Group Decision Making

City logistics policies require an understanding of several issues (eg freight distribution context, preferences and relationship among agents) seldom accounted for in current research. Policies run the risk of producing unsatisfactory results because behavioural and contextual aspects are not considered. The acquisition of relevant data is crucial to test hypothesis and forecast agents' reactions to policy changes. Despite recent methodological advances in modelling interactive behaviour the development of apt survey instruments is ...

In the excitement of the World Wide Web of hyperlinked multimedia spanning the globe, it's easy to lose sight of ordinary e-mail, which, like the Web, is built on the enabling infrastructure of the Internet. Yet the average person undoubtedly conducts more business by e-mail than by any other Internet service. Considering the importance and ubiquity of e-mail, it's surprising that it is not more widely used for group decision making-that is, structured business meetings, or more formally, deliberative assemblies. In the hope of providing basic guidelines and motivating further work, we offer some considerations regarding rules of order for conducting e-mail meetings

“As we know, well-led groups provide many member benefits: feelings of universality, a sense of hope, altruism, acquisition of knowledge and skills, and mutual support...This text is affordable, easy to use, and very suitable for providing group work material in BSW or MSW practice courses.”

— Greg Tully, West Chester University



AN EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH TO GROUP WORK
Second Edition

Rich Furman, University of Washington, Tacoma
Kimberly Bender, University of Denver
Diana Rowan, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

An Experiential Approach to Group Work is not your typical group work text! Using dozens of exercises that build practice-tested skills, the authors' approach is in perfect step with CSWE's competence-based education requirements. The book is organized into three sections—the first addresses stages of group practice, the second looks at major types of groups, and the final section looks at examples of group work practice with special populations.

Features of the Second Edition

    Expanded! Discussion of the theory of group process and dynamics
    New! Content regarding Canadian, British, and Australian group work practices
    New! Chapters on anti-oppressive practice, group work with immigrants, and macro-practice group work
    New! Content on the use and development of technology to aid group work
    Contains customized exercises for each group work topic, designed to build the student and practitioner’s skills for use in group work sessions
    Special emphasis on how to bring individual sessions or groups to closure
    Provides examples of group work in specialized settings: conflict resolution groups within elementary schools, pregnant teens, Latinos, and HIV/AIDS clients

Using the Saaty and Peniwati (2007) group decision making structured approach as the discussion framework, this study reports on a year-long ePortfolio study undertaken by an ePortfolio task force at a regional liberal arts university. Emphasis will be given to the group decision-making process that led to the development of an ePortfolio selection model and how AHP methodology and the group features of the Decision LensTM software supported the model development process. Future steps in the ePortfolio selection process and lessons learned in using the Analytic Hierarchy Process at a group level will be also discussed.

Two quantitative meta-analyses examined how the presence of visual channels, vocal channels, and synchronicity influences the quality of outcomes in negotiations and group decision making. A qualitative review of the literature found that the effects of communication channels vary widely and that existing theories do not sufficiently account for these contradictory findings. To parsimoniously encompass the full range of existing data, the authors created the communication orientation model, which proposes that the impact of communication channels is shaped by communicators’ orientations to cooperate or not. Two meta-analyses—conducted separately for negotiations and decision making—provide strong support for this model. Overall, the presence of communication channels (a) increased the achievement of high-quality outcomes for communicators with a neutral orientation, (b) did not affect the outcomes for communicators with a cooperative orientation, but (c) hurt communicators’ outcomes with a noncooperative orientation.Tests of cross-cultural differences in each meta-analysis further supported the model: for those with a neutral orientation, the beneficial effects of communication channels were weaker within East Asian cultures (i.e., Interdependent and therefore more predisposed towards cooperation) than within Western cultures (i.e., Independent).

The use of family group decision-making (FGDM) in child protection is rapidly increasing throughout the world. This paper provides a brief overview of the research evidence from 1996 to 2005 and proposes future directions for both practice and research. The purpose of the review is to help move the discussion of FGDM from a promising practice to an evidence-based practice. The research review considers what is known about the child welfare outcomes of FGDM. The paper then turns to research concerning which families are offered FGDM and which FGDM processes appear to be important. The paper concludes with specific suggestions for developing FGDM programmes that can improve child protection practice and then testing these specific programmes in rigorous trials.

Different from most other group decision‐making contexts, courtroom jurors face two distinct layers of argument— arguments made during the trial and arguments made during deliberation. The juror often makes an individual decision prior to deliberation based on arguments heard in court and then, using that decision, creates arguments with the other jurors about “what really happened.” The researchers used Canary, Tanita‐Ratledge and Seibold's (1982) coding scheme to analyze arguments in 80 mock juries. The results revealed that jurors’ arguments were not complex; they used assertions and acknowledgments most frequently, followed by propositions, elaborations, and non‐related arguments. The conclusions suggest practical applications for attorneys as well as a model of argument in jury decision‐making.

