Issue exploration is used as a preliminary phase in strategic decision making. It performs the function of allowing strategic decision makers to encounter new information, learn from it, and use it to help them sort the strategic problems from the non-strategic problems. The function of issue exploration effort is to focus strategic resources on the strategic problems and to avoid solving the non-strategic ones. In statistics, solving the wrong problem is considered as making an Error of the Third Kind. For strategic decision makers, solving non-strategic problems can also be considered as making an Error of the Third Kind. An "Organizational Disposition For Change Framework" was developed to research the exploration behavior of thirty strategic decision-making management initiative:s for information technology development in Fairfax County, Virginia. The results supported the hypothesis that strategic decision-making initiatives that included exploration behavior significantly outperform those initiatives that did not. / Ph. D.

In order to explain presidential decisions to use force, a model is developed that incorporates three distinct decision-making environments. The results indicate the president is responsive not only to domestic and international environments, but also to the resource evaluation environment. The evidence here demonstrates that while these two environments are important the president can't use force arbitrarily; rather, his evaluation of resources available for the use of force can limit his ability to engage the military during crisis situations.

Using a case study approach, this investigation focused on the decision-making processes involved in developing budgets in two Texas school districts following a tax limitation, or rollback, election. Factors influencing the decision-making processes included the rollback election's outcome in each district, the participants, the perceptions participants held of themselves, the perceptions participants held of others in the district and community, the decisions made, and the factors influencing participants' decisions. Two Texas school districts were selected as subjects of this study which used qualitative data collection methods. In one school district, the rollback election passed. In the other, it failed. Data collection included observations of school board meetings and budget workshops. Structured interviews of school board members and administrators, pro- and antirollback proponents, and newspaper editors were conducted. Questions focused on the budgetary decision-making processes before and after the rollback elections. They also solicited information fromsubjects regarding rollback elections, the factors precipitating the rollback elections and the impact of the rollback election campaign upon each school district. Document analyses were triangulated with the observations and interviews to identify the factors influencing the budgetary decision-making process. Following the rollback elections, school officials in both districts adopted a conservative approach to budgetary decision-making. In both districts, school board members and administrators listened more carefully to citizens' concerns. Citizen finance committees were formed in both districts following the rollback elections to receive community input into the 1989-90 budgets. The decision-making processes in both districts were influenced by school board members' and administrators' personal philosophies, the presence or absence of long-range district goals, and pressures to finance unfunded and underfunded state mandates. The budget documents produced in both districts following the rollback elections reflected a commitment to funding curricular rather than extracurricular programs. School officials protected teachers' and support staffers' salaries, recognizing the importance of maintaining employee morale.

