An exploration of decision making oscillations in dynamic and undynamic environments

The rapidly changing nature of information and use of information systems within organisations has seen the emergence of a gradual mistrust of human decision-making approaches. This is evident today with both researchers and practitioners advocating for an increased use of data-driven decision making. Although the advantages of using a data-driven approach have been well-documented, there has been scant research on the interplay between a data-driven approach and more human-centric decision making from an information systems perspective. To that end, this research study seeks to explore oscillations in decision-making approaches while having access to information systems in dynamic and undynamic environments. Data was gathered across four case study locations, in two distinct environments. The first of these was classified as a dynamic environment and two case studies were investigated involving aircraft pilots and an air traffic controller. The second was classified as an undynamic environment, with two further case studies investigated involving a pharmacist and national grid controller. The output of this study makes a number of contributions to IS theory and practise. Firstly, this study extends cognitive continuum theory to the information systems domain. In doing so, this study validates that decision makers will oscillate between an intuitive, system-aided judgement, and data-driven approach to decision making. Secondly, two distinct mechanisms are identified and once activated these mechanisms will oscillate a decision makers decision-making approach. These mechanisms are referred to as the personal sensitivity to a negative outcome mechanism and the process loafing mechanism. Thirdly, this research has validated that the environment a decision maker operates is a factor in the decision-making approach used. However, it was also found that the personal sensitivity to a negative outcome mechanism will override the environment a decision maker is in once activated. Fourthly, this study highlights the need for organisations to consider decision making approaches when implementing new policies, procedures, and information systems

The data-driven pilot and the risk of personal sensitivity to a negative outcome

The past decade has seen a gradual mistrust of the human-centric decision-making approaches with both researchers and practitioners advocating an increased use of data-driven decision making to lower decision-making risk. This is seen as vital in the aviation field with one of the greatest risks to passenger safety being errors in pilot decision making. Although the introduction of information systems has attempted to lower the risk of fatal crashes, human decision-making is still required. This article seeks to understand if a pilot will oscillate between human-centric decision-making approaches and information system based decision-making approaches. A case study approach was iteratively built to investigate this phenomenon. From this case study, the emergent theme of an individual?s personal sensitivity to a negative outcome is presented and discussed. The implications of these themes for information systems and the associated risks in the aviation field are then presented

Chinese International Students' Decision-Making Perspectives: A Case Study

Unprecedented rapidity of change occurring throughout the higher education sector linked to student mobility driven globalization momentum reinforces the benefits of attracting and cultivating the strongest students to contribute diversity of thought to learning environments. The purpose of this case study was to explore multiple perspectives of contemporary Chinese study abroad participants' decision-making experiences, seeking to understand the unique Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) dynamics impacting Chinese study abroad education decision-making processes and outcomes. The study focused on Drexel University's LeBow College of Business Master's in Finance Program alumni that had graduated between 2012 and 2016 to explore their unique, multifaceted, and primarily inclusive decision to study in US. This study supplements the mass of quantitative survey-based data with a qualitative compilation of a limited number of contemporary CSSA participant voices to support a more holistic understanding of their personal CSSA education decision-making journeys. Nineteen individuals, all alumni from the Master's in Finance Program were interviewed to gain rich, descriptive insights into their study abroad decision-making experiences. Along with nineteen interviews, observations and artifacts were used and a synthesis of analysis led to four thematic study findings relating to the participant's decision-making journey in regards to: (a) processes; (b) opportunities and aspirations; (c) challenges overcome; and (d) personal transitions during and after their study abroad decision-making process that reflected a decision-making journey cycle from idea inception to post-decision outcomes. The study conclusions included: (a) Contemporary CSSA decision-making experiences reflected aspects of unique Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) norms and dynamics; (b) No single decision-making process was adopted for study abroad decision-making, rather three general paths emerged; (c) Five elements were indicated as key motivators for seeking the study abroad experience; (d) Social media played a significant and positive role in CSSA pre-study abroad decision-making processes, during study abroad, and in participant transitions home to China. The recommendations tendered based on study data and literature included: (a) future Chinese study abroad candidates proactively communicate their individual aspirations with his or her decision-making group and balance personal resources and emotions throughout the decision-making process, (b) individuals and institutions recognize and value of cultural and thought diversity while embracing emerging commonalities possibly induced by globalization trends; (c) all stakeholders recognize the power of social media technology to engage throughout the learning experience; and finally (d) reinforce the benefits of further research on decision-making journey perspectives among the world's current largest population of study abroad participants. Key words: Chinese Students Studying Abroad (CSSA), decision making process, Confucian Heritage, push-pull factors (in higher education), globalization (in higher education), internationalization (in higher education)Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management -- Drexel University, 201

