The Quaker tradition of consensus decision-making provides a provocative approach to internal governance in Quaker related colleges and universities. Guilford College, a small, private, liberal arts college with Quaker roots in Greensboro, North Carolina, employs the consensus model in college governance. Guilford College recently used the consensual model while developing a policy on open source containers of alcohol, particularly small kegs of beer, in College residence halls. This research project of the consensual process at Guilford College used qualitative research methods and examined the extent to which the consensual process was actually employed in a particular policy making event. A written summary of the actual case was developed followed by a series of interviews with students, administrators, and staff. These interviews were targeted at assessing the extent to which consensus decision-making was used to create the policy permitting open source containers of beer in the residence halls. The research project findings indicate that Guilford College employs elements of the consensual model in student affairs policy making while there also exists elements of a more bureaucratic model. While not indicative of true Quaker consensus decision-making as indicated by the literature in this area, many of the anticipated outcomes associated with consensus decision-making are exhibited by the participants of this particular consensual process. The findings offer, for student affairs practitioners at colleges and universities, a provocative model of alternative decision-making in working with students. Additional research about the effects of consensual decision-making on student learning and personal growth would be helpful to student affairs professionals as they continue their work with college students. / Master of Arts

This research was concerned with the collection of empirical data necessary to estimate the effects of decision support tools on the performance of distributed groups. Data was collected in a controlled experimental environment that simulated a geographically-dispersed meeting through the use of videoconferencing and group communication support (GCSS) technology. Results of the use of a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) on group process and outcome variables were mixed. As predicted by the literature the use of a GDSS by distributed groups improved overall group consensus, decision accuracy, and decision effectiveness. The use of a GDSS also increased perceived process structure. Contrary to previous studies, the use of a GDSS increased decision time, and decreased overall satisfaction with the group process. No significant effects were found for perceived consensus, cooperation, amount of information exchange, or confidence in the decision. A strong correlation was found between decision quality and decision time. An even stronger correlation was found between perceived structure of the process and satisfaction with the process. The lack of feedback about the process and its outcomes could explain the lack of a GDSS effect on perceptions of consensus, cooperation, and confidence in the decision. Perception of subjective measures of the process may depend on the presence of the appropriate types of feedback. The results suggest that an increase in structure without a perceived improvement in decision quality (confidence in the decision) tends to reduce group satisfaction. A richer taxonomy for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) systems is proposed whereby three orthogonal dimensions of group support are defined. These three dimensions of group support are: Communication support, decision support, and presence support. This new taxonomy suggests a number of research directions aimed at the empirical identification of contextual and design factors relevant to distributed group performance and decision making performance in general. / Master of Science

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a group decision making process which was developed to minimize the process losses of the traditional, interacting method. While proven to be superior to the widely-used interacting method by earlier research studies, NGT does not appear in the school administration literature as a useful technique for participatory problem solving. Because the original NGT can take one or more hours to complete, the assumption was tested that NGT could be made more useful to school administrators if it were modified for use into two brief sessions on successive days. This study modifies the NGT process by dividing the phases of the process into brief, two day sessions. The NGT problem question was a problem identification task of identifying major teacher stressors in an elementary school setting. This study is a post-test only, control group design involving 36 elementary school teachers. Dependent measures were (1) the perceived satisfaction of participants with the processes and outcomes, and (2) the similarity of responses generated by NGT and modified NGT (MNGT) groups. Similarity of response data were analyzed using a chi-square test, and satisfaction data were analyzed by applying at-test. Conclusions of this study were that NGT and MNGT yield similar results with regard to participant satisfaction and similarity of responses. As a result of this study, school administrators have access to a reliable process for obtaining in-put from the total faculty within the contractual school day. / Doctor of Education

