Executive decision making : observations and experience in business and government /

Mode of access: Internet.

The social problem in its economical, moral, and political aspects,

book 1. Introductory: The social problem and its history.--book 2. The existing distribution of wealth and work.--book 3. Property and inequality of wealth.--book 4. Special remedies.--Appendix: On the relativity of political economy.

Improving the economic decision making capability and viability of Chinese wool textile mills

The successful restructuring of Chinese industries is of immense importance not only for the continued development of China but also to the stability of the world economy. The transformation of the Chinese wool textile industry illustrates well the many problems and pressures currently facing most Chinese industries. The Chinese wool textile industry has undergone major upheaval and restructuring in its drive to modernize and take advantage of developments in world textile markets. Macro level ownership and administrative reforms are well advanced as is the uptake of new technology and equipment. However, the changing market and institutional environment also demands an increasing level of sophistication in mill management decisions including product selection, input procurement, product pricing, investment appraisal, cost analysis and proactive identification of new market and growth opportunities. This paper outlines a series of analyses that have been integrated into a decision-making model designed to assist mill managers with these decisions. Features of the model include a whole-of-mill approach, a design based on existing mill structures and information systems, and the capacity for the model to be tailored to individual mills. All of these features facilitate the adoption of the model by time and resource constrained managers seeking to maintain the viability of their enterprises in the face of extremely dynamic market conditions.

Project risk management using multiple criteria decision-making technique and decision tree analysis:a case study of Indian oil refinery

This study proposes an integrated analytical framework for effective management of project risks using combined multiple criteria decision-making technique and decision tree analysis. First, a conceptual risk management model was developed through thorough literature review. The model was then applied through action research on a petroleum oil refinery construction project in the Central part of India in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. Oil refinery construction projects are risky because of technical complexity, resource unavailability, involvement of many stakeholders and strict environmental requirements. Although project risk management has been researched extensively, practical and easily adoptable framework is missing. In the proposed framework, risks are identified using cause and effect diagram, analysed using the analytic hierarchy process and responses are developed using the risk map. Additionally, decision tree analysis allows modelling various options for risk response development and optimises selection of risk mitigating strategy. The proposed risk management framework could be easily adopted and applied in any project and integrated with other project management knowledge areas.

Mit mérünk és hogyan? – A vállalati teljesítménymérés szemléletmódja és eszköztára a döntéstámogatás tükrében = Performance measurement serving decision making – approach and practice of Hungarian firms

Tanulmányunkban a hazai vállalatok teljesítménymérési és teljesítménymenedzsment gyakorlatát vizsgáljuk a Versenyben a világgal kutatási program 2009. évi felmérése adatainak felhasználásával. Célunk a döntéstámogatás hátterének vizsgálata: a vállalatok teljesítménymérési gyakorlatának jellemzése, konzisztenciájának értékelése, vizsgálva a korábbi (1996, 1999 és 2004 évi hasonló) kutatásaink során megfigyelt tendenciák további alakulását is. A vállalati teljesítménymérés gyakorlatát, a vállalatvezetők által fontosnak/hasznosnak tartott, illetve rendszeresen használt információforrásokat, teljesítménymutatókat, elemzési eszközöket a korábbi kutatásainkhoz kialakított elemzési keret (orientáció, egyensúly, konzisztencia, támogató szerep) felhasználásával értékeltük. Az információs rendszer különböző tevékenységeket támogató szerepének az értékelése során a különböző területekért felelős vezetők véleményét is összevetettük, s különböző vállalati jellemzők (vállalatméret, tulajdonosok típusa, fő tevékenység stb.) sajátosságait is vizsgáltuk. ___________ The paper analyses the performance measurement and performance management practice of Hungarian companies, based on the data of the Competitiveness research program (2009). Our goal was to evaluate the practice from the point of view of decision support, based on our previous framework, evaluating the orientation, the balance, the consistency and the supporting role of the performance measurement practice.

