A Fuzzy Preference Framework for the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (FGM) is developed so that real-world conflicts in which decision makers (DMs) have uncertain preferences can be modeled and analyzed mathematically in order to gain strategic insights. The graph model methodology constitutes both a formal representation of a multiple participant-multiple objective decision problem and a set of analysis procedures that provide insights into them. Because crisp or definite preference is a special case of fuzzy preference, the new framework of the graph model can include---and integrate into the analysis---both certain and uncertain information about DMs' preferences. In this sense, the FGM is an important generalization of the existing graph model for conflict resolution. One key contribution of this study is to extend the four basic graph model stability definitions to models with fuzzy preferences. Together, fuzzy Nash stability, fuzzy general metarationality, fuzzy symmetric metarationality, and fuzzy sequential stability provide a realistic description of human behavior under conflict in the face of uncertainty. A state is fuzzy stable for a DM if a move to any other state is not sufficiently likely to yield an outcome the DM prefers, where sufficiency is measured according to a fuzzy satisficing threshold that is characteristic of the DM. A fuzzy equilibrium, an outcome that is fuzzy stable for all DMs, therefore represents a possible resolution of the conflict. To demonstrate their applicability, the fuzzy stability definitions are applied to a generic two-DM sustainable development conflict, in which a developer plans to build or operate a project inspected by an environmental agency. This application identifies stable outcomes, and thus clarifies the necessary conditions for sustainability. The methodology is then applied to an actual dispute with more than two DMs concerning groundwater contamination that took place in Elmira, Ontario, Canada, again uncovering valuable strategic insights. To investigate how DMs with fuzzy preferences can cooperate in a strategic conflict, coalition fuzzy stability concepts are developed within FGM. In particular, coalition fuzzy Nash stability, coalition fuzzy general metarationality, coalition fuzzy symmetric metarationality, and coalition fuzzy sequential stability are defined, for both a coalition and a single DM. These concepts constitute a natural generalization of the corresponding non-cooperative fuzzy preference-based definitions for Nash stability, general metarationality, symmetric metarationality, and sequential stability, respectively. As a follow-up analysis of the non-cooperative fuzzy stability results and to demonstrate their applicability, the coalition fuzzy stability definitions are applied to the aforementioned Elmira groundwater contamination conflict. These new concepts can be conveniently utilized in the study of practical problems in order to gain strategic insights and to compare conclusions derived from both cooperative and non-cooperative stability notions. A fuzzy option prioritization technique is developed within the FGM so that uncertain preferences of DMs in strategic conflicts can be efficiently modeled as fuzzy preferences by using the fuzzy truth values they assign to preference statements about feasible states. The preference statements of a DM express desirable combinations of options or courses of action, and are listed in order of importance. A fuzzy truth value is a truth degree, expressed as a number between 0 and 1, capturing uncertainty in the truth of a preference statement at a feasible state. It is established that the output of a fuzzy preference formula, developed based on the fuzzy truth values of preference statements, is always a fuzzy preference relation. The fuzzy option prioritization methodology can also be employed when the truth values of preference statements at feasible states are formally based on Boolean logic, thereby generating a crisp preference over feasible states that is the same as would be found using the existing crisp option prioritization approach. Therefore, crisp option prioritization is a special case of fuzzy option prioritization. To demonstrate how this methodology can be used to represent fuzzy preferences in real-world problems, the new fuzzy option prioritization technique is applied to the Elmira aquifer contamination conflict. It is observed that the fuzzy preferences obtained by employing this technique are very close to those found using the rather complicated and tedious pairwise comparison approach.

The aim of this thesis is to study how students perceive and handle internet’s continuous flow of information in everyday life, through news report, social media and targeted advertising. By examining the students attitudes and thoughts about the extent to which they find the information they meet relevant this study seeks to understand how they find what is relevant to them and how they limit the intake of information by different combinations of selection processes. For this purpose interviews were carried out with seven university students from different fields and levels. Three categories of theories about selection processes serves as a theoretical framework for the analysis and results. The categories are referred to as external, personalized and personal factors. The external factors include gatekeeping theory, news valuation and agenda theory and the personalized factors include theories about filter bubbles and echo chambers. The personal factors include strategies to avoid information overload such as filtering and withdrawing, it also includes satisficing as a stop rule for information seeking.  The study shows that the three categories of selection processes are affected by emotional factors referred to as simplicity, interest and sensation. These drives the student to get more deeply informed. The students attitudes towards personalized information shows to be divided between if it should be more firmly adapted to each individual, or if that would increase the feeling of being monitored. In the students reflections regarding saved information emerges three feelings of negativity described as reluctance, lack of control and unease. Despite these feelings of negativity the phenomenon is accepted. Seeing that the alternative is disconnecting from modern society and life, acceptance shows to be the most reasonable alternative.

