Examining the building selection decision-making process within corporate relocations : to design and evaluate a client focused tool to support objective decision making

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to consider the complex decision-making process involved in corporate relocation and the validity of a tool designed to improve the objectivity and strategic management of this process and to change the focus of the decision upon the strategic management objectives rather than the real estate deal. Design/methodology/approach – The authors identify the progression of the decision-making process; disaggregate components of that process; and evaluate a tool designed to improve the decision-making process. Findings – The size of the organisation can have a significant impact on the building evaluation and decision-making process, smaller firms with less resources are more likely to make the relocation decision based on “gut feeling” rather than detailed evaluation. However, with increased transparency, accountability and corporate social responsibility, decisions based on more rigorous and objective approaches are being demanded. The evaluated tool facilitates a more objective approach and shifts the focus from a real estate to a business decision. Practical implications – Corporate real estate managers can use the information to evaluate their own decision-making processes against the framework of the tool and decide if it may be applicable to their context. Originality/value – The paper fills a void by examining the decision-making process from a fresh perspective, updates the thinking by providing a contemporary tool which has been beta tested with students and is about to be piloted with corporate clients.</p

Vaccine use in organic cattle and sheep systems: Development of a decision support tool based on risk assessment

This project’s aim was to support a consistent approach to decision making on vaccine use among organic dairy, beef and sheep farmers and their advisers, including their veterinarians, by developing a decision support tool on vaccine use in order: a) to help organic livestock producers and their veterinarians to assess an individual farm situation in relation to a specific disease risk, to implement specific risk management measures and to communicate the decision with adequate precision to the certification bodies; and b) to provide certification bodies with baseline information on risk factors and risk management measures and their significance, so that the could judge veterinary/farmer decisions on vaccine use adequately. The project focused on 10 cattle and 14 sheep diseases that are routinely vaccinated against in the UK. A web-based, interactive decision support tool (DestVAC, www.destvac.reading.ac.uk) was created using ASP.NET and SQL Server Database. The tool allows farm specific exploration of risk factors and risk management measures, access to additional information on vaccines, exposure and financial impact of disease at farm level. The tool also allows the user to produce reports on individual farm assessments or exploratory scenario building for submission to certification bodies as part of a health plan

Decision Management Process Improvement Project

A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Project ManagementIt has become all too common that questions are raised during the execution of a project pertaining to the decisions that were made early on. Without having maintained a concise, accessible record of project decisions, the project manager and team members would find it difficult to provide hard evidence as to how they got to this point and what impacts specific decisions had on the project’s trajectory. This paper introduces the Decision Management Process Improvement Project (DMPIP), which focuses on improving decision management process throughout the lifecycle of a project with the aim of adding value to project performance and helping obtain project success. This new tool was inspired due to a lack of appropriate methods involving complex projects at a local consulting firm. The process along with the tool is being added to the toolset of a local Consulting Firm. This Firm plans to introduce the tools and techniques to clients that will benefit from an increased Project Management maturity level with improvements to its decision-tracking processes and demonstration of downstream effects of important decisions. The final product is a contribution to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) in the form of creating a Project Decision Management knowledge area in the PMBOK format. A decision log that follows a decision throughout the whole process from problem identification and analysis to the eventual outcome is at the core of the created knowledge area.Title Page / Table of Contents / List of Exhibits / Abstract / Keywords / Introduction / Project Purpose / Project Benefits / Research Methodology / Research Results Analysis / Project Management Approach / Final Products / Conclusion and Recommendations / Opportunities for Future Development / Reference

Strategic toolkits: seniority, usage and performance in the German SME machinery and equipment sector

This paper examines the strategic tool kit, from a human resource management (HRM) perspective, in terms of usage and impact. Research to date has tended to consider usage, assuming to a certain extent that knowledge and understanding of particular tools suggest that practitioners value them. The research on which this paper is based builds upon the idea that usage indicates satisfaction, but develops the usage theme to investigate which decision-makers are actually engaged in both tool appliance and the strategic process. Of particular interest to the researchers are the educational background, age and seniority of the decision-makers. In addition, potential links with HRM and organizational performance are also explored. The context of the research, the German machinery and equipment sector, provides an insight into the industry's ability to sustain growth in face of increasing international competition. The paper calls for a greater awareness, from a human resource perspective, and utilization of strategic management practice and associated decision-making aids

An evolutionary complex systems decision-support tool for the management of operations