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Everyone, generally. would like to make good decisions, or receive the greatest benefit from a decision made. Companies are no different in this respect and the process of selecting an investment project portfolio has become an important activity. This is, further, complicated by the fact that companies have multiple, and often, conflicting objectives in a situation of capital rationing. This study project proposes a conceptual framework for project portfolio establishment, for application in an industrial manufacturing type environment, by integrating project evaluation and selection, a multi-criteria decision analysis technique and group decision-making. The project issues, the selection of a multi-criteria decision analysis technique and group decisionmaking are dealt with sequentially and then integrated to develop this conceptual framework. The explorative part of this study project deals with project evaluation and selection issues, and the concept of the triple bottom line is proposed to capture the multiple objectives of the company's decision context. Further, decision analysis concepts are reviewed and three categories of multi-criteria decision analysis methods identified. Selected methods in these categories are described, examined and the advantages and drawbacks of the different categories highlighted. The Analytic Hierarchy Process is proposed as the underlying multi-criteria decision analysis technique to support this conceptual framework. Group decision-making is investigated, and aggregation procedures and a method of consistency checking suggested. Finally, the framework is applied to a hypothetical case and the results presented. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oor die algemeen wil almal goeie besluite neem, of maksimum voordeel uit die besluite trek. Maatskappye het dieselfde motivering en die aktiwiteit om 'n kapitaalinvesteringsportfolio saam te stel word as van groot belang beskou. Hierdie aktiwiteit is ook deur die werklikheid van vele, dikwels teenstrydige doelwitte sowel as beperkte fondse bemoeilik. In hierdie werkstuk word 'n begripsraamwerk vir die daarstelling van 'n investeringsportfolio vir kapitaalprojekte in 'n nywerheidsomgewing, wat projekevaluering en - keuring, veelvoudige kriterium besluitnemingstegnieke en groepsbesluitneming insluit, voorgestel. Projekverwante faktore, die keuse van 'n veelvoudige kriterium besluitnemingstegniek en derdens groepsbesluitneming word apart bespreek en daarna in die bogenoemde raamwerk geintegreer. Die navorsingsgedeelte van hierdie werkstuk verwys na die evaluering en keuse van projekte. Die begrip van 'n drievoudige maatstaf ('triple bottom line') om die kompleksiteit van 'n maatskappy se besluitnemingsdoelwitte te illustreer, word ondersteun. Daarna word besluitnemingsbegrippe bespreek en drie kategoriee van tegnieke vir veelvoudige kriterium besluitnemings uitgelig. Onder hierdie kategoriee is verkose metodes beskryf en ondersoek, en voor- en nadele van die kategoriee uitgewys. Die Analitiese Hierargie proses word voorgestel as basis van die begripsraamwerk. Groepsbesluitneming word ondersoek en versamelingsmetodes met kontrole vir konsekwentheid word voorgestel. Laastens word die besluitnemingsraamwerk op 'n denkbeeldige geval toegepas en word die resultate bespreek.

There has been increasing research interest in recent years in using the power of computers to support group work. There have been two main areas of research: experimental research into GDSS supported group work in laboratory settings, and research designed to develop GDSSs which are effective, efficient and acceptable to their users. However, there have been some contradictory findings from these two areas of research. The developmental effort has shown great promise in relatively controlled developmental settings. At the same time, experimental research has indicated that GDSSs may not provide the hoped for increases in effectiveness and efficiency while being accepted by their users. This study has attempted to clarify this situation by using a field study to assess the implementation of a GDSS in an operational environment. The setting for this study was a large engineering and manufacturing site of a large electronics company. A GDSS which had been developed at the University of Arizona was installed at the host company's site, and it was assessed for the first nine months of its use. Results indicate that the system was perceived to be effective, efficient and acceptable for use by its intended users.

This study isolates the impact of certain factors upon the decision making of the United States Supreme Court. Selected group theory methodology is applied to the Court's decisions from 1969 through 1973. The group structure of the Court, the impact of personnel change, and the effect of judicial attitudes on public policy are explored and statistically measured with a chisquare. Schubert's bloc analysis and a Guttman scale are used to order the data. Conclusions include that two stable blocs existed on the Court during these years. Personnel change is demonstrated as causative of alterations in judicial behavior. Seven of eight groups of cases are shown to stimulate values of the Justices. Suggestions are made for further research.

Challenges in global politics like climate change, maritime piracy and fighting highly contagious diseases concern global public goods. The related policy decisions are mostly made by teams. In contrast, economic models of global public goods typically assume a single rational decision-maker. We use a laboratory experiment to compare team decisions to decisions of individuals in a finitely repeated public good game with and without a costly punishment option. Teams of three participants coordinate on decisions either by majority or unanimity rule. We find that in absence of a punishment option teams contribute more to the public good than individuals. With a punishment option subsequently to the contribution decision team treatments exhibit a less frequent use of anti-social punishment and lower levels of social as well as anti-social punishment. Extreme preferences for punishment are eliminated by the majority decision rule. Overall, team decisions are closer to the social optimum and teams yield higher net payoffs when compared to individuals.

