Decision Making

Getting People on Board

by Ruth Wodak

Hacia un nuevo centro de gravedad: el proceso de toma de decisiones en la definición y formación de conservadores-restauradores profesionales

by Isabel Medina-González

Thought Speed Induces Risk Taking

by Jesse Chandler

Horizontal Democracy Now: From Alterglobalization to Occupation

by Marianne Maeckelbergh

Interface: a journal for and about social movements 4(1)

This article examines the 15 May movement in Barcelona to explore some continuities and discontinuities between social... more This article examines the 15 May movement in Barcelona to explore some continuities and discontinuities between social movement responses to the economic crisis and previous experiments with horizontal democracy within global social movement networks. Specifically, this article examines two meeting structures embodied in the occupied square in Barcelona to explore the mechanisms through which decision making within the 15 May movement foster diversity and embrace conflict. Based on a decade of involvement in the alterglobalization movement, attendance at meetings in the acampada in Barcelona at the height of the 15 May uprising, as well as follow up interviews and discussions with long-time activists in Barcelona, this article shows how the decision making practices used in the squares in Barcelona mimic, build on and expand on horizontal decision-making methods practiced within the alterglobalization movement. Some of the dilemmas created by the grounding of horizontal decision- making within local squares and the much larger scale of these meetings are explored.

Arbitrating between Theory-Theory and Simulation Theory: Evidence from a Think-aloud Study of Counterfactual Reasoning

by Meredith Wilkinson

Co-authored with Linden J. Ball and Rachel Cooper

Wilkinson, M. R., Ball, L. J., & Cooper, R. (2010).  Arbitrating between theory-theory and simulation theory:  Evidence from a think-aloud study of counterfactual reasoning. Chapter in S. Ohlsson & R. Catrambone (Eds.) Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. (pp. 1008-1013) Austin, Texas: Cognitive Science Society     

The Strategic Evaluation of Candidate Business Process Reengineering Projects

by Joseph Sarkis

Joseph Sarkis, Adrien Presley, and Don Liles, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 50, pp. 261-274, 1997

The evolution from a focus on product design to one on process and product design in improving organizational... more The evolution from a focus on product design to one on process and product design in improving organizational competitiveness has included the development of a field of study called business process reengineering (BPR). BPR is a organizational development tool that requires a number of stages of analysis, design and implementation. The literature in the past few years has provided a number of tools and techniques to aid in BPR efforts. One area in this relatively new organizational change philosophy that has not received much attention is the selection or prioritization of a set of candidate business processes or projects that should undergo reengineering. Since business processes by definition are elements of a broader strategic system, the candidate evaluation and selection process must be strategically oriented. To aid in this evaluation process a strategic multiattribute evaluation and justification framework and methodology is presented. The methodology includes an activity based analysis and linkage of traditional (financial) and strategic considerations. The evaluation methodology may also have implications for post-implementation evaluation of BPR projects and other phases of BPR.

Dual properties of the relative belief of singletons

by Fabio Cuzzolin

A study of Bayesian approximations of belief functions in the probability simplex

by Fabio Cuzzolin

Anthropology at the Centre: Reflections on Research, Policy Guidance and Decision Support

by Mils Hills

This chapter offers something of an insight into the application of anthropology in government in terms of its... more This chapter offers something of an insight into the application of anthropology in government in terms of its contribution to research, and wider uses in the development of policy, doctrine, strategy, and decision support within and without the context of crises. I hope this contributes something distinctive to the range and breadth of writing in this book

Information-sharing and aggregation models for interacting minds

by Piotr Migdal

Women's decision making at menopause - a focus group study.

by Liz Farmer

Alfred A, Esterman A, Farmer E, Pilotto L, Weston K. Aust Fam Physician. 2006 Apr;35(4):270-2.

BACKGROUND: Women are faced with a confusion of information and uncertainty when making decisions at menopause.... more BACKGROUND: Women are faced with a confusion of information and uncertainty when making decisions at menopause. METHODS: We conducted four focus groups of 31 women aged 40-64 years, exploring their experience and views about menopause, its management, and decision support needs. RESULTS: Focus group participants saw menopause as a natural progression rather than a medical condition, and decision making about therapies as a personal responsibility. They wanted reliable, agenda free information, and opportunities to discuss personal needs with (preferably female) health professionals. They preferred minimal intervention and found life style strategies helpful. DISCUSSION: Women's preference to make their own decisions at menopause is frustrated by conflicting information and the perceived marketing agenda of information sources. Women need unbiased, timely, menopause information backed by expert commentary in a range of media to suit their access needs.