Brownfield restoration and remediation is a growing concern across the United States. Brownfields are vacant or abandoned properties with real or perceived contamination. Successfully restoring these properties requires strong stakeholder collaboration, including the local community. The purpose of this study was to explore the complexities of creating a community garden on a residential brownfield site located in a low-income, high-minority neighborhood and to gain a better understanding of how a community based project develops and impacts individuals from the community. Specifically, the study investigated who chose to participate in the project, what motivated individuals to become involved and remain committed, and how individual's understanding of the project's risks and plans changed throughout his/her involvement. The case study followed 17 participants through the first year of the Emerson Street Garden, a brownfield restoration project in the King Neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon. Findings showed that individuals were attracted to different styles of outreach materials based on their own personality and preferences. The desire to improve the community was an important motivation for all the participants but personal motivation was not connected to knowledge retention. While the Emerson Working Group was successful at distributing knowledge to all its members, individual's flexibility to new ideas was critical for continued involvement in the working group. In conclusion, the study found that a "one-size-fits-all" method for engaging community members in urban restoration and renewal projects does not exist; however, there are best practices that can be applied to most situations. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Decision-making in resource allocation can be a complex and daunting task. Often there exist circumstances where there is no clear optimal path to choose, and instead the decision maker must predict future need and allocate accordingly. The application of resource allocation can be seen in many organizations, from military, to high end commercial and political, and even individuals living their daily life. We define resource allocation as follows: the allocation of owner’s assets to further the particular cause of the owner. We propose two ways that computers can assist with the task of resource allocation. Firstly they can provide decision support mechanisms, with alternate strategies for the allocations that might not have been previously considered. Secondly, they can provide training mechanisms to challenge human decision makers in learning better resource allocation strategies. In this research we focus on the latter, and provide the following general hypothesis: Coevolutionary algorithms are an effective mechanism for the creation of a computer player for strategic decision-making games. To address this hypothesis, we present a system that uses coevolution to learn new strategies for the resource allocation game of TEMPO. The game of TEMPO provides a perfect test bed for this research, as it abstracts real-world military resource allocation, and was developed for training Department of Defence personnel. The environment created allows players to practice their strategic decision-making skills, providing an opportunity to analyse and improve their technique. To be truly effective in this task, the computer player the human plays against must be continuously challenging, so the human can steadily improve. In our research the computer player is represented as a fuzzy logic rule base, which allows us investigation into the strategies being created. This provides insight into the ways the coevolution addresses strategic decision-making. Importantly, TEMPO also gives us an abstraction of another component of strategic decision-making that is not directly available in other games – that of intelligence (INTEL) and counter intelligence (CI). When resource allocation is occurring in a competitive circumstance, it is often beneficial to gain insight into what your opponent is doing through intelligence. In turn, an opponent may seek to halt or skew the information being gained. The use of INTEL and CI in TEMPO allows research into the effects this has on the resource allocation process and the coevolved computer player. The development of a computer player for the game of TEMPO gives us endless possibilities of research. In this research, we have focused on the creation a computer player that can provide a fun and challenging environment for humans learning resource allocation strategies. We investigate the addition of memory to a coevolutionary algorithm for strategy creation. This includes mechanisms to select memory individuals for evaluation of coevolutionary individuals. We describe a successful strategy of selection, based on the way a human’s short and long term memory works. We then investigate the use of INTEL and CI in the game of TEMPO, and the way it is used by the coevolved computer players. Through this work, we present a new version of the TEMPO game that more realistically represents INTEL and CI. Finally, we describe a process that uses coevolution to adapt to a human player real-time, to create a tailored game-play experience. This process was tested in a user study, and showed a distinct advantage through the adaptive mechanism. Overall, we have made some important discoveries, and described some limitations that leave future research open. Ultimately, we have shown that our hypothesis is an achievable goal, with an exciting future. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Computer Science, 2008

Bibliography: leaves 172-182. / viii, 183 leaves, [96] p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Proposes that there are fundamental and inadequately recognised differences between architectural practice and the basis of much design advice about environmental issues in house design. Concludes by discussing the implications of these differences for understanding how environmental issues are currently addressed in house design in Australia. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Architecture, 2000

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates whether black women in senior management positions with decision-making authority have had an impact on the newsrooms of the Cape Town newspapers Die Burger, the supplement Jip, community newspaper MetroBurger, the Cape Times, the Cape Argus, the Weekend Argus and the Southern Mail, one title of the Cape Community Newspapers. Labour legislation promulgated in South Africa in 1994 means companies have to employ human resources equitably in keeping with the racial demographics of each province. Given the historical background of the South African media and the fact that it is almost 10 years after the first democratic elections in this country, what new paths have black South African women journalists forged for new journalists? This study focuses on the role of black women with regard to decisionmaking at the aforementioned newspapers. During the course of this study, 5 of the 6 women respondents have resigned from their positions. Other findings are that the editors generally have limited knowledge of the responsibilities of the women in this study. The editors have also indicated that no changes have been made or will be made to the job descriptions of the women, while the women have indicated that there have, indeed, been changes to their job descriptions. These changes have related to editorial and non-editorial responsibilities. While no training plans have been set out specifically for the women respondents, most of them have indicated they wanted more training opportunities. Most of the women respondents have indicated higher remuneration and job satisfaction as being the main reasons for resigning. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie ondersoek die impak wat swart vroue in senior bestuursposisies met besluitnemingsgesag gehad het op die nuuskantore van die volgende Kaapse koerante: Die Burger, die Jip bylae, die MetroBurger gemeenskapskoerant, die Cape Times, die Cape Argus, die Weekend Argus en die Southern Mail, een titel in die Cape Community Newspapers-stal. Arbeidswetgewing wat in 1994 in Suid-Afrika gepromulgeer is, beteken maatskappye moet menslike hulpbronne in diens neem op 'n regverdige basis en in oorenstemming met die rasse-demografie van elke provinsie. Gegewe die historiese agtergrond van die Suid-Afrikaanse media en die feit dat dit bykans 10 jaar is ná die eerste demokratiese verkiesing, watter nuwe paaie het Suid-Afrikaanse vrouejoernaliste gebaan vir nuwe joernaliste? Die studie fokus op die rol van swart vroue met betrekking tot die besluitnemingsproses in die genoemde koerante. Gedurende die studie het vyf van die ses respondente bedank. Ander bevindinge is dat redakteurs in die algemeen 'n beperkte kennis het van die verantwoordelikhede van die vroue wat deelgeneem het aan die studie. Die redakteurs het ook aangedui dat geen veranderings gemaak is of gemaak gaan word aan die posbeskrywings van die vroue nie, terwyl die vroue aangedui het dat daar wel veranderings aan hul posbeskrywings gemaak is. Hierdie veranderings was verwant aan redaksionele en nie-redaksionele verantwoordelikhede. Terwyl geen opleiding spesifiek uitgewys is vir respondente in hierdie studie nie, het die meeste van hulle aangedui dat hulle meer opleidingsgeleenthede sou wou hê. Die meeste respondente het ook aangedui dat die hoofredes vir hul bedanking beter salarisse en werksbevredeging is.

