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The author has written a bachelor thesis on the subject of leadership and stress with the aim of finding differences and similarities of stress handling in the French respective Swedish armies.  The methods used when gathering data for the thesis have been interviews with eight officers and cadets from the French Army and Écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan and a participant observation of a stress-exercise in the terrain of Camp Coëtquidan, where the author accompanied a platoon from the fourth battalion at École Speciale Militaire.  The analysis is split up into four questions, which serve the author the means to reach the aim of the thesis. The questions are: -        What defines leadership in military settings? -        How is leadership affected by stress? -        Is stress useful? -        Are there differences in stress handling? Comparing a Swedish view with a French one. After each analysis question is finished the author draws concretised conclusions, aiming to draw even closer to the core of the answers. Lastly the author closes in on the subject of leadership and stress, granting himself the permission to freely discuss the results of the thesis as a whole. A more profound view is given, as to why there is a need for further research into the matter of leadership and stress in the French Army. This is offered along with suggestions that [French Army] experience-based research can contribute to the training of future officers and leaders of soldiers in the French Army. / <p>Erasmus</p>

The study is concerned with perception and management of risk by decision makers in the competitive bidding sector of the British Construction industry. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that, contrary to the implicit assumption of earlier research on this subject, perception and management of risk in decision making is not an exclusive preserve of buyers alone, but that sellers also perceive and manage risks in their selling decision making process. The study was concerned mainly with seller organisations. However, customers were also included so that comparisons between the views of sellers and the buyers could be made on a limited number of issues in order to reinforce particular points of view. In spite of the exploratory nature of the study, three hypotheses, based on the literature review, were examined. After a careful consideration of relevant factors, 200 construction companies of different sizes, operating in the competitive bidding sector of the industry, and 150 customers representing nine different sectors, were selected at random for the main and the subsidiary samples respectively. A questionnaire, with a covering letter, was mailed direct to the Managing Director or Chief Executive of each of the organisations included in the samples. From the main sample, 63.5% responded, out of which 47.0% of the replies were usable. In the case of the subsidiary sample, 67.3% responded, out of which 56.0% of the replies were usable. Data analysis indicated that, (a) most construction companies - the sellers - perceived and managed risks in their contract selling decision making process; (b) in spite of the relevance of the marketing concept, most traditional marketing methods were not effective in the competitive bidding sector of the industry; and (c) a careful evaluation of the critical phases through which a contract decision process evolved was essential for effective management of risks inherent in construction contracts.

This thesis contains the findings of a study undertaken in the field of medical decision-making. The Glaserian approach to grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Glaser, 1978) was used in order to build a theoretical representation of this area. Four phases of data collection were used, the first to develop initial theoretical sampling points and obtaining permission to approach medical practitioners. Following this, 12 personal in-depth interviews were performed to collect the primary data. A period of secondary data collection was then performed and finally an appraisal of the draft theory. Trading Off emerged from the constant comparative method as the core category explaining how pharmaceutical decision-making (as a form of medical decisionmaking) is performed. Sub core categories that were integrated within the Trading Off process included Focusing as the initial period of analysis, Self-Referencing and Surrogating reflecting sources and use of information and the Shiftin g that occurs as physicians develop expertise. In order to develop and frame the contribution of this theory within relevant literature, an number of areas of decision-making and medical decision-making research were reviewed. Expertise and its development were also examined. The main conclusions and recommendations of this research are that physicians Trade Off levels of confidence held in behaviours and aspects of the behaviour in order to decide on a course of action. Trading Off can used to direct the efforts of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers in order to modify pharmaceutical decision-making and reduce the large volume of prescribing errors. These efforts should be based on an accurate analysis of the individual decision environment and involve a wide view of possible influencing factors. It is recommended that actual patient case studies supplied from clinical trials are used in these efforts and that an opinion leader should perform the delivery where possible.

The senior-level decision-making process of a large organization undergoing a turnaround in financial affairs was examined and the factors which were found to best describe its decision making were found to be the movement between phases, the way the members of the Committee involved themselves in the process, and the leadership activity of the chairman of the Committee. The phases of the process were described as five: presentation, identification, familiarization, formulation, alternative assessment, and choice. In each of these phases information was processed in distinct ways and each phase appeared to present a task to accomplish before the process moved on to other phases. Movement was found to cycle amongst phases as choices were made. Members of the Committee involved themselves in the process through various activities. Many of these activities concerned the way personal perspectives were presented and separated along with, or apart from, more objective information. The leadership of the process had considerable influence in shaping its direction. As the leader, and president of the company, instituted discipline, enforced accountability and directed the "pace and direction of the process, he shaped organizational values, and influenced the outcome of decisions. The most significant event in the life of the company was its turnaround from near bankruptcy to profitability. The decision process was seen to have considerable influence in bringing this about, as well as factors related to the content of decisions, and the context within which the organization was set.