Improving civil jury decision-making: Evidentiary and procedural issues

The civil jury has been under attack in recent years for being unreliable and incompetent. Considering the myriad causes for poor civil juror decision-making, the current investigation explores both procedural and evidentiary issues that impact juror's decisions. Specifically, the first phase of this dissertation examines how jurors (mis)use evidence pertaining to the litigants when determining liability and awarding damages. After investigating how jurors utilize evidence, the focus shifts to exploring the utility of procedural reforms designed to improve decision-making (specifically revising the instructions on the laws in the case and bifurcating the damage phases of the trial). Using the results from the first two phases of the research, the final study involves manipulating pieces of evidence related to the litigants while exploring the effects that revising the judicial instructions have on the utilization of evidence in particular and on decision-making in general. ^ This dissertation was run on-line, allowing participants to access the study materials at their convenience. After giving consent, participants read the scenario of a fictitious product liability case with the litigant manipulations incorporated into the summary. Participants answered several attitudinal, case-specific, and comprehension questions, and were instructed to find in favor of one side and award any damages they felt warranted. Exploratory factor analyses, Probit and linear regressions, and path analyses were used to analyze the data (M-plus and SPSS were the software packages used to conduct the analyses). Results indicated that misuse of evidence was fairly frequent, though the mock jurors also utilized evidence appropriately. Although the results did not support bifurcation as a viable procedural reform, revising the judicial instructions did significantly increase comprehension rates. Trends in the data suggested that better decision-making occurred when the revised instructions were used, thus providing empirical support for this procedural reform as a means of improving civil jury decision-making. Implications for actual trials and attorneys are discussed. ^

Protocol: Quality of Life, Decision Making, Costs and Impact on Carers in People Managed without Dialysis - The PACKS Study

Intelligent Automaticity in Moral Judgment and Decision-Making

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-05

Regulating IVF and pre-implantation tissue-typing for the creation of "saviour siblings" : a harm analysis

Scientific discoveries, developments in medicine and health issues are the constant focus of media attention and the principles surrounding the creation of so called ‘saviour siblings’ are of no exception. The development in the field of reproductive techniques has provided the ability to genetically analyse embryos created in the laboratory to enable parents to implant selected embryos to create a tissue-matched child who may be able to cure an existing sick child. The research undertaken in this thesis examines the regulatory frameworks overseeing the delivery of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in Australia and the United Kingdom and considers how those frameworks impact on the accessibility of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures for the creation of ‘saviour siblings’. In some jurisdictions, the accessibility of such techniques is limited by statutory requirements. The limitations and restrictions imposed by the state in relation to the technology are analysed in order to establish whether such restrictions are justified. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a harm framework. The framework seeks to establish whether those affected by the use of the technology (including the child who will be created) are harmed. In order to undertake such evaluation, the concept of harm is considered under the scope of John Stuart Mill’s liberal theory and the Harm Principle is used as a normative tool to judge whether the level of harm that may result, justifies state intervention or restriction with the reproductive decision-making of parents in this context. The harm analysis conducted in this thesis seeks to determine an appropriate regulatory response in relation to the use of pre-implantation tissue-typing for the creation of ‘saviour siblings’. The proposals outlined in the last part of this thesis seek to address the concern that harm may result from the practice of pre-implantation tissue-typing. The current regulatory frameworks in place are also analysed on the basis of the harm framework established in this thesis. The material referred to in this thesis reflects the law and policy in place in Australia and the UK at the time the thesis was submitted for examination (December 2009).

Project governance : ethical decision making in project procurement in the Malaysian public sectors

Managing public sector projects in Malaysia is a unique challenge. This is because of the ethical issues involved during the project procurement process. These ethical issues need attention because they will have an impact on the quality, cost and time of the project itself. The ethical issues here include conflict of interest, bid shopping, collusive tendering, bid cutting, corruption and the payment game. In 2006, 17.3% of 417 Malaysian government contract projects were considered sick due to contractors' performances that failed to conduct the project according to the project plan. Some of the sick projects from these statistics are due to the ethical issues involved. These construction projects have low quality due to the selection of the contractors, done unethically due to personal relationships instead of professional qualifications. That is why it is important to govern the project procurement processes to ensure the accountability and transparency of the decision making process to ensure that these ethical issues can be avoided. Extensive research has been conducted on the ethical issues in the tendering process or the award phase of project management. There is a lack of studies looking at the role of clients, including the government client, in relation to unethical practice in project procurement in the public sector. It is important to understand that ethical issues not only involve the contractors and suppliers but also the clients. Even though there are codes of ethics in the public sectors, ethical issues still arise. Therefore, this research develops a project governance framework (PGEDM) for ethical decision making in the Malaysian public sectors. This framework combines the ethical decision making process together with the project governance principals in guiding the public sectors with ethical decision making in project procurement. A triangulation of questionnaire survey and Delphi study was employed in this research to collect required qualitative and quantitative data. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the public officials (the practitioners) who are currently working in the procurement area in the Malaysian public sectors, in identifying the ethical behaviours and factors influencing further ethical behaviour to occur. A Delphi study was also conducted with the assistance of a panel of experts consisting of practitioners that have expertise in the area of project governance and project procurement as well as academician, which further considered the relationship and the influence of the criteria and indicators of ethical decision making (EDM) and project governance (project criteria, organisational culture, contract award criteria, individual criteria, client's requirements, government procedures and professional ethics). Through the identification and integration of the factors and EDM criteria as well as the project governance criteria and EDM steps for ethical issues, a PGEDM framework was developed to promote, and drive consistent decision outcome in project procurement in the public sector. The framework contributes significantly to ethical decision making in the project procurement process. These findings not only give benefit to the people involved in project procurement but also to the public officials in guiding them to be more accountable in handling ethical issues in the future and to have a more transparent decision making process.

