Estimating individual action dispositions using binary and frequency egocentric sexual network data

The degree distribution of nodes in a sexual network has been under thorough investigation, as has its implications for the spread of sexually transmitted infections. However, not only the structure of the network is of importance in regulating the propagation of an infection. Two nodes connected by an edge may take actions that reduce the transmission probability through that edge. Condom use is one such action. In this article, we derive models for individual action dispositions, and how they together generate an outcome on the edge connecting two nodes. We derive two main models: One where two connected nodes generate one outcome together (suitable for casual sex partners), and one where they generate several outcomes together (suitable for steady sex partners). We model different disposition distributions and different rules on how the dispositions generate outcomes, using an egocentric network dataset on condom use behavior.     

COMPLEXITY AND CLEAVAGE: DUAL EXPLANATIONS OF STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING [I]

This paper presents a framework for the comparative analysis of strategic decision-making processes. It draws together and integrates predominant but previously disparate theories of decision-making. Examples are given of how decision-making processes may be characterized and, hence, facilitate comparison across all types of strategic decisions. Explanation of why decision processes may differ is from two perspectives. First, the complexity of the topic may lead to particular characteristics of the decision process. Secondly, the cleavage of interests which a topic arouses may also lead to particular aspects of decision processes. We argue that each decision topic has varying levels of both complexity and cleavage and four examples of strategic decisions are analyzed on these dimensions. We identify four profiles of decision-making processes associated with varying levels of complexity and cleavage and we finally suggest that our model may explain and empirically demonstrate variations across a large number of diverse strategic decisions.     

Strategic automation and decision-making authority

This paper studies how automation impacts the structure of decision-making in organizations. We develop a theoretical model of a firm, where a principal makes a decision about how much to prioritize the new product development division when the division is led by a manager who holds private information specific to this division and has misaligned preferences with the principal. The principal chooses whether to decentralize this decision by delegating it to the manager, resulting in more informed but unbiased decision. In this setting, we investigate how automation which reduces operational variability may alter this choice of organizational structure. The findings from our analysis show that firms deploy automation resources differently depending on their organizational structure: centralized firms choose to automate divisions that face more uncertainty, while decentralized firms do the opposite. Moreover, increasing access to automation results in higher centralization of decision-making in firms. In the extensions, we show that the strategic use of automation reduces the informativeness of intrafirm communication, and also, that automation can be a strategic substitute to monetary contracts.     

Rational and intuitive decision-making in sourcing teams: Effects on decision outcomes

According to dual process theory, individual decision-making can be based on rational procedures and experience-based intuition, and the decision-making approach can influence decision outcomes. We investigate how the application of rational procedures and experience-based intuition affects the outcomes of supplier selection decisions taken by cross-functional sourcing teams. Specifically, we examine whether the selected supplier׳s cost and quality/delivery/innovativeness performance is higher when more team members use a highly rational and/or a highly experience-based decision-making approach. From data on 54 teams, we find that the use of rational procedures enhances cost performance. Conversely, when sourcing team members use their experience-based intuition, the decision is more likely to result in satisfactory supplier performance along all tested performance dimensions.     

Context and the processes of ICT for development

This paper argues for a rethinking of the notion of context in the information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) research domain. We argue that context can be conceived of as a dynamic outcome constructed through processes of development and interpretation rather than as an entity which can be isolated and represented. Instead of focusing on the adequacy of the representation of context—the motivation of contextualism—researchers should consider the processes by which context is represented. Three principles are proposed to assist in this endeavour. Firstly, representation of context is a relational process in which both ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ actors engage. Understanding the context of ICT4D requires multiple accounts drawn from different actors. Secondly, while research needs to describe the concepts used by ‘macro’ actors to represent context, it is crucial to recognize them as outcomes of processes of development and not as self-evident entities. Finally, we suggest that research needs to attend to how these accounts are produced, be they by ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ actors. This can be understood as an emergent activity showing not only unexpected outcomes but also that the concepts describing actors change in development. These principles are applied to the case of M-PESA, now widely known as an innovative mobile banking application from Kenya. One outcome of this approach is that it helps explain why ICT4D projects in general, and M-PESA in particular, are often difficult to replicate successfully.     