Performance measurement is a growing field of study and practice within federal government. From department level agencies to unit level commands, measuring performance is critical to achieving strategic objectives within public resource constraints. Performance metrics enable federal managers entrusted with the nation's resources to make productive decisions towards operational effectiveness and economic efficiency. This thesis assesses the performance measurement system of a singular organization: Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (PHD). This assessment addresses the appropriateness and quality of existing metrics at PHD based on academic research, while also comparing performance measurement at PHD with federal guidance. Performance drivers were captured during interviews with senior managers in offices and departments at PHD. These interviews were used to gain visibility into PHD's "story of success" in terms of critical inputs, processes, and outcomes. Causal performance maps were utilized to visually depict the interaction among these performance drivers and determine common critical performance variables (CPV) across PHD. Once determined, common CPV's were analyzed and existing metrics were assessed within balance scorecard perspectives. This analysis and assessment provided a framework for comparison between PHD and the performance measurement guidance within the federal chain of command. The assessment of existing metrics and recommendations will hopefully be useful to NSWC PHD in continuing progress toward achieving strategic success. It is also hoped that this thesis will provide a common framework for performance analysis to other Naval Surface Warfare Center commands.

Recent Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instructions (CJCSI) direct the development of new concepts to prioritize linking budgeting and programming for near- and mid-term resource allocation planning. For the Department of Defense (DoD), planning that falls within the Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) or 0-7 years may be viewed as mid-term. This thesis raises the question of whether these new concepts will work best for the Department of the Navy (DON) or whether another methodology would better fit the Navy's near- and mid-term needs. Further, the thesis asks whether the implementation of the recently promulgated CJCSI instructions would be more disruptive to the DON instead of an alternative modification of what the DON is already using successfully. This thesis also explores the potential value of the newly formed capability planning initiative within the DON. The Navy initiative is compared to private-sector practices to define similarities and to develop additional potentially useful methods. The thesis also explores the potential usefulness of linear programming or mathematical decision modeling for the application of weights and values to relate input variables and relationships to desired outputs. Finally, procurement narrative statements in the FY07 DON budget are analyzed and results, in terms of use of the capability concept, are reported.

CIVINS / A decision analysis study was conducted on the process of materials selection for high-speed naval craft using the Modified Digital Logic (MDL) method. The purpose is to show how this method along with Ashby's material selection process can be integrated to provide a comprehensive tool designed specifically for light-weight material optimization. Using Ashby's Material Selection Charts and the MDL method, a step by step material selection process is outlined. Furthermore, a comparison of the materials based on equivalent plate uni-axial ideal elastic compressive stress was completed using the American Bureau of Shipbuilding (ABS) Guide for Building and Classing High-Speed Naval Craft and then an evaluation was done to optimize material selection depending on the designer's preference for weight and cost, The potential materials for evaluation were selected using Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) references for the most current materials in use, or being evaluated, for light weight naval construction. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using the MDL method to select one or more materials based on desired mechanical and structural characteristics. The study also introduces the potential use of non-traditional materials in Naval Architecture, such as Ultra High-Performance Concrete Composite (UHP2C) DUCTAL. / Contract number: N62271-97-G-0026. / CIVINS

Emergency call takers listen to callers expressing mundane errands, but also to callers who describe severe accidents, agony and deaths. The emergency setting is further complicated by having to perform triage under time-pressure, but without possibilities of seeing the patient. The setting rests on an imperative of speedy management—there are few or no possibilities to postpone or reconsider decisions. At the same time, the mode of communication (telephone) may cause overflow or insufficient information, resulting in an uncertain and ambiguous decision setting. A focal point for the organization is therefore the individual capability of conducting triage. However, call takers are also helped by organizational routines, which are manifested in decision support systems, in order to navigate this uncertain and ambiguous setting. Taken together, the emergency setting brings a tension to the fore—how does this emotional setting, with features of vivid and interruptive experiences that possibly detour normative decisions, interact with routines that are supposed to provide for both stability and that recurrent decisions can be made under similar conditions? Drawing on the fields of psychology, decision making, organization theory and communication theory the tension is investigated by a series of four studies. The first study is a field study of the emotional landscape of emergency call taking. Emergency call takers rated callers’ emotional expressions in authentic emergency calls, the level of intensity and expressed need for help. The second study is an experiment, using a speech sample from authentic emergency calls in order to find out whether expressed emotion and intensity contribute to perceived need for help. The third study focuses on management strategies of call takers. More specifically, how do emergency call takers manage double-faced emotional management—i.e., their own and the caller’s emotions—simultaneously? The fourth study focuses on how call takers make decisions, more specifically how call takers use intuitive and emotional capabilities to complement or challenge rational aspects of the decision support systems. The studies reveal that certain emotions occur more often than others and that the level of intensity of expression contributes to perceived help need. Call takers have also developed specific emotional management strategies in order to cope with both callers’ and their own emotions. Finally, call takers were found to use rational and formal routines as well as non-formal, intuitive and emotionally based individual routines in order to derive their decisions. These findings are put into organizational context in terms of implications for emergency call taking. Limitations to the development of situation-specific expertise and obstacles for organizational learning are identified. Also, emergency call taking would benefit from drawing on knowledge found outside of the medical domain. However, the most important finding is that interpretation of emotional expressions in callers’ voices can trigger modifications of the triage routine in use. / <p>Disp. June 12</p>