Project teams are the rule rather than the exception in today's organizations. But thanks to the pressure of performance goals, conflicting agendas, and political jockeying, few teams make superior decisions consistently. Instead, team members communicate poorly or not at all, avoid provocative discussion, occasionally stab each other in the back, or in many other ways forget that their job is to make decisions that lead the company forward. Jana Kemp, an authority on team decision making, saves the day by offering tested methods and tools team members and their leaders can use to ratchet up the performance level. That not only makes team projects more successful--it makes work fun. Kemp argues that the way to make good decisions is to have an expansive group conversation that leads to sound decisions and swift execution. Sounds simple, but in most organizations, making a decision and seeing it through can become an exercise in frustration for managers and employees alike. At one end of the spectrum are "command-and-control" decisions, proclaimed from on-high and implemented through the ranks. Without input or buy-in from those affected by the decision, this approach can lead to resentment and backlash. At the other end are purely collaborative, consensus decisions that often lead to inoffensive, weak choices and sub-par results. As Jana Kemp shows in Moving Out of the Box, there's a time for consensus, and a time for command and control--and a time to integrate both approaches. Her practical tools, honed through application in groups of all types and sizes, ensure that team members have the know-how to make effective decisions that have an impact on an organization's results. Providingexamples of successes and failures, as well as interactive and diagnostic exercises, she identifies five decision-making profiles, and shows how to steer your group into the most effective one. The five profiles: *Anti-survival. The naysayers have control. Surprisingly, sometimes they should be listened to. *Boxed-in. When no one can come up with fresh ideas, it's time to think out of the box. *Neutral. Nobody terribly excited or negative? Don't worry, sometimes this isn't a bad place to be to make a good decision. *Engaged enthusiasm. If you can get the team into this attitude, chances are that a good decision will result and follow-through will occur. *Extreme excitement. Most teams leaders think this is where the team needs to be to make a good decision. It's nice, but not required. Each profile or group dynamic is well defined and includes scenarios, exercises, quizzes, sample questions, and other conversation starters. The book ends with a blueprint for putting decisions into action. All in all, this handbook will help improve group and individual communication, problem solving, decision making, and execution, regardless of the task at hand.

Are you looking for a more compassionate, caring and loving way to lead? Do you want to be a leader that makes a meaningful difference, who opposes injustice and strives to make the world a better place? In this unique, empowering and inspiring guide, Business Leader and BCorp Ambassador Paul Hargreaves challenges you to banish outdated, paternalistic, acommand and control' leadership and instead embrace the positive, proactive and purpose-led styles that have the power to energise, empower, elevate and change the world. Using an enlightening and thought-provoking mix of stories, quotes and case-studies, Paul will guide you on a journey through 50 essential leadership qualities. Day by day he'll equip you with ingenious ideas, inspiration and the mindset you need to become a leader who: Nurtures, supports and cherishes the planet as well as your people. Releases love, compassion and care throughout your organisation. Challenges the status quo and is a catalyst for positive change. Uses empathy, trust and mutual respect to drive success and encourage the best in others. By becoming a genuinely dynamic and human leader who's driven by principle, purpose and passion, you'll make a more profound impact on your business and the world as you create a legacy to be proud of.

In this volume we present some of the papers delivered at FUR-IV - the Fourth International Conference on Founda tions and Applications of Utility, Risk and Decision Theory in Budapest, June 1988. The FUR Conferences have provided an appreciated forum every two years since 1982 within which scientists can report recent issues and prospective applications of decision theory, and exchange ideas about controversial questions of this field. Focal points of the presented papers are: expected utility versus alterna tive utility models, concepts of risk and uncertainty, developments of game theory, and investigations of real decision making behaviour under uncertainty and/or in risky situations. We hope that this sample of papers will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers who are interested in and fami liar with this interesting and exciting issues of decision theory. A wide range of theoretical and practical questions is considered in papers included in this volume, and many of them closely related to economics. In fact, there were two Nobel-Laureates in economics among the participants: I. Herbert A. Simon (1978) and Maurice Allais (1988), who won the prize just after the conference. His paper deals with problems of cardinal utility. After a concise overview of the history and theory of cardinal utility he gives an estimate of the invariant cardinal utility function for its whole domain of variation (i. e."

