This book demonstrates the theoretical value and practical significance of systems science and its logic of thinking by presenting a rigorously developed foundation-a tool for intuitive reasoning, which is supported by both theory and empirical evidence, as well as practical applications in business decision making. Following a foundation of general systems theory, the book presents an applied method to intuitively learn system-sciences fundamentals. The third and final part examines applications of the yoyo model and the theoretical results developed earlier within the context of problems facing business decision makers by organically combining methods of traditional science, the first dimension of science, with those of systems science, the second dimension, as argued by George Klir in the 1990s. This text would benefit graduate students, researchers, or practitioners in the areas of mathematics, systems science or engineering, economics, and business decision science.

Optimal Control and Dynamic Games has been edited to honor the outstanding contributions of Professor Suresh Sethi in the fields of Applied Optimal Control. Professor Sethi is internationally one of the foremost experts in this field. He is, among others, co-author of the popular textbook "Sethi and Thompson: Optimal Control Theory: Applications to Management Science and Economics."

The book consists of a collection of essays by some of the best known scientists in the field, covering diverse aspects of applications of optimal control and dynamic games to problems in Finance, Management Science, Economics, and Operations Research. In doing so, it provides both a state-of-the-art overview over recent developments in the field, and a reference work covering the wide variety of contemporary questions that can be addressed with optimal control tools, and demonstrates the fruitfulness of the methodology.

There is no denying the global economy is changing at a rapid pace. Competition is increasing in intensity, technology is increasing in complexity, and innovation is increasing in importance, but approaches to managerial decision-making have not kept pace. This rigidity explains such corporate disasters as the blowout, explosion, and fire at the BP drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the total collapse of the residential mortgage industry that started in 2006, and the use of lead paint on children's toys revealed in 2007. Managers today face 21st century problems, and Avoiding Corporate Breakdowns provides the means of solving these very problems.

This open access book focuses on both the theory and practice associated with the tools and approaches for decisionmaking in the face of deep uncertainty. It explores approaches and tools supporting the design of strategic plans under deep uncertainty, and their testing in the real world, including barriers and enablers for their use in practice. The book broadens traditional approaches and tools to include the analysis of actors and networks related to the problem at hand. It also shows how lessons learned in the application process can be used to improve the approaches and tools used in the design process. The book offers guidance in identifying and applying appropriate approaches and tools to design plans, as well as advice on implementing these plans in the real world. For decisionmakers and practitioners, the book includes realistic examples and practical guidelines that should help them understand what decisionmaking under deep uncertainty is and how it may be of assistance to them. Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty: From Theory to Practice is divided into four parts. Part I presents five approaches for designing strategic plans under deep uncertainty: Robust Decision Making, Dynamic Adaptive Planning, Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways, Info-Gap Decision Theory, and Engineering Options Analysis. Each approach is worked out in terms of its theoretical foundations, methodological steps to follow when using the approach, latest methodological insights, and challenges for improvement. In Part II, applications of each of these approaches are presented. Based on recent case studies, the practical implications of applying each approach are discussed in depth. Part III focuses on using the approaches and tools in real-world contexts, based on insights from real-world cases. Part IV contains conclusions and a synthesis of the lessons that can be drawn for designing, applying, and implementing strategic plans under deep uncertainty, as well as recommendations for future work. The publication of this book has been funded by the Radboud University, the RAND Corporation, Delft University of Technology, and Deltares.

In a category saturated with breezy, self-help volumes, Russell Korobkin's long-awaited The Five Tool Negotiator stands apart as a revelatory guide for anyone eager to improve their bargaining skills. The nationally renowned author, who has spent three decades studying successful negotiations, now shares five distinct "tools" that we can all readily utilise: Bargaining Zone Analysis, Persuasion, Deal Design, Power and Fairness Norms. Drawing on his academic research, Korobkin incorporates lively anecdotes that bring to life concepts from the disparate fields of psychology, economics and game theory, along with fascinating social science experiments. These invaluable tools can be applied to everyday negotiations and transactions-from consumers hoping to obtain the best price for a used car to executives trying to close a multimillion-dollar deal. Intuitively accessible and reassuringly persuasive, this is a vital guide to mastering the critical skills of negotiation at the social, cultural and human level.

This book is designed to help MIS and information center managers and their staffs to efficiently and cost effectively meet the needs of end-users in their organizations. Focusing on managerial aspects of information centers, Robert J. Thierauf explores the ways in which new information technology--spreadsheets, query languages, report writers, word processing, etc.--can be placed in the hands of end-users without the interdepartmental conflict and loss of systems control often associated with such transitions.

