Introduction to Theory of Control in Organizations explains how methodologies from systems analysis and control theory, including game and graph theory, can be applied to improve organizational management. The theory presented extends the traditional approach to management science by introducing the optimization and game-theoretical tools required to account for the special nature of human beings being viewed as control objects. The book introduces a version of mechanism design that has been customized to solve the problems that today's managers must contend with. All mathematical models and mechanisms studied are motivated by the most common problems encountered by managers in firms and non-profit organizations. Requiring no prior knowledge of game theory or mechanism design, the book includes a systematic introduction to the underlying methodology of modern theory of control in organizations. The authors use formal methods to construct robust and efficient decision-making procedures which support all aspects and stages of management activity over all decision horizons-from operational to strategic management. The mathematical and methodological backgrounds of the organizational mechanisms discussed are not limited to game theory but also include systems analysis, control theory, operations research, and discrete mathematics. The book includes a set of exercises in each chapter-from simple to advanced-that provide the reader with the understanding required to integrate advanced methods of optimization, game theory, and mechanism design into daily managerial practice.

Mechanism Design (MD) is a branch of game theory which deals with conflict situations involving a principal and a set of active agents (usually in the presence of asymmetric information). Mechanism design theory delivers a solution to many management problems in the form of a control mechanism, (i.e., a formalised routine of decision-making). Formal results of MD can change the fundamentals of managerial practice by introducing decision-making mechanisms in organisations, which are efficient and robust with respect to employees' self-serving behaviour. The proposed book seeks a more intensive application of MD methodology and its formal results in organisations. The main aim of the book is to provide readers with the basics of an MD-based view on managerial problems, so that intra-firm policies can be analysed through the looking glass of employees' behavioural response. A systematic introduction of the underlying MD methodology is combined with a collection of ready-to-use mechanisms for solving typical management problems. The use of MD by individual managers is facilitated by bringing together mathematical and business literature in a single treatise. This book is not a purely academic monograph as it contains as few formulas as possible, and no formal proofs (references to formal results are provided throughout the text). Courses on MD for managers are not common in business schools now, and our book represents the perfect material for such a course.