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for estimating space-time stochastic properties of local climatic factors reflecting global climate change. Specifically, daily precipitation amount and daily mean temperature are considered and illustrated with application to the state of Nebraska, U. S. A. Furthermore, a drought index with and without global climate change is examined. The magnitude and consequences of regional response to anticipated climatic changes are uncertain (Houghton et al., 1990). Typical questions to be answered are: can time series of hydrological events or 10cal climatic variables such as daily temperature be conditioned in scenarios of future climate change and if so, how can this be utilized ? Can extreme historical drought events be reproduced by a stochastic hydroc1imatological model ? Can such a model be used with General Circu1ation Model (GCM) outputs to evaluate the regional/local effects of climate change scenarios? The approach presented in this paper is an extension of the usual analysis of regional hydrometeorological impacts of climate change: we propose to examine time series of GCM produced daily atmospheric circulation patterns (CP), thought to be relatively accurate GCM output to estimate local climatic factors. The paper is organized as follows. First, daily CPs are classified and analyzed statistically, first for historical and then for GCM produced data. Next, the height of the 500 hPa pressure field is introduced as an additional physically relevant variable influencing local climatic factors within each CP type."

As a manager or executive, you don't want to make mistakes. You want to make the right decisions that will help your career and business progress. However, no one is free from making mistakes, especially as the world and business becomes ever more complex. In fact, most managers and executives make their decisions without being aware of the clues that separate the right decisions from the wrong ones. This book unravels the mystery that lies between success and failure, focusing on management mistakes. It uncovers the reasons behind most decision errors and shows how to deal with them successfully. It proposes a better approach to goal setting, risk assessment, context analysis, information processing, number crunching and personnel management. It also gives the keys to overcoming the long list of cognitive biases that managers suffer from (whether they know it or not). The book is written from the diverse and rich experience of the author and is based on the examples of dozens of real business mistakes.

This book explores the methodological frontiers of managerial and organizational cognition (MOC), an exciting and diverse interdisciplinary body of work that began with the publication in 1958 of James G. March and Herbert A. Simon's classic work Organizations. Entering its fourth decade, the field gained significant momentum following the appearance of Anne S. Huff's (1990) book Mapping Strategic Thought, which explored the (then) methodological frontiers of MOC. The world has changed since then and so, too, have the methods available to MOC researchers; it is timely, therefore, to examine the extent to which the methods that were foundational to the development of MOC are still fit for purpose. Taking stock of MOC's many methodological accomplishments, the thought-provoking chapters comprising this second volume of the New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition book series set the agenda for the next phase of the field's development.

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

This book analyzes the impact of the digital economy on customer satisfaction, shopping experience, resistance to change, script theory, and loyalty. The model introduced assumes that online markets have led to a redefinition of the concepts of loyalty and shopping scripts as a way to reduce customers' cognitive effort, by optimizing purchase time and increasing the speed and satisfaction of the shopping experience. It describes the utility function of the script by retaining customer loyalty and making the customer more reluctant to abandon his regular supplier. It also explores the difficulty faced by the higher churn rate on the Internet and the minimization of search costs, by integrating more functionality to achieve the ultimate goal of behavioral and cognitive loyalty. The authors provide an analysis in a "digital" view of the economic theory of switching costs and the resulting lock-in mechanisms which, in a classical economy, are often a barrier to disloyalty. It is a useful and effective tool for online businesses, their main managerial and strategic implications, and the adaptability to existing contexts.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) has been one of the fastest growing problem areas in many disciplines. The central problem is how to evaluate a set of alternatives in terms of a number of criteria. Although this problem is very relevant in practice, there are few methods available and their quality is hard to determine. Thus, the question Which is the best method for a given problem?' has become one of the most important and challenging ones. This is exactly what this book has as its focus and why it is important. The author extensively compares, both theoretically and empirically, real-life MCDM issues and makes the reader aware of quite a number of surprising abnormalities' with some of these methods. What makes this book so valuable and different is that even though the analyses are rigorous, the results can be understood even by the non-specialist. Audience: Researchers, practitioners, and students; it can be used as a textbook for senior undergraduate or graduate courses in business and engineering.