Using a case study approach, this investigation focused on the decision-making processes and leadership of a school district superintendent as he initiated and implemented the school restructuring effort of year-round education. The study was conducted during 1 school year period but was enhanced through a 3 year follow-up report. The research questions focused on the superintendent's decision-making processes and the impact that groups had on those processes. Questions also emerged during the data collection phase of the study about the superintendent's change-facilitation leadership behaviors. A Texas school superintendent committed to the implementation of year-round education was selected as the subject of this study. Data were collected for 1 school year by the participant observer who served as an unpaid intern to the superintendent. Data included field notes recorded during the day-to-day operations and interactions of the district, meetings which the superintendent attended, newspaper articles, district memoranda and documents, observation, and interviews. Field notes and interviews were triangulated with document analysis to identify patterns in the data and to identify the factors influencing the decision-making processes and the leadership behaviors of the superintendent.

The objective of the technology assessment (TA) process is to understand problematic and undesirable consequences from the development and application of technology. TA advocates for the engagement of technology experts and stakeholders to understand the effects of technology. However, TA is often criticized that the decision-making process is not transparent - leaving stakeholders wondering if their contributions were heard. Furthermore, the methods have limited capability for conducting tradeoff analysis between the organizational objectives and conflicting stakeholder perspectives that can result in unintended consequences. Finally, these methods are static making it difficult to update and reassess decision alternatives when new information about issues becomes available. This dissertation research addresses these problems by developing a new technology assessment methodology using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (Fuzzy Cognitive TA - FCTA). This novel approach supports both stages of the process: capturing expert and stakeholder perspectives in cognitive maps, and then using FCM for assessment and decision-making. The methodology shows how experts and stakeholders perceive the value or harm of a technology alternative, which stakeholders share the same perspectives, and how these perspectives change over time. The methodology also shows the degree to which expert and stakeholder perspectives are in support or in conflict with the organizational objectives to help avoid the direct and indirect consequences associated with the decision. Finally, the methodology shows how new or changing perspectives by experts and stakeholders affect the outcome of the decision to improve system knowledge. The research applies the FCTA methodology with a real-world Environmental Impact Study conducted by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA is a U.S. federal agency that provides about a third of the electric power and 75 percent of the high-voltage electric transmission in the Pacific Northwest.

Effective natural resource management by the federal government is seldom achieved without engendering some degree of controversy. The competing needs of various plant and animal species often place the government in the position of having to choose between the needs of one species over another. Occasionally, the choice directly involves the needs of human beings, creating a situation where public administrators must weigh the impacts of their actions on both a species they are charged to protect and the public they serve. In 1977, the federal government was placed in the position of having to choose between the need to afford greater protection to the endangered bowhead whale and the social and cultural needs of Alaskan Eskimos who have hunted the bowhead for over four thousand years. At the time, the decision exemplified the role of the federal government as an arbitrator of survival, a situation that is becoming increasingly commonplace as the continued development of the world’s natural resources, along with an ever-expanding human population, has resulted in numerous decisions that effectively choose between one species or the other. An examination of the decision-making process established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of Commerce to resolve the 1977 controversy involving the Eskimos and the bowhead whales provides useful lessons and insights on how such decisions can be made in an open format that allows affected constituencies, notwithstanding the whales, adequate opportunity for comment and input. / Master of Public Administration