Knowledgeable decision making not only saves you time, money, and effort, but also leads you to extra opportunities. Business Decision Making in China improves your business acumen by showing you who (in itals) is involved in business decision making, how (in itals) decisions have been made, what (in itals) the characteristics and strategies of Chinese decision making are, and why (in itals) decision making has followed certain patterns in China. Practitioners, consultants, and government officials who are involved in business with China as well as academicians researching or teaching about business in East Asia will find this book to be an invaluable resource. Business Decision Making in China introduces you to such subjects as Chinese organizational structures and relationships, tactics of decision making, and traditional Chinese culture. Other vital topics you learn about include: the pros and cons of joint venture enterprises in China the climate for foreign banks operating in China the importance of saving face the concept of "the golden mean" the unity of opposites (Yin-Yang) the 4 realms of Chinese managers'daily affairs modes of thinking (universality versus individuality, thinking in images, understanding abstract thoughts) the parallels between the 5 elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) and the 4 P's (product, price, promotion, place)As a guidebook for Chinese business, Business Decision Making in China addresses the broad and integrative discipline of decision making and helps Western business people (who have an entirely different set of patterns, styles, processes, philosophical thoughts, and tactics of decision making) to adapt to their Chinese business partners'or opponents'decision making. Since this book explains the profound process of Chinese decision making in uncomplicated terms and practical business experiences, readers will be able to apply their new knowledge to their long-range strategic planning, to skillfully solving their daily problems or questions, and to wisely avoiding losses from a multitude of potential pitfalls.

Models and Experiments in Risk and Rationality presents original contributions to the areas of individual choice, experimental economics, operations and analysis, multiple criteria decision making, market uncertainty, game theory and social choice. The papers, which were presented at the FUR VI conference, are arranged to appear in order of increasing complexity of the decision environment or social context in which they situate themselves. The first section Psychological Aspects of Risk-Bearing', considers choice at the purely individual level and for the most part, free of any specific economic or social context. The second section examines individual choice within the classical expected utility approach while the third section works from a perspective that includes non-expected utility preferences over lotteries. Section four, Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Under Uncertainty', considers the more specialized but crucial context of uncertain choice involving tradeoffs between competing criteria -- a field which is becoming of increasing importance in applied decision analysis. The final two sections examine uncertain choice in social or group contexts.

Following The Little Book of Hygge, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and other bestsellers, Shikake introduces the latest example of practical wisdom from abroad: shikakeology, a phenomenon sweeping Japan. Naohiro Matsumura-renowned as the founder of the study of shikake, the Japanese word for "device"-has devised a new approach to design as astonishingly simple in its logic as it is sophisticated in its psychology. For example: * a staircase painted like piano keys prompts people to exercise * a symbol of a shrine placed in a public square discourages vandalism Combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with the lessons of behavioural economics, Matsumura presents a tool kit for literally anyone who wants to create their own mindful designs-and reveals how shikakes can help us address big challenges, including even climate change. Mind-bending yet elegant, Shikake will inspire readers to appreciate-and transform-the analogue world around them.

Many, if not most, of one's important decisions are made in the context of one's work. However, because workplace decisions cover such a broad range of issues, it often is difficult to detect underlying commonalities in how they are made, and in how things go wrong when they do go wrong. As a result, there are nearly as many different descriptions of workplace decisions as there are decisions themselves. In this volume, the best features of these diverse descriptions are unified in a new, intuitively compelling view of decision making called "Image Theory." The result is a clear picture of real-life, day-to-day workplace decision making that allows us to think constructively about how such decisions are made and about how to improve them when improvement is necessary.

Power Partnering is a brilliant yet refreshingly simple approach that breaks innovative thinking and acting down into four distinct contexts, allowing people to respond to complex situations in highly creative and innovative ways. In the not too distant future, successful companies will be defined by their ability to manage their knowledge assets. Power partnering is one very important strategy for success. It avoids the pitfalls inherent in traditional approaches to running businesses, particularly those that emphasize 'power over and control of' people. This book is concerned with creating environments of interaction where co-workers, customers, suppliers and customers' customers interact in meaningful and creative ways. These environments promote new ways of thinking, insightful perspectives and fresh ideas.