The field of multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA), also termed multiple criteria decision aid, or multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), has developed rapidly over the past quarter century and in the process a number of divergent schools of thought have emerged. This can make it difficult for a new entrant into the field to develop a comprehensive appreciation of the range of tools and approaches which are available to assist decision makers in dealing with the ever-present difficulties of seeking compromise or consensus between conflicting inter ests and goals, i.e. the "multiple criteria." The diversity of philosophies and models makes it equally difficult for potential users of MCDA, i.e. management scientists and/or decision makers facing problems involving conflicting goals, to gain a clear understanding of which methodologies are appropriate to their particular context. Our intention in writing this book has been to provide a compre hensive yet widely accessible overview of the main streams of thought within MCDA. We aim to provide readers with sufficient awareness of the underlying philosophies and theories, understanding of the practi cal details of the methods, and insight into practice to enable them to implement any of the approaches in an informed manner. As the title of the book indicates, our emphasis is on developing an integrated view of MCDA, which we perceive to incorporate both integration of differ ent schools of thought within MCDA, and integration of MCDA with broader management theory, science and practice."

This book presents a range of qualitative and quantitative analyses in areas such as cybersecurity, sustainability, multivariate analysis, customer satisfaction, parametric programming, software reliability growth modeling, and blockchain technology, to name but a few. It also highlights integrated methods and practices in the areas of machine learning and genetic algorithms. After discussing applications in supply chains and logistics, cloud computing, six sigma, production management, big data analysis, satellite imaging, game theory, biometric systems, quality, and system performance, the book examines the latest developments and breakthroughs in the field of science and technology, and provides novel problem-solving methods. The themes discussed in the book link contributions by researchers and practitioners from different branches of engineering and management, and hailing from around the globe. These contributions provide scholars with a platform to derive maximum utility in the area of analytics by subscribing to the idea of managing business through system sciences, operations, and management. Managers and decision-makers can learn a great deal from the respective chapters, which will help them devise their own business strategies and find real-world solutions to complex industrial problems.

This fascinating book aims to provide a deeper understanding of the decision-making processes of entrepreneurs. This is achieved via a comparison of entrepreneurial individuals with different levels of expertise in contexts with varying degrees of potential for entrepreneurial success. This multidisciplinary study is based on entrepreneurship theory and empirical research as well as cognitive psychology. The cognitive perspective provides a link between the entrepreneur and new business creation by focusing on an individual's cognitive behaviour rather than on their personality traits. The essential issues of gathering and application of knowledge and expertise are also addressed: one of the most important implications of the study is that successful entrepreneurial decision-making behaviour can actually be taught and learned. The book concludes, however, that the provision of optimal teaching methods of this decision-making behaviour is a stiff challenge faced by entrepreneurship education. Presenting a novel combination of cognitive psychology and entrepreneurship theory with important practical implications, this book will strongly appeal to those involved in the study of entrepreneurship and cognitive psychology, and business and management. Entrepreneurs themselves will also find much to interest them in this book.

This research-oriented book presents key contributions on architecting the digital transformation. It includes the following main sections covering 20 chapters: * Digital Transformation * Digital Business * Digital Architecture * Decision Support * Digital Applications Focusing on digital architectures for smart digital products and services, it is a valuable resource for researchers, doctoral students, postgraduates, graduates, undergraduates, academics and practitioners interested in digital transformation.

Business Espionage: Risk, Threats, and Countermeasures provides the best practices needed to protect a company's most sensitive information. It takes a proactive approach, explaining the measures and countermeasures that can be enacted to identify both threats and weaknesses. The text fully explains the threat landscape, showing not only how spies operate, but how they can be detected. Drawn from the author's 40 years of experience, this vital resource will give readers a true understanding of the threat of business spying and what businesses can do to protect themselves. It is ideal for use as a tool to educate staff on the seriousness of the threat of business espionage.

This is the state-of-the-art, international handbook for a field of inquiry that is still emergent and yet occupies a central position in contemporary management and organization theory. Mark Easterby-Smith and Marjorie Lyles have drawn together in their authoritative reference work original essays from the leading scholars in organizational learning and knowledge management around the world.

Not least in importance is the linkage they make between these two adjacent areas: learning and knowledge are often debated separately despite their close relationship. In this volume leading scholars from the fields of organizational learning, the learning organization, knowledge management and organizational knowledge, examine the issues and debates, as well as the processes and management implications, that are key to each of these approaches. The resulting set of essays offers researchers and students an invaluable guide.

Tracing the roots of learning and knowledge debates across the disciplines of economics, psychology, and social theory, and charting the key contributions scholars have made, this is a major, in-depth overview which all scholars of organizational learning and knowledge management will need on their shelves.

Proceedings of a Symposium on Heavy Gas, Frankfurt am Main, September 3-4, 1979

This book presents the construction and resolution of 50 practical optimization problems and covers an exceptionally wide range, including games-associated problems (Unblock Me, Sudokus), logistical problems, and problems concerning plant distribution, production, operations scheduling, management and resource allocation. The problems are divided into 5 difficulty levels. Problems in the first few levels are focused on learning the model construction methodology, while those in the last level include complex optimization environments. For each problem solution, the specific steps are illustrated, promoting reader comprehension. In addition, all the models are implemented in an optimization library, LINGO, their solutions have been analyzed and their correct construction has been verified. The book also includes a simple guide to implementing models in LINGO in a straightforward manner and in any input data format (text files, spreadsheets or databases). As an ideal companion to the author's previously published work Modelling in Mathematical Programming, the book is intended as a basic tool for students of operations research, and for researchers in any advanced area involving mathematical programming.

