Risk as we now know it is a wholly new phenomenon, the by-product of our ever more complex and powerful technologies. In business, policy making, and in everyday life, it demands a new way of looking at technological and environmental uncertainty. In this definitive volume, four of the world's leading risk researchers present a fundamental critique of the prevailing approaches to understanding and managing risk - the 'rational actor paradigm'. They show how risk studies must incorporate the competing interests, values, and rationalities of those involved and find a balance of trust and acceptable risk. Their work points to a comprehensive and significant new theory of risk and uncertainty and of the decision making process they require. The implications for social, political, and environmental theory and practice are enormous. Winner of the 2000-2002 Outstanding Publication Award of the Section on Environment and Technology of the American Sociological Association

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.

Workers' compensation causes headaches throughout all levels of an organization. Injuries affect production, costs, and morale. Managing Workers' Compensation: A Guide to Injury Reduction and Effective Claim Management lays out - in logical order - management and safety procedures that reduce injuries and the aggravation that follows. The authors cover hiring, training, and managing employees with injury avoidance in mind. They provide a blueprint for dealing with injured employees and their families, and for determining the correct time for the employee to return to work.

The book discusses the all-important issues of fraud, modified duty, substance abuse testing and accident investigations. It also provides guidance for managing your organization's safety efforts in a manner that targets workers' compensation cost control as one of its major objectives. In addition to comprehensive coverage of workers' compensation, the book gives you a thorough explanation of additional sources of assistance, including the availability and utility of Internet safety resources, a complete listing of state workers' compensation agencies, and sample checklists that help you evaluate your workplace.

Although workers' compensation laws vary from state-to-state, the principles behind the system and the ability of employers to influence their own premiums remain consistent. By gaining a thorough understanding of these principles and implementing proven cost control strategies, you can realize substantial savings. Managing Workers' Compensation: A Guide to Injury Reduction and Effective Claim Management explains the process by which premiums are calculated and shows how you can impact - favorably - the amount your organization pays in premiums.

This practical resource shows business professionals how to improve their decision-making skills and enhance their ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships with co-workers and clients. The book covers a wide range of topics -- identifying tastes and preferences, personal skill assessment, cost-benefit analysis, risk and uncertainty, multi-tasking, human resource management, time constraints, data collection, and more. Designed to help busy professionals make the most effective use of time and energy, it will also be useful in the study of organizational behavior and business psychology.

A Guide For Managers Of Team-Based Organizations

One of few books to address the management issues of team-based companies, this work shows how to build an organizational infrastructure conducive to superior team performance. The work dispenses with the usual one-model-fits-all approach to identify six distinct types of teams?production, service, management, project, action, and advisory?and explain in detail how to design, implement, and manage the unique systems, policies, and practices that support each. The contributors?all leading consultants and researchers?draw from important case studies to present the best management practices of team-based organizations. Covers every nuance from management structuring to team staffing to information systems. Even shows how to create a physical facility that's right for teams.

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

Author Biography:
Eileen Milner is a Principal Lecturer in Information Management at the University of North London

For the public sector, which is globally the largest employer of people and repository of information, managing information and knowledge is an extremely problematic area to address. The essence of both resources is that they are intangible, their impact and value cannot be measured through traditional accounting methods, yet they are also, paradoxically, where the greatest value and potential for improvement is located. In this book Eileen Milner introduces the reader to the concepts of information and knowledge and explores a variety of tools and techniques which may be usefully adopted in actively managing and developing these resources. Wherever possible real-life public sector case studies and examples are used to illustrate good practice, as well as some of the pitfalls of poor application. Down-to-earth and taking into account the critically important characteristics unique to public services, this will be an illuminating text both for managers and policy makers already working in the public sector and for those considering doing so.

Risk or uncertainty assessments are used as aids to decision making in nearly every aspect of business, education, and government. As a follow-up to the author's bestselling Risk Assessment and Decision Making in Business and Industry: A Practical Guide, Risk Modeling for Determining Value and Decision Making presents comprehensive examples of risk/uncertainty analyses from a broad range of applications.