Outlining the requirements for management success in the Twenty-first century, the author proposes both a senior management career path to achieving top executive responsibilities and how the CEO successfully meets his or her challenges once that apex position is achieved. Over forty years of global management experience, including more than a decade as a Chief executive officer, underscores the dynamics of this book. It is intended for the aspiring individual who currently has some management experience, the ambition and dedicated focus to be a business leader, the self-confidence to be recognized, and to be comfortable with risk taking and to exercise "out of the box" thinking in accomplishing the vision they develop for their organization. It definitely is not for the faint of heart The book covers all the dynamics of these objectives, including the importance of the family, effective time management, discipline in all of its meanings and the real relationships between the business leader, the Board of Directors, the executive team, shareholders, employees, the market, and the increasing influence of government actions and involvement. Simply put, the purpose of this book is to assist you in planning and executing your career path to advance from your current business responsibilities to those of senior executive leadership - to those of a Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director or similar level of responsibilities. Recognizing that times and business environments change, it is designed to meet the challenges of the 21st Century; challenges you will face as an executive. This book is based on the author's personal business experiences covering 40 plus years. His senior management background included that of a CEO and President of a global heavy manufacturing, engineering and construction, and systems corporation. His business, military service and academic background proved to be of considerable value during the ups and downs of personal, corporate, and family life. It also provided him the basis for steadfast standards and values, affording an ethical barrier against the increasing prevaricating, cheating, obfuscating, thievery, and fraudulent global business and government events of the last 30 years or so. Unlike the questionable ethics and opportunistic management practices so evidenced by the Enrons, WorldComs, Tyco Internationals, MCIs, AIGs and, more recently, the Madoffs, Stanfords and Rothsteins of the world; the standards underwrote the strategic soundness of "being smart rather than clever" and trust implied in such policies as "Your Word is your Bond." This book is about the value and benefits of hard work, smartly done. It is about strengthening your self-confidence, flexibility and agility, and of realizing that you'll never fully achieve your potential, but you'll always - throughout your life - be striving for that goal. You are the person who never quits. You will find the premises of this book of considerable value. It is for the individual who "wants to make a difference," and who realizes that risks always are present in striving to achieve worthwhile goals.

The US Department of Commerce estimates that nearly 10% of the US's $9 trillion GDP is exposed to weather risk. All over the world providers and end users are recognizing this fact and are turning their attention to ways of protecting against or taking advantage of changes in the weather. This book explores a market that is expected to expand rapidly and is one of the fastest areas of growth in the financial arena.

Turbulence is not new to the business world. In fact, the turbulence is increasing and managers are seeing teams spinning their wheels. But now there is a book that addresses these realities-Problem Solving for Results. Management systems are in a state of crisis and operations are more complex. The old top-down operations mode no longer suffices. Today's businesses demand speed and increased accuracy, forcing everyone to re-evaluate chains of command and tear down the walls between functions. Amid the responsibilities of traditional management lies problem solving. The push is toward moving decision-making authority down the ladder to all levels. Managers are no longer equipped to or capable of making the number and variety of necessary decisions in a vacuum. The current mode is to have employees deal directly with workplace issues and take corrective action without complaint and without management involvement. Coping with this reality and preparation for these improvements in workplace problem solving requires interest and motivation. Problem Solving for Results can facilitate this by demystifying and simplifying the process. This book bridges philosophy and theory and puts together a practical integration of all the tools necessary to get results from your investment of time, energy, and money.

Volume 12 of the "Applications of Management Science" series is directed toward the applications of management science to: Multi-Criteria Decision Making, Operations and Supply Chain Management, Productivity Management (DEA), and Financial Management. This volume will prove valuable to researchers, practitioners and students of management science and operations research. It provides an overview of some of the most essential aspects of the discipline and is an excellent point of reference for persons interested in management or management science. It focuses on four key applications of management science, and is targeted towards a wide audience of researchers, practitioners, and students.