This course is structured to introduce the fundamental techniques of using data to make informed management decisions. In particular, there is focus on various ways of modeling, or thinking structurally about, decision problems in order to enhance decision-making skills. Rather than survey all of the techniques of management science, only fundamental concepts that are most important for the practical analysis of management decisions will be tackled.

The scope of this assignment will tackle two types of decision making methods: [1] Heuristic method – defined as proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules that are only loosely defined; [2] Quantitative method – a systematic and computational analysis of data and statistics.  The Quantitative and Analytics methods (collectively called Management Science) are used interchangeably to mean models, structures,
and techniques to enhance the management skill of making informed decisions.  A brief exploration of the basic techniques in using data to make decisions will also be done; and focus will be on the most important and practical only.  It is not the intent of this assignment to delve into algorithms and computational techniques which is reserved
to a dedicated research on decision support systems (DSS).  An introduction to DSS though will suffice in highlighting the Quantitative method.

The Heuristic method will likewise be discussed.  After all, quantitative methods are only as good as the readiness and maturity of organizations, driven largely by the analytical decision-making culture (Popovič, et al., 2011).  The Heuristics method may seem rather crude, but sound judgment and effective decisions are resultant factors of a painful and difficult discovery, exploration, and self-learning process (Popovič, ibid.). 

In Description: From Data to Actionable Insight, there is a further look at how data is transformed and translated to information, to insight, then to actionable intelligence; as well as the part that technology plays in the enablement of each stage.  This will serve as an introduction to the basic techniques in using data: the tools, structures, and models that leaders use to support them in making decisions. 

The section on Discussions present a comparison of two decision making methods within a defined and set criteria.

A case study done on participatory and group decision making (Lunenberg, 2011) for a global shared services organization will be presented in the section on Actualization.  In a facilitated exercise, the objective of the Country Head is to formulate a medium term business strategy within a neutral and balanced framework, increase legitimacy and buy-in from the leadership team, while breaking dominant organizational patterns.  Elements of individual and group decision making methods  using the business model approach are demonstrated as the leaders went through the strategic planning exercise (Hacklin and Wallnöfer, 2015).

This assignment concludes with a conceptual model – a proposal on the collective interplay of leadership skills, organizational maturity, and technology tools along the decision making process. With this model, the underlying objective is to equip individuals aspiring to lead and drive analytics efforts on critical business, people, and operations metrics – with management tools to analyze, interpret trends, and act within an environment of voluminous structured and unstructured data.  It goes without saying that the overarching goal is all towards the purpose of them becoming effective leaders and decision makers.

Drawing on current research in anthropology, cognitive psychology, neuro-science, and the humanities, Understanding the Human Mind explores how and why we, as humans, find it so easy to believe we are right-even when we are outright wrong. Humans live out their own lives effectively trapped in their own mind and, despite being exceptional survivors and a highly social species, our inner mental world is often misaligned with reality. In order to understand why, John Ed-ward Terrell and Gabriel Stowe Terrell suggest current dual-process models of the mind overlook our mind's most decisive and unpredictable mode: creativity. Using a three-dimensional model of the mind, the authors examine the human struggle to stay in touch with reality-how we succeed, how we fail, and how winning this struggle is key to our survival in an age of mounting social problems of our own making. Using news stories of logic-defying behavior, analogies to famous fictitious characters, and analysis of evolutionary and cognitive psychology theory, this fascinating account of how the mind works is a must-read for all interested in anthropology and cognitive psychology. John Edward Terrell is internationally known for his pioneering research and publications on human biological and cultural diversity, social network analysis , human biogeography, and the peopling and prehistory of the Pacific Islands. Gabriel Stowe Terrell is studying industrial relations with an emphasis on conflict resolution techniques, organizational behavior, and labor history.

University of Luxembourg
Faculté de Lettres, des Sciences Humaines, des Arts, et des Sciences de l’Éducation

EXPLORING LEARNING PROCESSES WITHIN A COLLABORATIVE STUDY CIRCLE
Cultural-historical activity theory perspective on individual and social transformation

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of Master in Learning and Development in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts

Master académique - Master of Arts

1. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Charles MAX
2. Supervisor: Study director Dr. Gudrun ZIEGLER
Presented by Jean-Marie NAU
February 2012
Members of the Jury: Professors Charles Max, Georges Steffgen, Thierry Dubreuilh (external expert), Anola Bracaj (student expert)
 