Development of academic entrepreneurship in a non-mature context: the role of the university as a hub-organisation

This paper focuses on how the evolving roles of a university and its Technology Transfer Office (TTO) are stimulating academic entrepreneurship in a non-mature entrepreneurial ecosystem. A more mature entrepreneurial ecosystem was built gradually by these actors through their progressive creation of innovation intermediaries and coordination among the local players involved in the creation of start-ups. We analyse how the university became a hub organisation. We use the case of the University of Strasbourg to show that the university contributed to the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem by acting as a boundary spanner and by building and orchestrating the network of the stakeholders in the local system of innovation. This ‘hub’ university became a leading regional organisation at the political level. The TTO played a central role in supporting academic entrepreneurship at the operational level based on its evolution from a revenue maximising model to a model that takes account of social and economic regional development. The progressive adoption of a more selective model of start-up creation requires good coordination among the local actors. Over time, the TTO’s boundary spanning function increased to encompass the development of operational network building and orchestrating functions.     

STRATEGIC DECISIONS MADE BY TOP EXECUTIVES AND MIDDLE MANAGERS WITH DATA AND PROCESS DOMINANT STYLES

The influence of a manager's decision style in strategic decision-making is explored using simulations. The Jungian style classification is extended to identify ‘data and process dominant’ styles of decision-making. Managers with process dominant styles can use several types of data and managers with data dominant styles can apply various modes of data processing. Both the expanded and the traditional definitions of style are used as factors to explain how 79 top executives and 89 middle managers rated project simulations. Decision style is found to be a key factor in explaining the likelihood of taking strategic action and the risk seen in this action. Decisions made by top executives are more style dependent than those of middle managers. The extended definition of style reveals more about the preferences of top executives than traditional style categories.     

Decision making in the beer game and supply chain performance

The beer game has been used to emphasize, investigate, and analyze supply chain inefficiencies as well as the effect of decision makers’ biases. This paper investigates the short- and long-run performance in the beer distribution game by analyzing Sterman’s (Manag Sci 35(3): 321–339, 1989) model that simulates decision-making. In this model, the system may have chaotic behavior depending on the heuristics used by decision makers. We investigate how quickly the system reaches a steady state (if at all). It is known that ignoring supply line (outstanding orders) leads to the bullwhip effect in experimental research. Among other results, we show that the short-term performance of a supply chain is not a predictor of the long-term performance even when decision makers fully recognize outstanding orders. Results of the simulation and practical implications are discussed.     

Do Individual Preferences Affect the Environmental Decision‐Making Process in Teams? The Role of Participation

Literature on organizations and the natural environment has focused on the importance of individual managers and leaders. However, this literature has scarcely ever focused on individuals in the team context, even when teams have been considered to be key for a firms’ environmental progress. Although teams’ environmental decisions can be enriched by the different contributions of team members, it is necessary that team members actually participate and contribute their preferences during the decision‐making process. We used an adaptation of the legislative dilemma task with 84 students to contribute to environmental management literature by analyzing members’ participation during the team decision‐making process. The results of this paper show how those members with environmentally proactive preferences have a higher participation during the decision‐making process, and as a consequence they have a greater influence on the team decision. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

DECISION-MAKING IN CONDITIONS OF EXTREME UNCERTAINTY

In the last few years management has been forced to take decisions in conditions of extreme uncertainty. One consequence of this has been an increase in the use of formal methods of analysis in major decision problems. This paper describes some observations on how companies were handling decision-making under uncertainty, made during a S.S.R.C. sponsored research project on the influence of computer methods in planning and decision-making, viz.

• 1 Managers were consciously handling uncertainty by evaluating their major decisions in the light of several possible alternative forecasts.
• 2 Statistical decision theory was not used because, though in theory it was ideally suited for this situation, in practice management had the following objections to the use of this technique: (a) It assumed an accuracy of subjective probability estimates which was unrealistic in real life. (b) It required the use of artificial criteria of choice which were totally unacceptable to senior management. (c) It over-simplified the decision-making process.
• 3 In the thirty-two companies visited, management was using a systems analysis approach to decision-making involving the use of decision trees to structure the decision. Thereafter, instead of carrying out a probalistic analysis, a full evaluation to determine the quantitative and qualitative results would be carried out for each feasible path though the tree. This would be followed by an iterative elimination process.
• 4 Management were also endeavouring to cope with uncertainty by being more adaptive and flexible in their decision-making and are developing contingency or ‘fall-back’ strategies. Plans were not looked on as rigid blue-prints, but more as loosely linked frameworks of decision trees with the actual path through the decision tree dependent on future events.