O objetivo do trabalho é aplicar um método multicritério baseado na teoria dos jogos para a escolha da estrutura de capital de uma empresa de capital aberto, decisão estratégica que carrega elementos de conflitos de interesse entre os agentes, além de assimetria de informação, resumidos pela teoria da agência. Em decisões em grupo, a abordagem via teoria dos jogos tem se mostrado bastante fecunda no oferecimento de soluções de equilíbrio. No entanto, um de seus principais pilares de resolução, o Equilíbrio de Nash (1951), assume o conhecimento mútuo das estratégias alheias entre os tomadores de decisão, o que não acontece nos cenários reais de gerenciamento. Questões sobre a estrutura de capital, decisões de financiamento, aplicação de recursos e seus riscos são exemplos de pautas para tais decisões. Como resultados, foi possível identificar que a utilização do Equilíbrio de Nash via execução do método, alinhado com a constituição de cenários, foi capaz de fornecer bom ferramental de apoio à tomada de decisão em grupo na esfera corporativa, o que sugere que tais ferramentas podem apoiar tal tipo de decisão / The objective of the work is to apply a multicriteria method based on game theory to choose the capital structure of a publicly traded company, a strategic decision that carries elements of conflicts of interest among agents, as well as information asymmetry, summarized by the theory the agency. In group decisions, the game theory approach has proved to be very fruitful in offering equilibrium solutions. However, one of its main pillars of resolution, the Nash equilibrium (1951), assumes the mutual knowledge of the strategies of among decision makers, which is not the case in real management scenarios. Questions about capital structure, financing decisions, the application of resources and their risks are examples of guidelines for such decisions. As a result, it was possible to identify that the use of Nash equilibrium through the execution of the method, in line with the constitution of scenarios, was able to provide good tools to support group decision making in the corporate sphere, suggesting that such tools can support such decision

Devido à alta complexidade das decisões, métodos multicritério foram desenvolvidos para apoiar os agentes no processo decisório, porém, em situações de decisão coletiva, os métodos dificilmente incorporam os conflitos. Recentemente, um método multicriterial com a aplicação da teoria dos jogos foi proposto para considerar o conflito de interesses no processo decisório de grupo e modelar matematicamente as preferências adotadas pelos tomadores de decisão para estabelecer uma solução de compromisso. O uso da ferramenta de teoria dos jogos pode prever e explicar os vários graus de racionalidade usado nas decisões, sendo o senso de justiça e satisfação duas delas, quando os jogadores estão avaliando suas utilidades e distribuições. Estas variáveis impactam diretamente no comprometimento das pessoas com uma escolha entre duas partes ou em grupo, representando um contrato. A quebra de contrato também pode ser resultado do perfil do negociador, já que o comportamento do indivíduo demonstra o comprometimento dele em situações de interação estratégica. Neste sentido, esta dissertação propôs avaliar o impacto no comprometimento em um ambiente de decisão em grupo a partir da aplicação de um método multicritério baseado na teoria dos jogos e sua avaliação pelo senso de justiça, satisfação e perfil de negociação dos jogadores, e assim verificou-se que o equilíbrio encontrado realmente aumenta as chances de se encontrar uma solução que satisfaça as preferências da maioria dos envolvidos promovendo a implementação da solução de forma transparente a fim de garantir o comprometimento dos envolvidos / Due to the high complexity of the decisions, multicriteria methods were developed for the agents to support decision process, however, in situations of collective decision, the methods hardly incorporate conflicts. Recently, a multicriteria method with a game theory application was proposed to consider conflict of interests in the group decision-making processand to model mathematically the preferences adopted by decision makers to establish a compromise solution. The use of the game theory tool can predict and explain the various degrees of rationality used in decisions, and the sense of justice and satisfaction are two of them when players are evaluating their utilities and distributions. These variables directly impact people\'s commitment to a choice between two parties or in a group, representing a contract. The breach of contract may also be a result of the negotiator\'s profile, since the behavior of the individual demonstrates his commitment in situations of strategic interaction. In this sense, this dissertation proposed to evaluate the impact on the commitment in a group decision environment using the application of a multicriteria method based on game theory and its evaluation by the sense of justice, satisfaction and negotiation profile of the players. And thus, it was verified that the equilibrium, found actually increases the chances of finding a solution that satisfies the preferences of the majority of players, by promoting the implementation of the solution transparently in order to ensure the commitment of those involved

Companies’ entrepreneurial actions entail all sorts of conquences among these ethical consequences. While the media reports on unethical activities and blames companies for those actions, the global market economy, with few exceptions, does not value ethical behavior. Consequently, businesses continue to prioritize the pursuit of profits over the consideration of ethical issues. Research suggests that this situation together with traditionally vertical leadership structures produces conflicts in decision-making processes between profit and ethical value goals. New styles of leadership and decision-making are needed to overcome this conflict. Thus, the aim of this project is to identify the characteristics of shared leadership that are perceived as positively influencing corporate decision-making processes with regards to the integration of ethical considerations. A case study approach is chosen to study the phenomenon in a real-life context. A German small-size company practicing shared leadership funcions as the case study. The report presents a framework to analyze various factors regarding. Empirical data from interviews and on-site observations are analyzed using a framework created based on previous research, highlighting inputs, processes and outputs of the decision-making processes in shared leadership. The findings show that individuals’ personalities, intra-team relations, organizational culture, rules and the use of a decision-making tool aiming at consent are important influencing factors of decision-making in shared leadership.