Abstract (721 words)
The purpose of this study is to explore learning processes within a collaborative study group, engaged on a path of individual and social transformation, with the perspective of cultural-historical activity theory. The topic opens up a window on processes in learning communities beyond school-related education. The objective is to gain insights how learning takes place in the activity, what the tools are that the participants use in the activity, how these tools guide their learning, and how the participants’ multivoicedness influences the learning process,.
Research as a process
Scientific method as a truth seeking endeavour is interpretive, and demands clarity about the basic set of beliefs that guides action, and the interpretive framework that contains the ontological, epistemological, and methodological premises.
The two-fold moral purpose of any human being - to develop their latent potentialities through efforts to contribute to the advancement of civilization, - constitutes the core element of a conceptual framework that governs Bahá’í educational activity.
This research presents a modest contribution to explore a tiny facet and fragment of social reality, and is not a description of the world as it is. The study represents one perspective on social reality, a reality that is whole.
History is not just a series of events, but develops. Humanity as an organic entity evolves, in its collective life, towards maturity, and the distinguishing attribute of this maturity is the unification of the human race.
Participants and research instruments
The unit of analysis consists of a group of five participants who start a course on how to provide children, aged five to eight, moral, spiritual, and values-based training. The data collected includes five video-recorded group sessions and interviews, written questionnaires, notes, and a number of documents, which include primary texts, written by the central authors and institutions of the Bahá’í community, by individuals or Bahá’í inspired organisations.
The concept of learning is applied to the individual and social plane. The analysis at the micro-level is referring to individual utterances and joint conversations. References are made to acquisition and participation approaches and their interconnectedness.
I use activity theory to frame the analysis and discourse analysis to analyze the data. Activity theory states, that a collective activity, with the basic purpose shared by others, is undertaken by people who are motivated by a purpose or towards the solution of a problem, which is mediated by tools, used in order to achieve an outcome.
When we communicate, we may strive for clarity, but we are always situated in an historical context and what we say is influenced by our multivoicedness. Reflecting on what people have said and written, and thereby discovering meaning and interpretation is the basis of discourse analysis.
Findings & Implications
The study shows how learning takes place through a complex interaction between all of the elements in the activity system. Nine distinct instances offer insights that this particular type of collaborative activity encourages and promotes the exchange of questions, ideas, experiences, thoughts and knowledge among participants.
The study shows that participants negotiate tools given by the content-based curriculum and suggests that participants in a collaborative learning activity focus on their objectives and outcome, and thus choose, define and appropriate themselves suitable tools. Several mediating artefacts, tools and signs were used by the participants and shaped their learning.
The study circle observed is at the beginning of its historicity. Study circles are developing with their own historicity in different contexts and cultures, and influence the way participants learn. As participants bring in their historicity and multivoicedness, they influence the learning activity. There is interconnectedness and mutual influence between participants and the learning activity.
The study shows how participants bring into the activity their multivoicedness and historicity. Most of these voices help the participants towards reaching their objective and outcome.
In the analysis of the 21 excerpts, I identified 32 voices that participants bring into the activity, collected into seven interacting and overlapping categories.
I suggest that participants, engaged in collaborative learning activities, raise their awareness that their multivoicedness influences their learning.
The study suggests that the existence and deliberate creation of certain conditions among participants in a learning activity influence the learning process. They include mutual trust, honesty, unity, a welcoming and encouraging attitude, a respect for the opinion of others, adopting a humble learning attitude, humour, and taking ownership of one’s learning.
Keywords: cultural-historical activity theory, mediating artefacts, learning, development, historicity, multivoicedness.
DOI: 10.13140/2.1.4135.4244

Our purpose in this draft is to combine three previously published papers in order to apply a general solution frame to a specific problem. Because system design is a special case of problem solving, we will try to apply A Generalized Group Decision Support System (GDSS) for Group Problem Solving: (Callaos, et.al. 1999; Callaos and Lesso, 1999) to the specific area of System Design. This will be done by means of: 1) describing a GDSS for Group Problem solving, based on the Mathematical Solution to the Voter Paradox, 2) analyzing the concept of design, and making explicit its relations to: 2.1) intention, action, decision (Callaos and Callaos, 1995), and 2.2) to discovery (Evans, 2000), and group creativity (synectics). The GDSS for Group Problem Solving proposed here has two basic sub-systems: one would support the group creativity process, required for the generation of alternative designs, and the other would support: a) the group reasoning process, required to establish the pros and cons of each design alternative and b) the group decision process, based on the Ordinal Scales Delphi Method made possible by the Generalized Absolute Majority Rule, and/or the optimal hamiltonian path, both included in the Solution of the Voter Paradox. The ideas presented in the third part of this paper emerged while Richard Evans, one of the co-authors of this paper, worked with IBM and NASA over the past four years. The other two parts are suggested as complement to the third part, and as a way to make operative the basic ideas through the software developed according the first part of this paper.

Selection of appropriate subcontractors for outsourcing is very important for the success of construction projects. This can improve the overall quality of projects and promote the qualification and reputation of the main contractors. The evaluation of subcontractors can be made by some experts or decision-makers with respect to some criteria. If this process is done in different time periods, it can be defined as a dynamic multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problem. In this study, we propose a new fuzzy dynamic MCGDM approach based on the EDAS (Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution) method for subcontractor evaluation. In the procedure of the proposed approach, the sets of alternatives, criteria and decision-makers can be changed at different time periods. Also, the proposed approach gives more weight to newer decision information for aggregating the overall performance of alternatives. A numerical example is used to illustrate the proposed approach and show the application of it in subcontractor evaluation. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach is efficient and useful in real-world decision-making problems.