BOOK REVIEW

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Emergency purchasing situations: Implications for consumer decision-making

This article introduces the emergency purchasing situation (EPS) as a distinct buying context. EPSs stem from an unexpected event (unanticipated need or timing of a need), as well as high product importance, which are associated with a short time frame for consumer decision-making. Our conceptual review integrates largely disconnected strands of research and theories relevant to EPSs and offers a series of independent propositions to understand how these situations might affect consumer decision-making, specifically heuristic versus reflective information processing in product evaluation. We discuss changes induced by the buying context in terms of regulatory focus, perceived time pressure, and stress. Our propositions further account for purchase involvement in the form of product importance, purchase risk, and product substitutability. Finally, we consider how individual differences (expertise and trust) may affect evaluation processes. Our discussion reflects on the implications of our model, avenues for future research, and how an understanding of EPSs can be used to improve managerial practice.     

Migration in market and democracy transition: Migration intentions and behavior in Romania

This paper analyzes the determinants of migration decision-making in the context of recent market and democratic transition in Romania. Using early 1990s internal migration survey, census and population register data, the results from Lisrel path models show that market and democracy value orientation variables are significant determinants of intentions to move, controlling for individual and regional social structural and resource indicators. Similarly, district-level out-migration behavior is directly determined by the political profile of the local area. Results from the total and disaggregated rural and urban models are interpreted through a reform values and characteristics typology of migrants. At least in the early stages of Romanian transition, the results indicate that migration choice behavior is governed by a search for places with greatest opportunities in terms of market and democracy returns. Implications of the results for political system and public policy decision are discussed.     

A review of representation issues and modeling challenges with influence diagrams

Since their introduction in the mid 1970s, influence diagrams have become a de facto standard for representing Bayesian decision problems. The need to represent complex problems has led to extensions of the influence diagram methodology designed to increase the ability to represent complex problems. In this paper, we review the representation issues and modeling challenges associated with influence diagrams. In particular, we look at the representation of asymmetric decision problems including conditional distribution trees, sequential decision diagrams, and sequential valuation networks. We also examine the issue of representing the sequence of decision and chance variables, and how it is done in unconstrained influence diagrams, sequential valuation networks, and sequential influence diagrams. We also discuss the use of continuous chance and decision variables, including continuous conditionally deterministic variables. Finally, we discuss some of the modeling challenges faced in representing decision problems in practice and some software that is currently available.     

On operations research and value conflicts

The paper addresses the question of how operations research (OR) ought to handle decision problems that involve value conflicts. First, we note that early OR was considered essentially value free within the OR community, with a mechanistic systems perspective, although some voiced concern that an analyst should not detach herself from the consequences of her work. Then we propose a value conflict scale, which we use to assess the conflict levels in a small sample of OR applications. We then turn to value identification. In practise, organizational value statements include many kinds of values, and we discuss how values can be sorted out according to ethical categories, which helps in identifying consequentialistic decision criteria. The next question is how values can be enacted in a decision process. We review findings in neuroscience, which indicate that intra-personal decision-making takes place in a field of tension between deliberation and affect. The implication is that low level conflicts may leave decision-makers too cold for values to be enacted and therefore want infusion of emotion. On the other hand, emotions in high-level conflicts may run too high to give reason a chance. Emotions, therefore, need to be tempered and this can be achieved through at least two strategies: a focus on consequences rather than virtues and rules and discourse ethics. These are the subjects of the two last parts of the paper. We conclude by proposing five ethical rules for OR analysis of value conflicts. An analyst should not regard herself as being detached from the decision that are made, should be conscious that good decision-making requires temperate emotions that balance affect and deliberation, should promote focus on consequences, should promote the view that stakeholders have intrinsic value; they should not be treated instrumentally and should encourage fair processes to identify stakeholder values.     

基于认知有限理性的项目决策方案的制定

传统的项目决策方案的制定都是基于完全理性人的假设,认为所制定的方案都是最优的,而实际情况却相反。有些方案不但不是最优的而且存在很大的不确定性,造成这一结果的原因来自于决策者的认知有限理性。本文首先分析了认知有限理性的特征及其对决策行为的影响,然后提出用决策者满意原则和群体决策代替个体决策这两种方法来应对决策过程中的认知有限理性。     

Organizational change and rigidity during crisis: A review of the paradox

When and how do existential crises, threatening business continuity, stimulate organizational change or cause the opposite—rigid preservation of established business practices? This question remains unresolved, despite three decades of deliberations in the academic literature, which still yields contradicting theoretical arguments and empirical results. One view argues and finds support for the hypothesis that posits an amplified propensity to change within threatened organizations. The other view supports the threat-rigidity thesis, implying reinforcing habitual practices. In this paper, we provide a novel holistic typology of organizational crises and then review the literature on the topic, summarizing existing insights within a theoretical framework comprising three interrelated sequential processes: organizational cognition, decision-making, and implementation. We analyze the gaps in the field's knowledge within each process and propose a research agenda to address these voids.     

Decision-making in Swiss home-like childbirth: A grounded theory study

Background

Decision-making in midwifery, including a claim for shared decision-making between midwives and women, is of major significance for the health of mother and child. Midwives have little information about how to share decision-making responsibilities with women, especially when complications arise during birth.

协商民主与农村公共产品供给的决策机制——浙江省泽国镇协商民主实践的案例启示

浙江省温岭市泽国镇的民主恳谈实践在农村公共产品供给的决策机制安排上作出了积极的、比较规范的探索.它充分显示了,倡导平等对话为农民真实显示对公共产品的偏好奠定了基础,鼓励公共参与为农村公共产品供给的决策机制所需的信息沟通提供了动力,实现理性沟通为农村公共产品供给的民主决策破除了技术上的障碍,促进偏好转换为农村公共产品供给的科学决策提供了关键性的支持条件.泽国实践为我们提供了解读农村公共产品供给制度的新视角,值得人们理性关注和研究.     

《易经》管理决策模式分析

《易经》是中国古人的智慧结晶,是古人为预知自然、社会和人生的变化而创立的独特预卜神秘符号系统,一直是后人在日常决策时的重要依据。近年来,国内外盛行将《易经》思想运用于企业的经营管理实务中。从现代管理决策的学术角度来解析《易经》,其中蕴藏了具有管理意义的个体管理决策模式。