Viability of decision-making systems in human and animal groups

by Cedric Sueur

A new fuzzy approach for defining multi-purpose criticality of activities in PERT

by Sina Khanmohammadi

In this paper a new fuzzy approach is developed for defining the general criticality of activities where some other... more In this paper a new fuzzy approach is developed for defining the general criticality of activities where some other features such as probability of finishing on time zone, probability of impact, impact threat and ability to retaliate are considered as criticality factors of activities in project management process. In this way the risky situation (vulnerability) of activities are calculated by using fuzzy inference system. Activities are prioritized and classified by means of a fuzzy decision making procedure. The effect of considering such factors on project duration and cost are compared with classic PERT - where only the slack times are considered as criticality factors of activities -by means of Mont Carlo simulation.

Badinelli R, Barile S, Ng I, Polese F, Saviano M, Di Nauta P (2012) Viable Service Systems and Decision Making in Service Management. Journal of Service Management 2011 Naples Forum on Service Special Issue, Issue 23, No 4, forthcoming

by Irene C L Ng

Purpose –This paper aims to highlight how systems thinking contributes to decision making in uncertain contexts that... more Purpose –This paper aims to highlight how systems thinking contributes to decision making in uncertain contexts that are characteristic of service systems. Based on the assumption that service systems face complex conditions, we posit that systems thinking may support the understanding of key issues in service management.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper proposes an interpretation of complexity in the context of service systems, which highlights the perspective change that occurs when a systems approach is adopted. The offered conceptual perspective is then brought to an operational level, in spite of the complexity of the decisions driving a viable system, by modeling a service system as a network of agents, resources, processes and decisions through the use of fuzzy logic. The paper reviews service management research streams, and takes a deeper look at the concepts of service systems and complex service systems. The paper then proceeds to discuss how systems thinking contributes to service management by proposing a systems interpretation of complexity.

Findings – Service management theories and models may be enhanced by integrating prevailing approaches, based on a quantitative and mechanistic view of service systems dynamics, with systems thinking-based meta-models that can be used in better understanding service exchanges. The findings of the paper also show how the integration of an engineering approach can be insightful to the understanding of service systems; adopting  a Viable Systems Approach (VSA) as a meta-model can be useful in fully comprehending market behavior in uncertain conditions.

Research limitations/implications – The paper introduces the VSA as a useful meta-model capable of better addressing decision making in service systems under conditions of complexity. The paper also proposes the adoption of fuzzy logic models to deal with  the vagueness and ambiguity that characterize complexity contexts.
Future research ought to investigate the analysis of complex phenomena, such as the service exchange, when adopting both the VSA and several operative models and constructs, in order to strengthen the observer’s capacity to understand reality.

Practical implications – The VSA’s contribution to decision making in the service exchange is clear when practitioners choose to adopt it as a meta-model that offers a terminological setting and general interpretative approaches. In this sense, practitioners may valorize this proposal to integrate its insights with operative models that support decision making in service systems and with a more powerful understanding of both the structural and operative levels characterizing their governance and development.


Originality/value – The originality of this paper lies in exploring the contribution of systems thinking,  in particular of the Viable Systems Approach (VSA), to service management and decision making.
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The Effect of Image Compatibility and Escalation of Commitment on Decision Performance

by South East Asian Journal of Management (SEAM)

Author: Harris K. Turino* and Budi W. Soetjipto**

Institution: *) Prasetiya Mulya Business School; Email: harristk@indo.net.id
**) Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia; Email: bsoetjipto@hotmail.com

Suggested Citation:
Turino, H. K. and Soetjipto, B. W. (2012) The Effect of Image Compatibility and Escalation of Commitment on Decision Performance. South East Asian Journal of Management, 6(1), 23-32, ISSN: 1978-1989.