Decision/option selection Manufacturing
Environmental assessment Pricing
Identification of business drivers Production sharing
Insurance Scheduling and optimization
Investing Security
Law

Emphasizing value as the focus of risk assessment, this book offers discussions on how to make decisions using each risk model and what insights the model can provide. The presentation of each model also includes computer code that encapsulates its logic and direction on how to apply the model to other types of problems.

The author devotes a chapter to techniques for consistently collecting data in an inconsistent world and offers another chapter on how to reflect the effect of "soft" issues in the value of an opportunity. The book's final chapters delineate the techniques and technologies used to perform risk/uncertainty analyses, including sections on distribution, Monte Carlo process, dependence, sensitivity analysis, time series analysis, and chance of failure.

Visit RiskSupport.com for more information!

This fascinating and controversial text makes sense of the complexities of research in the workplace and how 'working' knowledge is constructed. Featuring experts from Britain, Japan, North America and Australia, it is an outstanding contribution to the literature of Human Resource Management (HRM). It's interdisciplinary approach addresses key issues and debates such as:
* the influences of new technology, language, power, culture and gender upon the 'construction' of knowledge
* the impact of globalization
* working knowledge into the 21st century
* practice and performance implications.
It's outlook, geared towards the 21st century, makes it essential reading for researchers, teachers and students within HRM, policy-makers and all those concerned with professional development.

Rejecting the idea that there are ready-made solutions to the challenges of constructing and managing knowledge in organizations, this book addresses the changing nature of knowledge construction and what can be achieved through innovative research practices. Key issues and debates include: working knowledge into the 21st century; the highly contextualized nature of research at work; post-modern perspectives on knowledge construction and practice and performance implications; the impact of globalization; the influences of new technology; language; power; and culture and gender upon the "construction" of knowledge. Leading experts from North America, Japan, Britain and Australia illustrate both practice and theory issues. This text should be of interest to researchers, teachers and students in the field of human resource management, policy-makers and all those concerned with continuing professional development.

This book examines the need for information in support of decision-making in environmental health. It discusses indicators of environmental health, methods of data collection and the assessment of exposure to and the health impact of different environmental risk factors. It also discusses approaches to linkage analysis of grouped environmental and health data, including statistical and epidemiological issues and geographical infomation systems.
The book will be an invaluable source of information for researchers in public health, epidemiology and social science, as well as for environmental health data as part of local or national information systems.

A book on practical business forecasting belongs in the library of everyone interested in business. Forecasting is extremely important to finance and accounting executives, business economists and managers at all levels.
Strategic Business Forecasting: The Complete Guide to Forecasting Real World Company Performance provides you with a working knowledge of the fundamentals of business forecasting that can be applied in the real world regardless of the size of the firm. The author explains the basic forecasting methodology and the practical applications. All aspects of business are discussed, making this a comprehensive and valuable reference.
The author avoids theoretical and mathematical discussions to gets right into how, when , and why to use this book. Many practical examples, applications, illustrations, guidelines, measures, checklists, rules of thumb, tips, graphs, diagrams and tables aid your comprehension of the subject. The author displays and explains printouts obtained using many popular spreadsheet programs and software packages.
The book goes far beyond just sales forecasting, encompassing a wide range of topics of major importance to practical business managers and finance professionals, including cash flow forecasting, cost prediction, earnings forecasts, bankruptcy prediction, foreign exchange forecasting, and interest rate forecasting. Written in an easy-to-read style, it is practical, current, and intriguing - a reference book to use throughout your business career.

Written for those interested in the topic of "shared knowledge" in organizations, this edited volume brings together a variety of themes and perspectives that emerge when multidisciplinary scholars examine this important subject. The papers were presented at a conference designed to bring together behavioral scientists who were interested in the creation, conversation, distribution, and protection of knowledge in organizations.
The editors bring together a distinguished group of social psychologists who have made important contributions to social cognition and group processes. They cast a wide net in terms of the topics covered and challenged the authors to think about how their research applies to the management or mismanagement of knowledge in organizations. The volume is divided into three sections: knowledge systems, emotional-motivational systems, and communication and behavioral systems. A final conclusion chapter discusses and integrates the various contributions.