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.

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.

Risk-Based Environmental Decision: Methods and Culture presents the principles of human health risk analysis as they are applied in environmental decisions. It balances the discussion of scientific theory and methods, philosophical analysis, and applications in regulatory decisions. The material is directed towards risk analysts who must apply their skills in a policy setting, and towards policy analysts who must use risk estimates. The presentation is suited ideally as an introductory text on the methods of risk analysis and on the cultural issues that underlie these methodologies. An important feature of Risk-Based Environmental Decision: Methods and Culture is that it is designed around a series of detailed case studies of environmental risk analysis which walk the reader from the historical nature of the problem, to the formulation as a risk-based problem, to the conduct of risk analysis, and on to the application, debate, and defense of the risk analysis.

Entrepreneurs and innovators are trained to run fast, but...Are you running in the right direction?

Choosing the right market for your innovation is the biggest, and trickiest, question for innovators. Research has shown that all too often entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time researching their opportunities – instead they jump at the first opportunity that looks good, and fail to properly evaluate and leverage other opportunities. These common mistakes mean that you often choose the wrong market or attempt to pursue too many opportunities at once.

Where to Play helps you to set a promising strategy, by giving a clear, structured and practical framework- the Market Opportunity Navigator- to better identify, evaluate and focus on the right market opportunities. With three dedicated and reusable worksheets covering:

1.Market Opportunity Set – assess your core strengths and identify which market opportunities exist for your business

2.Attractiveness Map – evaluate your market opportunities to reveal the most attractive option for focus

3.Agile Focus Strategy – create a strategic plan for your chosen market opportunity that keeps you open-minded and agile

Get the most value for your innovations with Where to Play.

Is there a way for people on both sides of a dispute to come out ahead? Yes, says Stuart Nagel, and he calls his method super-optimizing decision making. Instead of expecting both sides to come out ahead of their worst initial expectations, Nagel's super-optimum solutions approach (SOS) allows both to come out ahead of their "best" initial expectations, and to do so simultaneously. Nagel offers readers in all fields of the public sector, with diverse interests and experiences, a clear, well-illustrated introduction to the basic concepts and principles of super-optimized decision making. Emphasizing rule-making and broader policy controversies rather than individual cases of adjudication, and with less reliance on mathematics and statistics than other books on decision-making techniques, Nagel's approach is basically commonsensical and easily grasped. Decision makers in the public sector will find the book fascinating and of special importance in their daily activities. Private-sector executives will find that its approaches can indeed be adapted to their own special concerns.

Soft computing techniques are innovative tools that use nature-inspired algorithms to run predictive analysis of industries from business to software measurement. These tools have gained momentum in recent years for their practicality and flexibility. The Handbook of Research on Fuzzy and Rough Set Theory in Organizational Decision Making collects both empirical and applied research in the field of fuzzy set theory, and bridges the gap between the application of soft computational approaches and the organizational decision making process. This publication is a pivotal reference for business professionals, IT specialists, software engineers, and advanced students of business and information technology.

This book presents a selection of current research results in the field of intelligent systems and draws attention to their practical applications and issues connected with the areas of decision-making, economics, business and finance. The nature of the contributions is interdisciplinary - combining psychological and behavioural aspects with the theory and practice of decision-support, design of intelligent systems and development of machine learning tools. The authors, among other topics, discuss the multi-expert evaluation with intangible criteria, suggest a redefinition of the standard multiple-criteria decision-making framework, propose novel methods for causal map analysis and new feature selection methods. The topics are selected to stress the potential of the up-to-date intelligent methods to deal with practical problems relevant in these areas and to provide inspiration for advanced students, researchers and practitioners in the respective fields.

Uncover repeatable processes and timeless fundamentals that can be tailored to any situation with this inspiring guidebook that encourages individual and organizational innovation.