There is a student loan debt problem in the United States. Seven million student borrowers are in default and another 14 million are delinquent on their loans. A high level of college loan debt leaves students with insurmountable payments and holds them back from starting a family, buying a home, or saving for retirement. The problem is that financial managers may not understand the student loan decision process well enough to help students make a loan decision that prevents an unmanageable level of debt. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the student's loan decision process using a conceptual framework that contrasts rational choice theory and behavioral economics within the Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel's consumer decision model. This exploratory study was designed to answer research questions about how students perceived the forces that might influence the decision. A qualitative case study was conducted and purposeful sampling was used to identify 28 undergraduate students who had a student loan at a university in the Rocky Mountain region. The students were interviewed, the data coded, and the coded data were analyzed to identify themes. The data were used to diagram the decision process and identify decision variables. The findings indicated that students were pragmatic in their loan decisions, but they were not rational actors. The research highlighted 3 behavioral economic themes: the power of intention, herding, and complexity resulting in the use of the satisficing and default heuristics. The contributions of this study could be of interest to financial managers, parents of students, and students planning to enter college. Preventing unmanageable student debt could bring positive social change to the students and their families.

No description available.

No description available.

It is generally accepted that the Marginal Value Theorem (MVT) describes optimal foraging strategies. Some research findings, however, indicate that in natural conditions foragers not always behave according to the MVT. To address this inconsistency, in a series of computer simulations, I examined the behaviour of four types of foragers having specific foraging efficiencies and using the MVT and alternative strategies in 16 simulated landscapes in an ideal environment (no intra- and inter-species interactions). I used data on elk (Cervus elaphus) to construct the virtual forager. Contrary to the widely accepted understanding of the MVT, I found that in environments with the same average patch quality and varying average travel times between patches, patch residence times of some foragers were not affected by travel times. I propose a mechanism responsible for this observation and formulate the perfect forager theorem (PFT). I also introduce the concepts of a foraging coefficient (F) and foragers hub (), and formulate a model to describe the relationship between the perfect forager and other forager types. I identify situations where a forager aiming to choose an optimal foraging strategy and maximize its cumulative consumption should not follow the MVT. I describe these situations in a form of a mathematical model. I also demonstrate that the lack of biological realism and environmental noise are not required to explain the deviations from the MVT observed in field research, and explain the importance of scale in optimal foraging behaviour. I also demonstrate that smart foraging, which is a set of rules based on key ecological concepts: the functional response curve (FRC), satisficing, the MVT, and incorporates time limitations, should allow for fitness maximization. Thus, it should be an optimal behavior in the context of natural selection. I also demonstrate the importance of the FRC as a driver for foraging behaviors and argue that animals should focus more on increasing the slope of their FRC than on choosing a specific foraging strategy. Natural selection should, therefore, favor foragers with steep FRC. My findings introduce new concepts in behavioural ecology, have implications for animal ecology and inform wildlife management.