Written for those interested in the topic of "shared knowledge" in organizations, this edited volume brings together a variety of themes and perspectives that emerge when multidisciplinary scholars examine this important subject. The papers were presented at a conference designed to bring together behavioral scientists who were interested in the creation, conversation, distribution, and protection of knowledge in organizations.
The editors bring together a distinguished group of social psychologists who have made important contributions to social cognition and group processes. They cast a wide net in terms of the topics covered and challenged the authors to think about how their research applies to the management or mismanagement of knowledge in organizations. The volume is divided into three sections: knowledge systems, emotional-motivational systems, and communication and behavioral systems. A final conclusion chapter discusses and integrates the various contributions.

This is the first knowledge book in the Resources for the Knowledge-Based Economy Readers' series to link the two hot topics of knowledge and strategy. The book centers around the concept of treating organizational knowledge as a valuable strategy asset. Knowledge strategy is a natural extension of the historical development of business strategy in general. The book includes seminal articles on the subject as well as an introduction written by Michael Zack.

Links together knowledge and strategy
Seminal articles

Behavioural studies have shown that while humans may be the best decision makers on the planet, we are not quite as good as we think we are. We are regularly subject to biases, inconsistencies and irrationalities in our decision making. Decision Behaviour, Analysis and Support, published in 2009, explores perspectives from many different disciplines to show how we can help decision makers to deliberate and make better decisions. It considers both the use of computers and databases to support decisions as well as human aids to building analyses and some fast and frugal tricks to aid more consistent decision making. In its exploration of decision support it draws together results and observations from decision theory, behavioural and psychological studies, artificial intelligence and information systems, philosophy, operational research and organisational studies. This provides a valuable resource for managers with decision-making responsibilities and students from a range of disciplines, including management, engineering and information systems.

Science reassures, art disturbs (Proverb)

This intriguing exploration of underlying forces in decision making takes as its starting point a wealth of high profile decision disasters. In brilliantly readable analyses, Helga Drummond shows how better awareness of the inherent uncertainties of the decision making process could have made the outcomes very different.

Examples showcased include:

The Hatfield rail crash
The Kursk submarine disaster
The Challenger disaster
The year 2000 fuel crisis
The WWII Dardanelles expedition
The Barings Bank collapse
The Taurus Stock Exchange Project The Hillsborough tragedy
The King's Cross underground fire
The Millennium Dome

This entertaining yet instructive book offers new insight into the realities of decision making, and shows how you can confront them to improve your prospects of success.

An incredible ability awaits managers who practice Theory of Constraints (TOC) techniques: they can take a problem, look beyond the less important details, and directly identify the source of trouble. They've been known to promptly resolve perplexing matters - while the uninformed remain stuck.
So many more managers could gain the benefit of TOC thinking... if they only took the time. Eli Schragenheim now offers an informative and enjoyable self-learning method, proving how TOC can be invaluable at a wide variety of workplaces.
Management Dilemmas: The Theory of Constraints Approach to Problem Identification and Solutions conveys TOC methods through "virtual experience"-stories of managers and the situations they need to resolve. Take note of the dilemmas they're facing. Think about how you would respond under those circumstances. Then, compare your reactions with Schragenheim's TOC-influenced analysis.
Associated with Dr. Eli Goldratt (the founder of TOC) for seven years, Schragenheim doesn't tell how the stories end. Instead, he encourages the reader to try out TOC techniques-especially the need to arrive at the most precise answer by raising the right questions. The conclusions you reach today could greatly help your on-the-job thinking tomorrow!

Decision making plays a major role in virtually every theory of organizational behavior. However, decision theory has not provided organizational theorists with useful descriptions of how decisions are made, either by individuals or by individuals in organizations. The earliest offering came from economics in the form of the "normative" rational view of decision making. The underlying presumption was that decision makers are all striving to maximize return or minimize loss, that decisions are based upon unlimited information, and that they have the capacity to use the information efficiently. They know the options open to them and the consequences of pursuing one or another of those options. The optimal course of action is revealed by applying the appropriate analysis and choosing the most profitable option. The key concepts are rationality, analysis, orderliness, and maximization, and even a moment's thought demonstrates the gap between these concepts and real-life experience. From the viewpoint of organizational theory, the primary problem with the normative view of decision making, and by analogy with much behavioral decision research, is its reliance on the "gamble metaphor." That is, decisions are characterized as gambles in an effort to capture the inherent risk. This metaphor has the advantage of simplicity, but it is a flawed simplicity.
This book is about a different kind of behavioral theory -- image theory. It is a psychological theory of decision making that abandons the gamble metaphor and the normative logic that the metaphor supports. Instead it sees decision making as guided by the beliefs and values that the decision maker, or a community of decision makers, holds to be relevant to the decision at hand. These beliefs and values dictate the goals of the decision. The point is to craft a course of action that will achieve these goals without interfering with the pursuit of other goals. The book begins with an overview of image theory that outlines the basic concepts of the theory and a little of its history. The next two parts correspond to the theory's two decision mechanisms, the compatibility test and the profitability test. The final section contains extensions and developments of the theory as well as cognate ideas that have their basis in the theory. This book's purpose is to provide -- in one place -- the theoretical and empirical work that has been done up to now and to suggest directions for future work.