Should you take a much-needed vacation or save money for the kids' education? Protect the endangered owl or maintain jobs for loggers? Have a heart-to-heart with a lying employee or fire him on the spot?

All of us face ethical choices. Sometimes they're easy: One side is wrong and the other is right. But how do we handle the really tough "right vs. right" dilemmas, where each side has strong moral arguments and we can't do both? This book helps us build Ethical Fitness(R)--a values-based decision-making process so definitive that it's now a registered trade mark.

Rushworth M. Kidder, founder of the Institute for Global Ethics, teaches us how to think for ourselves in order to resolve ethical dilemmas ranging from the intimately personal to the broadly philosophical. Unique in its approach and rich with illustrative anecdotes--updated with examples of real-world conflicts from today's political realm and from Dr. Kidder's own observations--How Good People Make Tough Choices is an indispensable resource for spotting, understanding, and resolving our toughest decisions.

This book concentrates on one of the most important directions for research on banking and finance for the next decade: the problem of information and risk management. Recent theoretical and empirical contributions consider asymmetric information between investors and financiers as a major determinant of financial risk. In this framwork, financial and banking innovation may be regarded as policy and individual agents' response to the problem of asymmetric information and risk management and also as a self-generated innovation process posing new challenges to policymakers in terms of informational efficiency and risk control.

We make decisions, and these decisions make us and our organisations. And in theory, decision-making should be easy: a problem is identified, the decision-makers generate solutions, and choose the optimal one - and powerful mathematical tools are available to facilitate the task. Yet if it is all so simple why do organisations, both private and public sector, keep making mistakes - the results of which are borne by shareholders, employees, taxpayers and ultimately society at large? This guide to decision making. by leading decision science academic Helga Drummond, aims to improve decision-making in organisations. It explores how and why decisions go awry in the first place - and offers practical advice on what decision-makers can do to counter the psychological, social and other forces that can undermine individual judgment and pull organisations off course. Full of examples of good and bad decision-making from around the world, it will make readers think more clearly about decisions big and small.

In an era of globalisation, syndicated lending and consolidation within the banking industry, virtually all industries will have international dealings, whether directly or indirectly, and will therefore be exposed to consequential risks. An understanding of international risk, from that of bank of country failure to the idiosyncrasies of different religious, cultural and regulatory frameworks, is essential for the modern banker. This book gives the reader a thorough understanding of how to calculate, analyse and manage such risks.

Covers both multicriteria decision and multiobjective optimization and helps readers understanding the mathematics behind the methods Includes several levels of exercises and solutions aiming the developing of readers' problem-solving skills and to promote concepts retention Designed for a 12 weeks course in multiple attribute decision modelling taken by advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in the mathematical sciences, engineering, and economics and management Includes supplementary teaching materials as slides presentations and self-evaluation exercises Provides models built in GAMS that can be solved and analysed with the software free version

Improving the User Experience through Practical Data Analytics shows you how to make UX design decisions based on data-not hunches. Authors Fritz and Berger help the UX professional recognize the enormous potential of user data that is collected as a natural by-product of routine UX research methods, including moderated usability tests, unmoderated usability tests, surveys, and contextual inquiries. Then, step-by-step, they explain how to utilize both descriptive and predictive statistical techniques to gain meaningful insight with that data. By mastering the use of these techniques, you'll delight your users, increase your bottom line and gain a powerful competitive advantage for your company-and yourself. Key features include: Practical advise on choosing the right data analysis technique for each project. A step-by-step methodology for applying each technique, including examples and scenarios drawn from the UX field. Detailed screen shots and instructions for performing the techniques using Excel (both for PC and Mac) and SPSS. Clear and concise guidance on interpreting the data output. Exercises to practice the techniques

When The Knowledge-Creating Company appeared, it was hailed as a landmark work in the field of knowledge management. Now, Enabling Knowledge Creation ventures even further into this all-important territory, showing how firms can generate and nurture ideas by using the concepts introduced in the first book.

This title looks at how power communication in the recent years has begun to reflect on its own limits in a new way. It focuses on a number of areas within the welfare state and how power desires non-power, including financial policy, voluntary policy, educational policy and public steering technologies.

No matter your field, industry, or specialty, as a leader you make a series of crucial decisions every single day. And the harsh truth is that the majority of decisions--no matter how good the intentions behind them--are mismanaged, resulting in a huge toll on organizations, the people they employ, and even the people they serve.
So why is it so hard to make sound decisions? In Think Twice, now in paperback, Michael Mauboussin argues that we often fall victim to simplified mental routines that prevent us from coping with the complex realities inherent in important judgment calls. Yet these cognitive errors are preventable.
In this engaging book, Mauboussin shows us how to recognize and avoid common mental missteps. These include misunderstanding cause-and-effect linkages, not considering enough alternative possibilities in making a decision, and relying too much on experts.
Through vivid stories, the author presents memorable rules for avoiding each error and explains how to recognize when you should think twice--questioning your reasoning and adopting decision-making strategies that are far more effective, even if they seem counterintuitive. Armed with this awareness, you'll soon begin making sounder judgment calls that benefit (rather than hurt) your organization.