Denna uppsats belyser förutsättningar för samarbete om en gemensamt ägd resurs mellan traditionellt sett egoistiska vinstmaximerande aktörer. Handlingar som motiveras utifrån egoistisk vinstmaximerande rationalitet vid utnyttjandet av en gemensamt ägd resurs är kontraproduktivt och ohållbart för resursens bevarande på lång sikt. Därför måste aktörerna ändra sitt beteende kring utnyttjandet av resursen. Här belyses de förutsättningar, processer, handlingsmotiv och verktyg som krävs för att gemensam handling mellan egoister kan ingås, etableras och bevaras. Samarbete som utformas enligt modellen som beskrivs i denna uppsats ger individerna högre nyttoavkastning samtidigt som resursen kan bevaras på ett långsiktigt hållbart sätt. Egoistiska, eller självintresserade, konkurrerande aktörer gör långsiktiga nyttovinster på att samarbeta. Som exempel används två imaginära vinstdrivande företag på en konkurrensutsatt marknad. Företagen får nyttovinster i form av ökad produktivitet och kostnadsminskningar genom att samarbeta om en gemensamt ägd inköpsavdelning, jämfört med individuellt agerande. Ett företag fungerar i denna uppsats som representant för urtypen av en vinstmaximerande självdriven egoist. Inköpsavdelningar har traditionellt sett varit drivna som en privat ägd resurs. Här belyses att nyttovinster kan göras genom att ombilda flera privat ägda inköpsavdelningar till en gemensamt ägd resurs. Men detta kräver att aktörerna omformulerar sina nyttofunktionella motiv till handling. Uppsatsen beskriver hur detta kan gå till, vilka svårigheter samarbete kan innebära och hur aktörerna kan överkomma svårigheterna. ”Mind-Map” modellerna i avsnitten 5.2 och 5.3 har visst sammanfattande värde. De visar hur uppsatsens teorier bygger på varandra. ”Mind-Map” modellerna visar följderna från egoistisk och liberal-utilitaristisk rationalitet som motiv till handling vid utnyttjandet av en gemensamt ägd resurs. För att en gemensam handling ska komma till stånd kan aktörerna inte motivera sina handlingar från egoistisk vinstmaximering, utan snarare liberal-utilitaristisk ”satisficing”. Uppsatsens antaganden är uppbyggda som så att avsnitten 2, 3 och 4 utgör grundantagandena. Hur de antagandena appliceras introduceras i avsnitt 5. I avsnitt 6 kommer ytterligare antaganden allt eftersom modellen anpassar sig efter en inköpssituation.

The understanding that humans are bounded in their rationality has been proven to manifest in complex decision making as a result of a limit in the amount of information available, the cognitive limitations of the mind and the amount of time available in which to make a decision. Because of this, humans have been known to appeal to heuristics and the rules of thumb (termed 'satisficing‘) when making decisions, resulting in biased probability judgments and not maximizing expected utility. Corporate application of bounded rationality is still very limited. This study builds on and advances the study and application of bounded rationality in corporate environments, using climate change response as a real-life situation, and in a circular fashion help explain some of the debates and paradoxes that agitate researchers from the climate change community. Using a mixed methods comparative case study of two organisations‘ responses to climate change, the study theorises that competitive market forces and the ability of organisations to learn from other organisations limits the levels of 'satisficing‘ in strategic decision making. Instead, the limited amount of information and the fear of the unknown cause organizations to approach the subject cautiously. A tactical interpretive climate change response framework emerges. / Business Management / D.B.L.

Cooperative control problems for multiple vehicle systems can be categorized as either formation control problems with applications to mobile robots, unmanned air vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, satellites, aircraft, spacecraft, and automated highway systems, or non-formation control problems such as task assignment, cooperative transport, cooperative role assignment, air traffic control, cooperative timing, and cooperative search. The cooperative control of multiple vehicle systems poses significant theoretical and practical challenges. For cooperative control strategies to be successful, numerous issues must be addressed. We consider three important and correlated issues: consensus seeking, formation keeping, and trajectory tracking. For consensus seeking, we investigate algorithms and protocols so that a team of vehicles can reach consensus on the values of the coordination data in the presence of imperfect sensors, communication dropout, sparse communication topologies, and noisy and unreliable communication links. The main contribution of this dissertation in this area is that we show necessary and/or sufficient conditions for consensus seeking with limited, unidirectional, and unreliable information exchange under fixed and switching interaction topologies (through either communication or sensing). For formation keeping, we apply a so-called "virtual structure" approach to spacecraft formation flying and multi-vehicle formation maneuvers. As a result, single vehicle path planning and trajectory generation techniques can be employed for the virtual structure while trajectory tracking strategies can be employed for each vehicle. The main contribution of this dissertation in this area is that we propose a decentralized architecture for multiple spacecraft formation flying in deep space with formation feedback introduced. This architecture ensures the necessary precision in the presence of actuator saturation, internal and external disturbances, and stringent inter-vehicle communication limitations. A constructive approach based on the satisficing control paradigm is also applied to multi-robot coordination in hardware. For trajectory tracking, we investigate nonlinear tracking controllers for fixed wing unmanned air vehicles and nonholonomic mobile robots with velocity and heading rate constraints. The main contribution of this dissertation in this area is that our proposed tracking controllers are shown to be robust to input uncertainties and measurement noise, and are computationally simple and can be implemented with low-cost, low-power microcontrollers. In addition, our approach allows piecewise continuous reference velocity and heading rate and can be extended to derive a variety of other trajectory tracking strategies.

No description available.