Effective decision making requires a clear methodology, particularly in complex, globally relevant situations. Institutions and companies in all disciplines and sectors are faced with increasingly multi-faceted areas of uncertainty which cannot always be effectively handled by traditional strategies. Complex Strategic Choices provides clear principles and methods which can guide and support strategic decision to face modern challenges. By considering ways in which planning practices can be renewed and exploring the possibilities for acquiring awareness and tools to add value to strategic decision making, Complex Strategic Choices presents a methodology which is further illustrated by a number of case studies and example applications. Dr. Techn. Steen Leleur has adapted previously established research based on feedback and input from various conferences, journals and students resulting in new material stemming from and focusing on practical application of systemic planning. The outcome is a coherent and flexible approach named systemic planning. The inclusion of both the theoretical and practical aspects of systemic planning makes this book a key resource for researchers and students in the field of planning and decision analysis as well as practitioners dealing with strategic analysis and decision making. More broadly, Complex Strategic Choices acts as guide for professionals and students involved in complex planning tasks across several fields such as business and engineering.

Over the past ten years, there has been growing interest in the process of strategic decision-making among both managers and researchers. Strategic decisions are important for five main reasons: They are large-scale, risky and hard to reverse; they are a bridge between deliberate and emerging strategies; they can be a major source of organizational learning; they play an important part in the development of individual managers and they cut accross functions and academic disciplines. Strategic Decisions summarizes the current state of the art in research on strategic decision-making, with chapters prepared by leading strategy researchers. The editors also present implications for current application and proposed directions for future research.

Whether you are a student or a working professional, you can benefit from being better at solving the complex problems that come up in your life. Strategic Thinking in Complex Problem Solving provides a general framework and the necessary tools to help you do so. Based on his groundbreaking course at Rice University, engineer and former strategy consultant Arnaud Chevallier provides practical ways to develop problem solving skills, such as investigating complex questions with issue maps, using logic to promote creativity, leveraging analogical thinking to approach unfamiliar problems, and managing diverse groups to foster innovation. This book breaks down the resolution process into four steps: 1) frame the problem (identifying what needs to be done), 2) diagnose it (identifying why there is a problem, or why it hasn't been solved yet), 3) identify and select potential solutions (identifying how to solve the problem), and 4) implement and monitor the solution (resolving the problem, the 'do'). For each of these four steps - the what, why, how, and do - this book explains techniques that promotes success and demonstrates how to apply them on a case study and in additional examples. The featured case study guides you through the resolution process, illustrates how these concepts apply, and creates a concrete image to facilitate recollection. Strategic Thinking in Complex Problem Solving is a tool kit that integrates knowledge based on both theoretical and empirical evidence from many disciplines, and explains it in accessible terms. As the book guides you through the various stages of solving complex problems, it also provides useful templates so that you can easily apply these approaches to your own personal projects. With this book, you don't just learn about problem solving, but how to actually do it.

This book examines multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) and presents the Sequential Interactive Modelling for Urban Systems (SIMUS) as a method to be used for strategic decision making. It emphasizes the necessity to take into account aspects related to real world scenarios and incorporating possible real life aspects for modelling. The book also highlights the use of sensitivity analysis and presents a method for using criteria marginal values instead of weights, which permits the drawing of curves that depicts the variations of the objective function due to variations of these marginal values. In this way it also gives quantitative values of the objective function allowing stakeholders to perform a comprehensive risk analysis for a solution when it is affected by exogenous variables. Strategic Approach in Multi-Criteria Decision Making: A Practical Guide for Complex Scenarios is divided into three parts. Part 1 is devoted to exploring the history and development of the discipline and the way it is currently used. It highlights drawbacks and problems that scholars have identified in different MCDM methods and techniques. Part 2 addresses best practices to assure quality MCDM process. Part 3 introduces the concept of Linear Programming and the proposed SIMUS method as techniques to deal with MCDM. It also includes case studies in order to help document and illustrate difficult concepts, especially related to demands from a scenario and also in their modelling. The decision making process can be a complex task, especially with multi-criteria problems. With large amounts of information, it can be an extremely difficult to make a rational decision, due to the number of intervening variables, their interrelationships, potential solutions that might exist, diverse objectives envisioned for a project, etc. The SIMUS method has been designed to offer a strategy to help organize, classify, and evaluate this information effectively.

Outlines an approach to high-performance problem solving and decision making that draws on insights from survival guides, pop culture, and other sources.

This volume has been designed as a supplement to traditional texts in graduate and undergraduate strategic management courses. Few textbooks reflect the importance of sustainability and environmental protection. This book aims to fill this gap by including discussion of the natural environment.

Create market-focused strategies that make maximum use of your company’s technologies What separates the best from the rest among professional managers? The ability to constantly create, rethink, and revamp strategies by creating and applying powerful new concepts. But a major problem for managers in technology-intensive companies is how to successfully integrate their choice of technologies into competitive market strategies. Transforming New Technologies into Cash Flow develops and applies a simple but powerful new set of concepts to help managers in technology-intensive companies integrate their technology choices with marketing strategies that drive profits high and keep cash flowing. This unique book helps managers map and plan new strategic paths that successfully integrate bundles of technologies, product functionalities, end-user segments, and market networks to create market-focused strategies and competitive differentiation. The book uses case examples and provides a “Management Application Toolkit” of simple and tested maps, worksheets, and interactive cash flow spreadsheets to connect strategic path choices to long-term net cash flow that results in real financial success. Transforming New Technologies into Cash Flow examines: a management process perspective the importance of creating market focus strategic paths; integrating technology choices organizing management teams around strategic paths major management problems with new technologies strategic path mapping, analysis, and integration managing the technology development and adoption processes integrating strategic path bundles: managing transformation processes creating powerful competitive differentiation creating “hot” zones on strategic paths driving cash flow with stategic paths the critical role of pricing and much more! Transforming New Technologies into Cash Flow is an essential professional resource for senior and middle multifunction managers in technology-intensive companies, technical, R&D, and engineering managers, and managers in executive education workshops. This book is part of The Foundation Series in Business Marketing, which also includes Fundamentals of Business Marketing Research and Fundamentals of Business Marketing Education: A Guide for University-Level Faculty and Policymakers (Series Senior Editor: J. David Lichtenthal, PhD, MBA, Zicklin School, Baruch College, City University of New York).