Accountants' ethical sensitivity

O'Fallon and Butterfield (2005) in a review of the business ethics literature concluded that "ethical awareness" also called ethical sensitivity has received the least attention of the four steps in Rest's (1986) ethical decision making model. Available measures for ethical sensitivity are limited to specific contexts and suffer from several limitations. I extend the previous literature by creating a new measure for ethical sensitivity (AESS) that encompasses relevant dimensions for the accounting profession and is not specific to a particular setting. I also introduce a new individual differences variable to the accounting ethics literature. Specifically, I investigate the relationship between anti-intellectualism and ethical awareness. My findings support AESS as a measure of ethical sensitivity.

Vezetői döntéshozatal és versenyképesség (The managerial decision making and the competitiveness)

A tanulmány a vezetői döntéshozatal három lényeges aspektusát tárja fel. A Versenyben a világgal c. kutatási program eredményei alapján arra lehet következtetni, hogy a menedzserek döntéshozatali képességei és megközelítései, a vállalati teljesítménymérés és menedzsment döntéseket támogató szerepe, valamint a vállalatok érintettekhez fűződő viszonya meghatározó lehet a hatékony vezetői döntéshozatal során. A vállalati döntéshozatal jellemzőinek bemutatása után megvizsgáljuk azt is, hogy a különböző teljesítményű cégek döntéseit mennyire támogatja a menedzserek felkészültsége, a teljesítménymérési gyakorlat és az érintettek elvárásai. A szerzők úgy találták, hogy a fenti tényezők mindegyike hozzájárul a hazai cégek versenyképességéhez, általánosságban ugyanis elmondható, hogy a döntéseket támogató vállalati környezet jobb üzleti teljesítményhez és gyorsabb reagálóképességhez vezethet. Az eredmények összegzése mellett ajánlásokkal is éltek a vállalatok számára, amelyek alkalmazásával hatékonyabb döntéseket hozhatnak. _______ This study presents three main aspects of the managerial decision making. Based on the results of the research program In competition with the World it points to the fact that decision making abilities and approaches of the managers, the corporate performance appraisal and the management decision support role, and the corporate relations to the stakeholders will be determinant in the process of the efficient managerial decision making. After presentation of characteristics of the corporate decision making the authors examine that how the decisions of enterprises with different performances are supported by the preparedness of the managers, the performance appraisal practice and the stakeholders expectations. The authors have thought that every factor contributes to the competitiveness of the domestic enterprises, and generally the decision supporting corporate environment can lead to better business performance and faster responsive abilities. Besides the results summary the authors give useful recommendations to the corporations with which they can make more efficient decisions.

The relationship between health literacy and indicators of informed decision making for colorectal cancer screening among African Americans

African Americans are disproportionately affected by colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality. CRC early detection leads to better treatment outcomes and, depending on the screening test, can prevent the development of CRC. African Americans, however, are screened less often than Whites. Aspects of decision making (e.g., decisional conflict, decision self-efficacy) can impact decision making outcomes and may be influenced by social determinants of health, including health literacy. However the relationship between social determinants of health and indicators of decision making in this population is not fully understood. Additionally, individuals have a choice between different CRC screening tests and an individual’s desire to use a particular screening test may be associated with social determinants of health such as health literacy. This study aimed to examine the relationship between social determinants of health and indicators of decision making for CRC screening among African Americans. A total of 111 participants completed a baseline and 14-month follow-up survey assessing decisional conflict, decision self-efficacy, decisional preference (shared versus informed decision making), and CRC test preference. Health literacy was negatively associated with decisional conflict and positively associated with decision self-efficacy (ps < .05). Individuals who were unemployed or working part-time had significantly greater decisional conflict than individuals working full-time (ps < .05). Individuals with a first-degree family history of CRC had significantly lower decision self-efficacy than individuals without a family history (p < .05). Women were significantly more likely to prefer making a shared decision rather than an informed decision compared to men (p < .05). Lastly, previous CRC screening behavior was significantly associated with CRC test preference (e.g., individuals previously screened using colonoscopy were significantly more likely to prefer colonoscopy for their next screening test; ps < .05). These findings begin to identify social determinants of health (e.g., health literacy, employment) that are related to indicators of decision making for CRC among African Americans. Furthermore, these findings suggest further research is needed to better understand these relationships to help with the future development and improvement of interventions targeting decision making outcomes for CRC screening in this population.