Purpose - The purpose of this is to add both to the development of complex systems thinking in the subject area of operations and production management and to the limited number of applications of computational models and simulations from the science of complex systems. The latter potentially offer helpful decision-support tools for operations and production managers. Design/methodology/approach - A mechanical engineering firm was used as a case study where a combined qualitative and quantitative methodological approach was employed to extract the required data from four senior managers. Company performance measures as well as firm technologies, practices and policies, and their relation and interaction with one another, were elicited. The data were subjected to an evolutionary complex systems (ECS) model resulting in a series of simulations. Findings - The findings highlighted the effects of the diversity in management decision making on the firm's evolutionary trajectory. The CEO appeared to have the most balanced view of the firm, closely followed by the marketing and research and development managers. The manufacturing manager's responses led to the most extreme evolutionary trajectory where the integrity of the entire firm came into question particularly when considering how employees were utilised. Research limitations/implications - By drawing directly from the opinions and views of managers, rather than from logical "if-then" rules and averaged mathematical representations of agents that characterise agent-based and other self-organisational models, this work builds on previous applications by capturing a micro-level description of diversity that has been problematical both in theory and application. Practical implications - This approach can be used as a decision-support tool for operations and other managers providing a forum with which to explore: the strengths, weaknesses and consequences of different decision-making capacities within the firm; the introduction of new manufacturing technologies, practices and policies; and the different evolutionary trajectories that a firm can take. Originality/value - With the inclusion of "micro-diversity", ECS modelling moves beyond the self-organisational models that populate the literature but has not as yet produced a great many practical simulation results. This work is a step in that direction

Decision support tool for water management of double cropping rice system: water allocation

Besut Irrigation Scheme is one of the main rice growing areas in Malaysia. This scheme faces water scarcity especially during pre-saturation period with the traditional water supply. It is necessary to evolve an innovative approach for water distribution and management. A decision support tool was developed to improve decision-making with respect to water release policies and timely water distribution in the large double cropping rice irrigation project. The tool was designed to focus on water allocation and release decisions in rice growing area. The decision support tool includes database management, a model management, a knowledge base, and a user interface. The knowledge base of the decision support tool was developed from the knowledge derived from field experts and from the results of the model management system. This paper presents an integrated decision support tool for generating alternative water allocation based on water availability. Thus, the final output is given in the form of specific water management actions for the irrigated areas

University Knowledge Management Tool for Academic Research Activity Evaluation

The implementation of an efficient university knowledge management system involves the de-velopment of several software tools that assist the decision making process for the three main activities of a university: teaching, research, and management. Artificial intelligence provides a variety of techniques that can be used by such tools: machine learning, data mining, text mining, knowledge based systems, expert systems, case-based reasoning, decision support systems, intelligent agents etc. In this paper it is proposed a generic structure of a university knowledge management system, and it is presented an expert system, ACDI_UPG, developed for academic research activity evaluation, that can be used as a decision support tool by the university knowledge management system for planning future research activities according to the main objectives of the university and of the national / international academic research funding organizations.University Knowledge Management, Research Activity Evaluation, Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems, Decision Support System

MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS AS A TOOL FOR MUNICIPAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

In most decision making situations more than one criterion is involved and, as a consequence, confusion can arise if there is no logical and well structured decision-making process in place. The multi-criteria analysis (MCA) constitutes a tool that can help evaluate the relative importance of all criteria involved and reflect on their importance during project management and decision making. MCA is a management tool aiming at supporting decision makers faced with making numerous and conflicting evaluations by deriving a way to come to a compromise. This paper discusses the possibilities of applying MCA in the field of municipal property management, where the decision-makers have to find the most convenient destinations of municipal assets that can be used for various purposes such as: governmental, business, social use. In each case specific criteria and indicators are employed in the ranking and rating process, so as to get the corresponding weighted score. An application is also presented, as performed within a work package included in the project “Municipal Property Management in South- Eastern Cities (PROMISE)â€, aiming to develop a comprehensive system for municipal property classification for governmental use, social use and business use by means of criteria previously defined, processed by MCA operation. The resulted system is adapted to the strategic goals of the administrative authorities, contributing to an effective municipal property management by optimising and standardising the decision-making procedures. The framework created enables the municipalities to find an appealing combination between the use of properties for their own needs and for attracting investment and promoting sustainable development of their cities and regions. The project was initiated in 2009, being funded by the ERDF within the South-East Territorial Co-operation Programme. Keywords: multi-criteria analysis, criteria, indicators, ranking, municipal assets, strategic management

Yield Management under the Real Options Scheme for Optimal Decision Making in Hotels

Yield management is the process of actively managing inventory to maximize revenues. In this paper we present a model demised to apply yield management techniques using real options to the problem of optimal decision making when assigning rooms to hotel customers. Two different methods are proposed to carry out the evaluation: numerical resolution with the PDEs and Monte Carlo simulation. The achieved results using both methods are similar demonstrating the robustness of the simulation in this field and the model lends itself to be a tool for helping the hotel manager in his operational decision of whether or not giving a room to a potential client