Proven set of best practices for security risk assessment and management, explained in plain English

This guidebook sets forth a systematic, proven set of best practices for security risk assessment and management of buildings and their supporting infrastructures. These practices are all designed to optimize the security of workplace environments for occupants and to protect the interests of owners and other stakeholders. The methods set forth by the authors stem from their research at Sandia National Laboratories and their practical experience working with both government and private facilities.

Following the authors' step-by-step methodology for performing a complete risk assessment, you learn to: Identify regional and site-specific threats that are likely and credible
Evaluate the consequences of these threats, including loss of life and property, economic impact, as well as damage to symbolic value and public confidence
Assess the effectiveness of physical and cyber security systems and determine site-specific vulnerabilities in the security system

The authors further provide you with the analytical tools needed to determine whether to accept a calculated estimate of risk or to reduce the estimated risk to a level that meets your particular security needs. You then learn to implement a risk-reduction program through proven methods to upgrade security to protect against a malicious act and/or mitigate the consequences of the act.

This comprehensive risk assessment and management approach has been used by various organizations, including the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and numerous private corporations, to assess and manage security risk at their national infrastructure facilities. With its plain-English presentation coupled with step-by-step procedures, flowcharts, worksheets, and checklists, you can easily implement the same proven approach and methods for your organization or clients. Additional forms and resources are available online at www.wiley.com/go/securityrisk.

Written primarily for information systems managers, systems analysts, and end users who interface with them, this volume explores the group approach to decision support systems. As Thierauf points out, group decision making enhances the effectiveness of overall organizational decision making by eliminating some of the shortcomings--particularly the potential for uncorrected error--of individual decision making. When the collective expertise of the group is combined with the objective findings from a computerized mode of operation designed to help the decision making process, group decision support systems are the result. Thierauf explains the principles of group decision support systems, demonstrates their practical applications, and describes methods that can be used to design effective group decision support systems.

The book begins by presenting the underlying framework for group decision support systems and examining the characteristics of decision making in the group environment. There follows two chapters which offer a comprehensive treatment of the hardware and software necessary and one devoted to work redesign and the development of group decision support systems. The final section addresses the applications of group decision support systems to strategic planning, marketing, manufacturing, accounting, and personnel. Numerous figures illustrate points made in the text. An important contribution to the MIS literature, this book both delineates the need for more widespread use of group decision support systems and clearly explains how to implement such systems in every area of business operations.

The definitive classic on high-performance teams The Wisdom of Teams is the definitive work on how to create high-performance teams in any organization. Having sold nearly a half million copies and been translated into more than fifteen languages, the authors' clarion call that teams should be the basic unit of organization for most businesses has permanently shaped the way companies reach the highest levels of performance. Using engaging case studies and testimonials from both successful and failed teams--ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the U.S. Army to high school sports--the authors explain the dynamics of teams both in great detail and with a broad view. Their conclusions and prescriptions span the familiar to the counterintuitive: * Commitment to performance goals and common purpose is more important to team success than team building. * Opportunities for teams exist in all parts of the organization. * Real teams are the most successful spearheads of change at all levels. * Working in teams naturally integrates performance and learning. * Team "endings" can be as important to manage as team "beginnings." Wisdom lies in recognizing a team's unique potential to deliver results and in understanding its many benefits--development of individual members, team accomplishments, and stronger companywide performance. Katzenbach and Smith's comprehensive classic is the essential guide to unlocking the potential of teams in your organization.

Decisions in businesses and organizations are too often based on fads, fashions and the success stories of famous CEOs. At the same time, traditional models and new cutting-edge solutions often fail to deliver on what they promise. This situation leaves managers, business leaders, consultants and policymakers with a profound challenge: how can we stay away from trends and quick fixes, and instead use valid and reliable evidence to support the organization? In response to this problem, evidence-based management has evolved with the goal of improving the quality of decision-making by using critically evaluated evidence from multiple sources - organizational data, professional expertise, stakeholder values and scientific literature. This book sets out and explains the specific skills needed to gather, understand and use evidence to make better-informed organizational decisions. Evidence-Based Management is a comprehensive guide that provides current and future managers, consultants and organizational leaders with the knowledge and practical skills to improve the quality and outcome of their decision-making. Online resources include case studies, exercises, lecture slides and further reading.