     

基于实物期权法对R&D项目价值评估的研究——对布莱克-舒尔斯定价模型的改进

针对R&D项目投资的特点,探讨了采用布莱克一舒尔斯期权定价模型对R&D项目价值评估可能存在的缺陷,并提出一种改进方法,即将决策树和布莱克一舒尔斯定价模型结合运用,因为决策树能够模拟研发项目的阶段性决策过程,考虑到多个离散型不确定性因素的相关性,模拟并计算出对决策路径依赖的现金流,因此能克服纯粹使用布莱克一舒尔斯公式的不足,在考虑多个不确定性因素的影响下,实现对多阶段R&D项目价值的评估,作出正确的投资决策。     

Effective utility functions induced by organizational target‐based incentives

Many companies set performance targets for their divisions to decentralize the decision‐making process and communicate with outside investors. This paper analyzes the effects of performance targets on the decision‐making behavior of the divisions. We introduce the notion of an ‘effective utility function’—a function that a division should use in its selection of projects if it wishes to maximize the probability of achieving its targets. We show that many target‐based incentives induce S‐shaped utility functions and discuss the organizational problems they may pose. We then show how an organization can set targets that induce expected utility maximization. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The microfoundations of firms’ explorative innovation capabilities within the triple helix framework

In this paper we show how the triple helix model provides an organising regime within which participant firms can extend their capabilities for explorative innovation through funded collaborations with academia. In so doing, we adopt Felin et al.’s multi-level framework to examine the microfoundations of participant firms’ capabilities for explorative innovation in university partnerships. In our qualitative case study of a set of research projects that comprise a national research programme, we decomposed the microfoundations of the processes, interactions and the structures that facilitated the extension of member firms’ explorative innovation capabilities nurtured within each university-industry partnership. We explain the attitudinal and behavioural modifications of the firms’ individuals involved in the research project collaborations with university partners that aggregated into firm-level capabilities. Ultimately, we show that using a microfoundational lens allows for a deeper understanding of how triple helix programmes can influence the capabilities of firms for explorative innovation.     

Mining the Discourse: Strategizing During BHP Billiton's Attempted Acquisition of Rio Tinto

Using a discourse‐analytic approach, we examine the strategizing that occurred during an attempted acquisition in 2007/08 of Rio Tinto by BHP Billiton. In doing so, we contribute to discursive studies of mergers and acquisitions in two significant respects. First, we show the importance of studying how actors external to, as well as those internal to BHP, exerted influence over the acquisition process and outcome. Their influence can be attributed, in part, to their use of rhetorical strategies during the negotiation of the meanings of three constructs that were central to the acquisition discourse. Second, our study shows how these rhetorical strategies were put into effect using not only linguistic, but also non‐linguistic modes of discourse such as imagery, indicators, and location. We conclude that obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the role of discourse in relation to a strategic activity – in this case an attempted acquisition – requires consideration of the multi‐modal rhetorical strategies brought to bear by both external and internal actors.     

A model for outsourcing and governing of maintenance within the process industry

Many industrial firms motivate structural changes by an increased focus on core activities and reduced ownership of non-core activities. However, classifying maintenance activities as either core or non-core can be difficult, since maintenance is a support function strongly linked to the production core within a manufacturing firm. Based on a multiple case study that included four buying firms and four suppliers within the process industry, this paper investigates how the relative capabilities of the firms affect the governance decision about maintenance outsourcing. A conceptual framework built on a distinction between core-close and core-distant maintenance and between different maintenance capabilities is presented. The subsequent empirical analysis illustrates how the developed framework can be used for both analyzing and guiding firms’ decisions about outsourcing and governance regarding maintenance.     