With the challenges of cultural constraints and variable conditions, there is no exact blueprint to drive innovation. Even so, there are ways to make it more possible. Regardless of your situation, the basic "what" and "how" of innovation has not changed.

Get advice from innovators in a variety of fields who provide the substance you need to build a solid innovation program. These practical messages deliver guidance to help you become a better innovator yourself and to create the team dynamics to boost organizational performance.

Writers of innovation essays include Eric Garvin, Global Hawk manager at Northrop Grumman Corporation; Paul Byron Pattak, political and business strategist; Chris Haddock, head football coach at Centreville High School in Centreville, Virginia; and many more

Become a pragmatic visionary who not only sees where an organization needs to go but who knows how to inspire people to achieve goals. Get a foundation of solid skills to start Hitting the Innovation Jackpot.

This book shifts the debate on knowledge transfers within multinational corporations (MNCs) back to its core: How can we increase the effectiveness of cross-border transfers of knowledge? Several perspectives on international knowledge flows, from control issues to cultural barriers, are integrated into a comprehensive framework. Based on a sample of leading MNCs, empirical results show which managerial mechanisms have to be implemented to increase the benefit from knowledge transfers in headquarters and subsidiaries.

Recently knowledge management and management learning has received considerable published coverage; however, most of this exposure is based on a rational, mechanistic view of knowledge management. Practice, on the other hand, has taught us that knowledge management and learning are extremely broad concepts with an expanding area of subfields. This rationalized and measured view of knowledge management has lead to a more technologically driven development of the field. In practice, however, this view of knowledge management has fallen short of its promise. This situation has created the need for a more encompassing approach to knowledge management. An approach that will encompass a wider domain of knowledge management topics; including topics such as, workplace learning, knowledge infrastructure, knowledge representation, innovation and learning, knowledge culture and learning, and knowledge technologies.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT LEARNING: Extending the Horizons of Knowledge-Based Management examines a range of topical considerations in the field by utilizing dynamic and non-linear systems behavior or the complexity paradigm. From this examination have come a number of new and promising relevant extensions to knowledge management and its practice. Many of the topics have been pulled from "real world" situations in actual companies, and therefore these topical treatments reflect quantitative and qualitative research done within the knowledge management framework of actual company experience. Offered are a series of topical treatments that extend the parameters of knowledge management and examine the practical implications of these extensions.

The book begins with anextended introduction and theoretical framework. Contributing authors have written chapters that add to both the framework and the practical consequences of knowledge management. These chapters suggest many lessons learned that will find considerable use in practice. Some of these chapters include an investigation of the "doa (TM)s and dona (TM)ts" virtual learning based on real-life cases, the use of design teams for group learning, the role of language and the creation of common ground between company and client, culture as a dynamic and non-linear constructed concept, innovation and knowledge management and more. The book offers an exceptional range of contributions within a developing paradigm. Within this context, the book illustrates why and how of knowledge management is important for companies.

This book covers sustainable development in smart society's 5.0 using data analytics. The data analytics is the approach of integrating diversified heterogeneous data for predictive analysis to accredit innovation, decision making, business analysis, and strategic decision making. The data science brings together the research in the field of data analytics, online information analytics, and big data analytics to synthesize issues, challenges, and opportunities across smart society 5.0. Accordingly, the book offers an interesting and insightful read for researchers in the areas of decision analytics, cognitive analytics, big data analytics, visual analytics, text analytics, spatial analytics, risk analytics, graph analytics, predictive analytics, and analytics-enabled applications.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in network dynamics and control with applications to supply chains, manufacturing and logistics systems. It systemizes these developments in the form of new taxonomies and methodological principles to shape the research domain of supply network dynamics control. Uniquely, the book links the fundamentals of control and system theories and artificial intelligence with supply chain and operations management. It addresses the needs of researchers and practitioners alike, revealing the challenges and opportunities of supply chain and operations management by means of dynamic system analysis.