Volume 12, Advances in Business and Management Forecasting, is a blind refereed serial publication. It presents state-of-the-art studies in the application of forecasting methodologies to such areas as supply chain, health care, prospecting for donations from university alumni, and the use of clustering and regression in forecasting. The orientation of this volume is for business applications for both the researcher and the practitioner of forecasting. Volume 12 is divided into three sections: Forecasting Applications, Predictive Analytics and Time Series. An interdisciplinary group of experts explore wide-ranging topics including multi-criteria scoring models, detecting rare events, the assessment of control charts for intermittent data, and fuzzy time series models.

With intensified global competition, institutional changes and reduced communication costs the propensity of firms to reconfigure their global value chain and separate their activities across national boundaries has increased markedly. It enables firms to combine the benefits arising from specialization and increased flexibility with location advantages. Consequently, large parts of manufacturing and other more standardized activities have been offshored to emerging countries. However, recent developments are challenging this traditional separation between advanced and emerging economies as host of knowledge- and production-intensive activities, respectively. Recent research has emphasized the role of intra-organizational relationships and links among the different parts of the value chain. Innovative and productive activities are affected by strong interdependencies and complementarities, and for some companies the co-location of R&D and manufacturing is critical for development and innovation. This volume will interest scholars in International Business, Economic Geography, Operations and Supply Chain Management, International Economics, and Political Science.

This book gives a comprehensive and thorough insight into all of today's common methods of modern market risk management including coverage of variance, co-variance, historical simulation, Monte Carlo, 'Greek' ratios, and statistical concepts such as volatility and correlation. In addition, all the important modern derivatives and their pricing methods (i.e. present value, Black Scholes, binomial trees, Monte Carlo) are presented and guidelines are given as to exactly which method can be used for which instruments.

This volume draws on disciplines as different as Psychology, Anthropology, History and Biology to explain when and why individuals act to promote their own self-interest and when they sacrifice their own outcomes so that others can benefit.

This book aims to assess what the changes of the Treaty of Lisbon envisaged and whether these ambitions have materialised since the Treaty entered into force. It offers analyses of the past, as well as what might be the future (because some provisions will only enter into effect in the years to come). To what extent has the current decision-making process been able to address the shortcomings and challenges of the past? What has been the impact of aspects of the Lisbon Treaty that clarified pre-existing norms and structures, in some cases formalizing them, rather than introducing new changes? The authors of this book look at the interaction between formal rules and informal practices, seeking to point to the interaction between the two. They find that informal practices to date typically still dominate formal rules. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Are you lacking confidence in your decision-making abilities? Leaders often have to make challenging decisions, such as how do we improve employee morale? How do we decrease employee turnover? What needs to happen to ensure employees and stakeholders feel safe to return to work during a pandemic? Great leaders understand how to balance emotion with reason and to make decisions that positively impact their organizations. Making good decisions in difficult situations is no small feat. Change, uncertainty, stress, and anxiety all contribute to this dilemma. The Practical Decision Maker: A Handbook for Decision Making and Problem Solving, 2nd edition will help you achieve a high level of confidence and give you practical tools to make faster and more effective practical decisions. Decision-making has never been more critical, especially for today's leaders. Updates to this new edition include additions to reflect 21st century technology and the divisive times leaders are in today.

Provides a blueprint for your company's sustained and profitable growth. Let's face it: sustained business growth doesn't just happen. Growth must be planned for and executed, cultivated from a strategic standpoint and applied tactically at the frontline, led by the right people, and focused on the right objectives. The Growth Advantage provides a blueprint for sustained and profitable growth for any business. It is designed to help companies build the ultimate competitive edge. The book is broken into three parts that outline the Planning Advantage, the Execution Advantage, and the Company Advantage, which will help you align your company with its goals. The Growth Advantage cracks open the business secrets that teach companies how to achieve that dream of steady, predictable growth through effective planning and solid execution. Readers learn how their company can develop and sustain a blueprint for growth that guides company actions on a daily and weekly basis. Combining elements of culture, strategy, planning, execution, talent acquisition, training, motivation, accountability, and brand differentiation into one book with clear, actionable steps, Bob Lisser brings readers along a journey that starts with a plan and ends with success.