Industry analysis and investment decision-making under conditions of uncertainty

Evaluating risk is a key element in successful investment decision-making. A major risk in forecasting company performance is associated with projecting its cash flow streams by product-line which in turn is strongly related to the expected industry outlook and likely variability about this outlook. This paper sets out a methodology for evaluating this aspect of the investment decision by developing measures of expected real cash flow growth (reward) and expected annual variability of this growth (risk). These measures are constructed for 77 industry classifications at the two and three digit SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) level of detail by solving a dynamic input–output model under various economic secenarios. Aside from producing results which are relevant for producing company valuation bands, the analysis strongly suggests that perceptions of which industries are ‘winners’ and which are ‘losers’ are significantly altered when both ‘reward’ and ‘risk’ are used as criteria as opposed to either one alone. Finally, the methodology also produces results which measures the sources of cash flow growth in terms of relative price performance, productivity, and demand for output. Since there measures can be used as indicators of the quality of industry real cash flow growth, industry performance can be further arrayed within the broad categories of winning and losing industries. Several examples of how this is done are offered.     

Individual adoption of HR analytics: a fine grained view of the early stages leading to adoption

Abstract

High performing organizations are using analytics for evidence-based decision-making. However, the human resource (HR) function in many organizations has been slow to adopt this innovation. This study applies innovation theory, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to examine the individual’s decision to adopt HR Analytics in an effort to identify why the adoption rate is lagging. We examined early stages of the individual decision process beginning from Stage 1 (knowledge) and leading to Stage 3, (the decision) to adopt or not to adopt the innovation. We found several points in the process that can act as barriers or facilitators. Organizations and champions of this innovation wishing to facilitate HR analytics adoption can take action to remove as many of these barriers to the individual’s decision as possible. Further research should focus on the best way to remove these barriers.     

THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING

Information technology (IT) may be defined as computer-based technology for the storage, accessing, processing and communication of information. Many writers have suggested that the use of IT should improve strategic decisions and have developed a number of propositions about the effects of IT on strategic decision making. However, no study has yet addressed the specific effects of IT on major phases of this process. Using Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret's (1976, ‘The structure of unstructured decision processes’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 2, 246–75) strategic decision-making model, this study assessed the effects of IT on the major phases of the process through an intensive examination of eight decisions in four companies. the results of the study provide new information on the specific ways IT improves decision-making efficiency and effectiveness at each stage of the strategic decision process.     

Responsibility accounting,managerial action and ‘a counter-ability’: Relating the physical and virtual spaces of decision-making

This study examines how the economic structures of responsibility accounting (RA) affect decision-making and managerial action. It analyses how decision rights transform and affect managerial action and argue that functionalist approaches to organising a company through RA principles are inexpedient. The argument is based on two spaces related to decision-making and managerial action – physical space and virtual space – and addresses the managerial effects of RA with respect to these spaces. The RA literature argues that the design of RA should be based on its context and its structure should be stable. However, the study presented here shows how the effects of RA emerge in a process of development and transformation of the organisation. When an organisation and its management control system cannot embrace the dynamism of the physical space, the resulting managerial actions and decision-making are tumultuous; accountability in this context means possessing ‘a counter-ability’, not being ‘accountable’. Accounting forms a virtual organisational space, and the relationships between physical and virtual spaces co-construct the organisational effects of RA.     

Managing Legitimacy in Business-Driven Social Change: The Role of Relational Work

This paper examines how companies manage their legitimacy in driving social change, drawing attention to how companies proactively negotiate their involvement with nonmarket actors. Building on the legitimacy-as-process perspective, I argue that companies construct the legitimacy of their involvement by engaging in relational work, that is, by investing efforts in shaping their relations with others and thereby redefining roles and responsibilities. To explore the role of relational work in business-driven social change, I present an inductive, interpretive study of a pharmaceutical company’s efforts to build a market for its products by improving diabetes care in Indonesia. Grounded in the empirical study, I develop a process model to explain how legitimacy is redefined from the bottom-up, that is, how a company’s involvement is re-negotiated in situ and crafted to attain the social approval of a wider audience. Advancing the micro-foundations of nonmarket strategy, the model offers new insights into how companies can organize with nonmarket actors and how they can effectively publicize their involvement as socially responsible. I also discuss the model’s implications for a more critical research agenda on the political responsibilities of companies in social change.