This book covers a large spectrum of cutting-edge game theory applications in management science in which Professor Georges Zaccour has made significant contributions. The book consists of 21 chapters and highlights the latest treatments of game theory in various areas, including marketing, supply chains, energy and environmental management, and cyber defense. With this book, former Ph.D. students and successful research collaborators of Professor Zaccour wish to honor his many scientific achievements.

Managerial Decision Making is an essential and insightful title that brings together classic articles on the subject of behavioral decision research. Professor Don Moore has selected the seminal articles that are the cornerstone of a discipline that has exploded in both productivity and influence. It covers Herbert Simon's groundbreaking work on bounded rationality, as well as important papers on anchoring, the bias of framing, the problem of overconfidence, the preference for fairness, emotional influences and the strengths and weaknesses of human intuitive judgement. This research review will appeal to a wide readership as decision research plays an important role in such diverse areas as business, marketing, law, finance, medicine and public policy.

"This is one of the most important Agile books since The Phoenix Project." Charles Betz, author, instructor, and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research Drive real change through actual business outcomes, not rigid practices and a handful of buzzwords. Being Agile isn't the goal; the true goal is successful outcomes. And successful outcomes come from embracing business principles that engender high-performing organizations, not from following a formula. The award-winning Sooner Safer Happier lays the foundation for achieving what truly matters: delivering better value sooner, safer, and happier. Every chapter of this practical guide to business success clearly articulates the typical ways of working that organizations get wrong (antipatterns) and quickly follows them with what to do right (patterns). Each pattern helps empower teams and leaders and allows the organization as a whole to break free of prescribed Agile practices to achieve true agility and success. Anyone looking to drive successful business outcomes needs this book on their desk to dip into over and over again. "This is a realistic approach to adopting (or not adopting) agile in your organization. The theory is sound; the practice is extensive. I strongly recommend this book." -Dave Snowden, Chief Scientific Officer, Cognitive Edge, Creator of Cynefin "Sooner Safer Happier is a must-read for any business leader looking to succeed in the digital age." -David Silverman, co-author of Team of Teams

Young children start school already able to do a surprising amount of mathematics. This book examines the nature and origin of subject knowledge and is based on information gathered from observing the interactions between teachers and their first-year pupils. It demonstrates the necessity of the classroom teacher to draw on many kinds of knowledge in order to deal with various issues surrounding classroom learning and teaching. Two important core areas are knowledge of lesson structure and of subject matter; this book address the area of subject matter and, as such, it should be of interest to classroom teachers and lecturers in education.

If you aren't using the term "naturalistic decision making, " or NDM, you soon will be. Even as a very young field, NDM has already had far-reaching applications in areas as diverse as management, aviation, health care, nuclear power, military command and control, corporate teamwork, and manufacturing.
Put simply, NDM is the way people use their experience to make decisions in the context of a job or task. Of particular interest to NDM researchers are the effects of high-stake consequences, shifting goals, incomplete information, time pressure, uncertainty, and other conditions that are present in most of today's work places and that add to the complexity of decision making. Applications of NDM research findings target decision aids and training that help people in their decision-making processes.
This book reports the findings of top NDM researchers, as well as many of their current applications. In addition, the book offers a historical perspective on the emergence of this new paradigm, describes recent theoretical and methodological advancements, and points to future developments. It was written for people interested in decision making research and applications relative to a diverse array of work settings and products such as human-computer interfaces, decision support systems, individual and team training, product designs, and organizational development and planning.