This study aims at empirically examining the extent to which Image Theory, initially developed as a theoretical basis... more This study aims at empirically examining the extent to which Image Theory, initially developed as a theoretical basis for selecting a strategy or a decision, can be a theoretical basis for predicting a decision performance in two opposite frames: positive and negative. Image compatibility are employed to operationalize such a theory and the decision under study is progress decision represented by escalation of commitment. Thus, this study also empirically examines the connection between image compatibility and escalation of commitment as well as escalation of commitment as a mediator of the relationship between image compatibility and decision performance. The research context is Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) that suffered from crisis in the past year (negative frame) yet has been recovered recently (positive frame). The respondents are 229 individual investors in IDX. They are involved in day-to-day decision making (progress decision making) with regard to their investment portfolio. The results of this study show that high image compatibility tends to lead to better decision performance in both frames. However, image compatibility may only positively affect the escalation of commitment in positive frame.

Keywords: Decision making, image theory, image compatibility, escalation of commitment, framing, investment, decision performance.

Toward a Value Inclusive Theory of Economic Decision-Making: A 'New Science' Model

by Holly A. Bell

Published in 'European Journal of Social Science', 2011

This paper explores one option for the development of a theoretical approach to economic decision-making that goes... more This paper explores one option for the development of a theoretical approach to economic decision-making that goes beyond the mechanical-mathematical models based on the assumptions of rational self-interest and utility maximization. The proposed model incorporates facts, values, relationships, cooperation, learning, and other factors into economic decision-making and applies to both the micro- and macroeconomic levels. While the model is descriptive in nature, it has predictive potential to establish a menu of alternative outcomes or “opportunity sets”. The goal of this discussion is to move the language of economic decision-making away from the mid-nineteenth century language of science toward the concepts associated with the complex systems approach of the ‘new science’.

An Integrated Fuzzy AHP – Fuzzy TOPSIS Approach for AS/RS Selection

by ömür tosun

written with Hande E. AKTAN

System investment decision has a very crucial role in any company aiming for efficient manufacturing. Multi-criteria... more System investment decision has a very crucial role in any company aiming for efficient manufacturing. Multi-criteria decision making process is required to select the best among the alternatives. In this study, fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methods are used in a two-step methodology to select the suitable automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) so as to satisfy the expectations of the company. Eleven criteria are used in fuzzy AHP to calculate the criteria weights. These weights are then used in fuzzy TOPSIS to rank three AS/RS alternatives. The proposed model is used for selecting the right AS/RS in one of the leading consumer electronics company of Turkey.

Decision Making and the Intelligence Analyst

by Dean Call

Discussion papaer posted to forum

Hemmerich et al, Risk as Feelings in AAA Treatment Decisions, Soc Sci Med, 2012

by William Dale

► In this U.S. study, a computer simulation of a patient's ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) caused increased... more ► In this U.S. study, a computer simulation of a patient's ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) caused increased anxiety in participants.
► Physicians deviated from AAA practice guidelines due to Risk as Feelings effects from the previous rupture.
► Physicians expressed emotional regret over allowing a simulated patient's AAA to rupture.
► Physicians did not reliably exhibit conscious awareness of the impact that the AAA patient's outcome had on their decision making.
► This AAA simulation was validated as negative and arousing with International Affective Picture System methodology.

Unanimity rule and organizational decision making: a simulation model

by Georges Romme

Published in: Organization Science, 2004

Unanimity rule is an important benchmark for evaluating outcomes of decisions in the social sciences. However,... more Unanimity rule is an important benchmark for evaluating outcomes of decisions in the social sciences. However, organizational researchers tend to ignore unanimous decision making, for example, because unanimity may be difficult to realize in large groups and may suffer from individual participants blocking decisions. This paper reconsiders unanimity rule in view of the development of circular systems for organizing decision making. It focuses on developing a theory of decision making under unanimity rule. The author uses a system dynamics model to explore the conditions under which unanimity rule supports the organization's ability to make decisions. Simulation experiments suggest that the dynamics and outcomes of unanimous decision making under and exceeding a critical threshold level of decision pressure are fundamentally different. Under this critical threshold, the decision-making system is capable of recovering from severe shocks to the system. If decision pressure is close to its threshold, a relatively small change can cause the decision process to collapse. In this respect, large groups operating under unanimity rule are less sustainable because they are more likely to exceed their critical threshold than small groups. Decomposing the decision-making system in small units, embedded in a hierarchical structure, therefore appears to be a necessary condition for sustainable performance in large organizations applying unanimity rule