Global Information Technology Outsourcing In Search of Business Advantage Mary C. Lacity & Leslie P. Willcocks ‘Lacity, and Willcocks have shown us again why they are the world’s leading IT outsourcing gurus… the most comprehensive work on IT outsourcing to date.’ Sara Cullen, National Partner, Australia Business Process Management, Deloitte Touche, Tohmatsu ‘a valuable collection… readers will find here advice that premier consultants would deliver for a very large multiple of the price of this book.’ Paul A. Strassmann, former CIO of General Foods, Kraft, Xerox and the US Department of Defense ‘(a). "must read" for anyone in search of a clear understanding of what information technology outsourcing is all about… absolutely no one should jump into outsourcing prior to taking advantage of the outstanding case studies outlined in this book.’ Emmett Paige, President, OAO Corporation ‘an excellent guide to successful outsourcing, the best I have read on the topic. It should be mandatory reading for any senior executive.’ Gail Burke, Executive Director & CIO, Macquarie Bank, Australia ‘crisp and concise. The studies selected for detailed presentation are excellent and the analysis… rings with credibility.’ Rob Westcott, Vice President and CIO, General Motors Acceptance Corporation International Operations, UK ‘Lacity and Willcocks have… unrivalled access to outsourcing deals across the globe… their new book… is a powerful synthesis of their learning (and) their chapter on risk management is a groundbreaking contribution. A vitally important business guide.’ Richard Sykes, Chairman Morgan Chambers plc. - Europe’s largest independent consultancy in IT services & business process sourcing ‘Lacity and Willcocks tell it like it is and pull no punches… A must read for any organization contemplating outsourcing or trying to fix a broken outsourcing relationship… Planning for outsourcing, negotiating the deal, making the relationship work — it’s all here.’ Bob Young, Executive Director, South Australian Government Account, EDS (Electronic Data Systems) ‘For those of us with a deep knowledge and experience of outsourcing, this book is required reading. For those who are just starting out on the journey, it is essential reading.’ Robert White, CEO, Lucidus Management Technologies

The last five years have witnessed a great momentum in the research into measures of financial risk. After many years of ad-hoc and non-consistent measures, now the problem is finally well formulated and some useful and very user-friendly solutions have been proposed. These new measures of risk should be of great interest for investors, financial institutions as well as for regulators.

Under the editorship of Professor Giorgio Szego of the University of Rome "La Sapienza," this book is a collection of the revised and updated papers from prestigious international specialists who are leaders in their field, amongst whom is Robert Engle, a newly-announced Nobel prize-winner in finance. These authors bring a broad perspective across a wide selection of topics, ranging from the critique of some currently used methods, like Value at Risk, to the presentation of some correct risk measures and of some advanced application

The book provides a detailed and up-to-date reference for researchers within academia, and risk managers or financial engineers.

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.

Here is a comprehensive guide to the incorporation of computer simulation in all levels of the planning function of an organization. Writing for managers of planning, planners, and programmers, the author enables readers to gain an overall understanding of the potential role of simulation in planning, to apply simulation to their own particular needs, and to translate planning concepts into computer instructions. Nersesian demonstrates that for manager, planner, and programmer alike, simulation is not difficult in concept nor complicated to put into practice. The author argues that simulation is a necessary activity in a planning environment characterized by uncertain futures and rapidly changing conditions.

The book is organized into separate chapters, each of which acts as a case study of an aspect in the use of simulation. The synopsis that begins every chapter provides the manager of a planning operation with an appreciation of the general application of simulation to one facet of planning. The chapters themselves focus on particular situations which might befall a planner within the general application of simulation to the planning process. Special appendices--designed to aid programmers who have not had much previous experience in setting up simulation programs--follow each chapter and provide descriptive material and the applicable simulation program. As a comprehensive yet easily understood guide to the benefits of utilizing simulation in the planning process, this book will be an invaluable resource for planners, corporate executives, and programmers.