such as Enron and WorldCom.

A unique, non-traditional book for business students and members of today's workplaces. Focusing on 4 main topics, 1) Authentic Leadership, 2) Workplace Spirituality, 3) Appreciative Inquiry, and 4) Ethical leadership and Emotional Intelligence, this work offers a series of thought-provoking, motivating, growth-oriented, exercises that will help you tap into your internal locus of control. All exercises have been successfully shared and validated by the contributors during a variety of global Organization Behavior related conferences, as well as in classrooms and corporate workshops. The exercises are widely diverse, and come from instructors from various cultures, which guarantees their global appeal. A great book that focuses on increased interaction, greater participation, and understanding by doing.

We all face tough choices: business executives, community leaders, and family members all struggle with difficult decisions on a daily basis. What we decide reveals what really matters to us; how we decide determines whether we succeed or fail. Developed over twenty years in settings as diverse as hospital bedsides and corporate boardrooms, A Field Guide to Good Decisions provides the skills to make decisions that reflect your core values while respecting those of others, including the long-term implications for all participants. Illustrated through many real-life examples that will resonate with readers both professionally and personally, A Field Guide to Good Decisions offers practical tools and techniques for identifying individual and common goals, reaching consensus, and communicating the results effectively. The authors also show readers how to overcome common obstacles to good decision-making (psychological, cultural, and organizational). Ultimately, this book is about making decisions which, while not always a matter of life or death, nevertheless have a powerful effect on our sense of self, our credibility in the eyes of others, and the lives of those touched by the choices we make. Decision making is always personal. Each of us makes important decisions at work, in the community, and at home. When we face tough choices, what we decide reveals what really matters to us; how we decide determines whether we succeed or fail. Business executives, community leaders, and family members all struggle with difficult decisions: a senior management team makes an important choice about whether to pursue an acquisition; a baby-boomer decides whether to place an elderly parent in assisted living; a non-profit administrator considers laying off employees to have money and continue serving the community. For each, the steps toward a good decision are the same: know your values, engage others to understand theirs, and communicate with respect and candor. Simple in concept, not so easy in practice-but making a good decision demands nothing less. Developed over twenty years in settings as diverse as hopsital bedsides and corporate boardrooms, A Field Guide to Good Decisions provides the skills to make decisions that reflect your core values while respecting those of others, including the long-term implications for all participants. Illustrated through many real-life examples that will resonate with readers both professionally and personally, A Field Guide to Good Decisions offers practical tools and techniques for identifying individual and common goals, reaching consensus, and communicating the results effectively. The authors also show readers how to overcome common obstacles to good decision-making (psychological, cultural, and organizational). Ultimately, this book is about making decisions which, while not always a matter of life or death, nevertheless have a powerful effect on our sense of self, our credibility in the eyes of others, and the lives of those touched by the choices we make.

The concepts and theories of knowledge management and networks are well documented. Yet there are few, if any, guidelines on how to implement knowledge management within an organization, especially focusing on how to manage knowledge in a network environment. Putting Knowledge Networks into Action visualizes paths that allow one to make connections between theories, concepts and concrete actions. It shows how to integrate these different roots into a holistic view on managing knowledge in networks. It develops a methodology that will help the reader move towards building and maintaining knowledge networks in his or her organization.

Scenarios are a widely used approach to aid strategic analysis. An innovative guide to new methods in scenario thinking, this book presents a detailed step-by-step account of the "intuitive logics" method for developing and using scenarios within organizations. The authors detail a range of methodological innovations and show how to apply the most relevant technique to a particular situation. The approach is based on a mix of both high-level research and top-level consultancy experience. The book focuses on the demonstration and illustration of practical steps in scenario development processes.
"Scenario Thinking" describes the logical bases of a range of scenario methods and provides detailed 'road maps' on how to implement them - together with practical examples of their application. The authors review the strengths and weaknesses of each method and detail the time and material resources that each method requires, providing a comprehensive overview of the most useful and successful methods at your organization's disposal.

Decisions in uncertainty Scientific reaction to change During latter decades, the basic elements that have traditionally made up the society in wh ich economic activity develops, have been submitted to the effect of multiple aggressions as a consequence of the outcome of events motivated by the nature itself of the human being, always seeking a level of happiness that is never reached. In a very brief manner we are accustomed to mention these by using words such as revolution, profound changes, convulsions . . . ., the results of which are manifest through non-linear reactions that lead to a future charged with uncertainty. To get to know, explain and treat this new world constitutes one of the many objectives of those who desire a society in the service of man, and for those who aspire to the fact of the concept of mutuality transcending the use less limits of the printed word. But for this it will be necessary to overcome a whole realm of obstacles placed in the way by those comfortably embedded in old principles, decrepit ideas and are not willing to open the windows of their mind to receive the fresh air of a new era."

"How to Kill Your Company is a short and wonderful romp of a book. Ken Kirsh provides us with fastest way I've ever seen to help every leader become more self-aware, and in turn, build companies that thrive rather than fail." --Robert Sutton, Stanford Professor and author of the New York Times bestsellers Good Boss, Bad Boss and The No Asshole Rule "Ken Kirsh's book, How to Kill Your Company, is an intellectual shot in the brain. If you buy it, read it, study it, and put it into action, it will prevent you from shooting yourself in the foot and in the wallet." --Jeffrey Gitomer, author of Little Red Book of Selling "Never have I seen so many good, actionable thoughts in so few pages." --Peter Ricchiuti, Professor, A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University "For small businesses or big, Kirsh delivers 50 punchy and powerful don't do's that apply to CEOs, clerks and every employee in between." --Chris Altizer, Senior Vice President Human Resources, Pfizer Unapologetic and in your face, How to Kill Your Company exposes 50 of the most common and detrimental behaviors that people, including you, unwittingly exhibit on a daily basis--and they're killing your company.

All industrial countries have developed regulatory systems to assess and manage the risk of chemical substances to the working and natural environment. The pressure to harmonize these often specialized regulatory systems is increasingly strong at the international level. Such harmonization not only entails the assessment of particular chemicals, but also the way assessment procedures and their boundary with risk management is organized. As these initiatives intensify, they increasingly raise important questions of how to integrate national differences in the international regulatory arena. How will national consultation procedures relate to international decision-making on chemical risks? How will differences in national risk assessment procedures be accommodated? How will the international regulatory system be integrated with different national styles of regulation and government? Presenting the experiences and insights of both people from within the worlds of risk assessment and management and from the field of Science Studies, this book forms a state-of-the-art in the discussion on the Politics of Chemical Risk. By offering scenarios, or sketches of a regulatory future, it points to the choices that can be made and the opportunities to be explored. As such, it offers an agenda for environmental and occupational scientists, policy-makers and students of science and technology alike.