Neurological modeling of what experts vs. non-experts find interesting

The P3 and related ERP's have a long history of use to identify stimulus events in subjects as part of oddball-style experiments. In this work we describe the ongoing development of oddball style experiments which attempt to capture what a subject finds of interest or curious, when presented with a set of visual stimuli i.e. images. This joint work between Dublin City University (DCU) and the European Space Agency's Advanced Concepts Team (ESA ACT) is motivated by the challenges of autonomous space exploration where the time lag for sending data back to earth for analysis and then communicating an action or decision back to the spacecraft means that decision-making is slow. Also, when extraterrestrial sensors capture data, the determination of what data to send back to earth is driven by an expertly devised rule set, that is scientists need to determine apriori what will be of interest. This cannot adapt to novel or unexpected data that a scientist may find curious. Our work is attempting to determine if it is possible to capture what a scientist (subject) finds of interest (curious) in a stream of image data through EEG measurement. One of the our challenges is to determine the difference between an expert and a lay subject response to stimulus. To investigate the theorized difference, we use a set of lifelog images as our dataset. Lifelog images are first person images taken by a small wearable camera which continuously records images whilst it is worn. We have devised two key experiments for use with this data and two classes of subjects. Our subjects are a person who has worn the personal camera, from which our collection of lifelog images is taken and who becomes our expert, and the remaining subjects are people who have no association with the captured images. Our first experiment is a traditional oddball experiment where the oddballs are people having coffee, and can be thought of as a directed information seeking task. The second experiment is to present a stream of lifelog images to the subjects and record which images cause a stimulus response. Once the data from these experiments has been captured our task is to compare the responses between the expert and lay subject groups, to determine if there are any commonalities between these groups or any distinct differences. If the latter outcome is the case the objective is then to investigate methods for capturing properties of images which cause an expert to be interested in a presented image. Further novelty is added to our work by the fact we are using entry-level off-the-shelf EEG devices, consisting of 4 nodes with a sampling rate of 255Hz

Experts' attitudes towards medical futility: an empirical survey from Japan

BACKGROUND: The current debate about medical futility is mostly driven by theoretical and personal perspectives and there is a lack of empirical data to document experts and public attitudes towards medical futility. METHODS: To examine the attitudes of the Japanese experts in the fields relevant to medical futility a questionnaire survey was conducted among the members of the Japan Association for Bioethics. A total number of 108 questionnaires returned filled in, giving a response rate of 50.9%. Among the respondents 62% were healthcare professionals (HCPs) and 37% were non-healthcare professionals (Non-HCPs). RESULTS: The majority of respondents (67.6 %) believed that a physician's refusal to provide or continue a treatment on the ground of futility judgment could never be morally justified but 22.2% approved such refusal with conditions. In the case of physiologically futile care, three-quarters believed that a physician should inform the patient/family of his futility judgment and it would be the patient who could decide what should be done next, based on his/her value judgment. However more than 10% said that a physician should ask about a patient's value and goals, but the final decision was left to the doctor not the patient. There was no statistically significant difference between HCPs and Non-HCPs (p = 0.676). Of respondents 67.6% believed that practical guidelines set up by the health authority would be helpful in futility judgment. CONCLUSION: The results show that there is no support for the physicians' unilateral decision- making on futile care. This survey highlights medical futility as an emerging issue in Japanese healthcare and emphasizes on the need for public discussion and policy development

Water Management Efficiency in the Food and Beverage Industry

Water is critical for food production, food security, and health. Water quality management influences freshwater sustainability, land, and energy administration. Global agriculture accounts for more than 70% of all water consumption; the fertilizer, manure, and pesticide overspills are chief sources of water pollution worldwide. On a global scale, food-related waste directly impacts local food production and water resource management. The purpose of this multiple-case study on the food and beverage (FB) industry in the State of Georgia was to identify successful strategies for improving water management efficiency. The concepts of systems thinking, adaptive resource management, and integrated water resource management provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected via personal interviews with 2 global supply chain leaders in the FB industry and 1 water expert in the public water utility system in Georgia. The findings showed 10 themes: sustainability; mission-driven culture; ethical responsibility; water quality and governance; food safety and sanitation; water conservation and climatic trends; waste management; nutrition and the freeze drying method; knowledge sharing and collaboration; and water detention and retention systems. The study results are intended to contribute to social change by providing information to global supply chain leaders, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and sustainability leaders to implement sustainability beyond the environmental value; these findings will also help achieve a positive posture on resource overconsumption and waste management for efficient and complex decision making within a worldwide spectrum

Defining contextual advantage: exploring the contextual relation between effectuation and entrepreneurial marketing for creating new markets effectually

The paper explores the behaviour of the Entrepreneur and the Effectual use of available resources mainly social capital in new market creation. The study dwells on creating a unique ‘Context’ by leveraging these resources to increase the Entrepreneurial orientation of a firm. The paper further attempts to explore whether the Contextual link between Effectuation and Entrepreneurial Marketing helps develop a ‘Contextual Advantage’, which can be used as a mean of developing a unique business model which differentiates the firm in the market. The paper hence explores contemporary theories of Entrepreneurship and Marketing namely Entrepreneurial Marketing, Effectuation and Contextual Marketing by studying their inter-relation. The nature of these theories is under-explored according to the authors and requires further investigation to evolve the field of Marketing and Entrepreneurship.N/

Evidence based healthcare planning in developing countries: An Informatics perspective

Most of the national Health Information Systems (HIS) in resource limited developing countries do not serve the purpose of management support and thus the service is adversely affected. While emphasising the importance of timely and accurate health information in decision making in healthcare planning, this paper explains that Health Management Information System Failure is commonly seen in developing countries as well as the developed countries. It is suggested that the possibility of applying principles of Health Informatics and the technology of Decision Support Systems should be seriously considered to improve the situation. A brief scientific explanation of the evolution of these two disciplines is included