Operational Research and the Social Sciences

Operational Research and the Social Sciences
Author: S.A. Cropper
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 694
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1461307899

Twenty five years ago, in 1964, The Operational Research Society's first International Conference (held at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge) took as its theme "Operational Research and the Social Sciences". The Conference sessions were organised around topics such as: Organisations and Control; Social Effects of Policies; Conflict Resolution; The Systems Concept; Models, Decisions and Operational Research. An examination of the published proceedings (J.R.Lawrence ed., 1966, Operational Research and the Social Sciences, Tavistock, London) reveals a distinct contrast between the types of contribution made by the representatives of the two academic communities involved. Nevertheless, the Conference served to break down some barriers, largely of ignorance about the objects, methods and findings of each concern. In the ensuing twenty five years, although debate has continued about the relationship between OR and the social sciences, mutual understanding has proved more difficult to achieve than many must have hoped for in 1964.

The Politics of Organizational Decision-Making

The Politics of Organizational Decision-Making
Author: Andrew M. Pettigrew
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2014-02-25
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1317833902

Tavistock Press was established as a co-operative venture between the Tavistock Institute and Routledge & Kegan Paul (RKP) in the 1950s to produce a series of major contributions across the social sciences. This volume is part of a 2001 reissue of a selection of those important works which have since gone out of print, or are difficult to locate. Published by Routledge, 112 volumes in total are being brought together under the name The International Behavioural and Social Sciences Library: Classics from the Tavistock Press. Reproduced here in facsimile, this volume was originally published in 1973 and is available individually. The collection is also available in a number of themed mini-sets of between 5 and 13 volumes, or as a complete collection.

Communication in Construction Teams

Communication in Construction Teams
Author: Stephen Emmitt
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2006-09-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134225091

Construction teams are usually complex, interdisciplinary and temporary, and, as such, the need for effective communication is crucial. However, published data regarding the manner in which individuals interact within the temporary project team is scarce, with little other than anecdotal evidence available. Recognizing this gap, Communication in Construction Teams provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on interpersonal communication and delivers a critical review of various research methods previously used in and outside the construction management field. Making use of Bales' interaction process analysis (IPA), a tool used successfully in many fields to collect interaction data, the text investigates the link between successful projects and the effectiveness of communication, finding that participants in the construction process exhibit regular patterns of interaction and, most significantly, that there are different patterns of interaction associated with successful and unsuccessful projects. Putting forward a number of practical suggestions to assist all actors involved in construction projects, this insightful publication will be of interest to researchers in the fields of building design and construction management.

Policy Sciences

Policy Sciences
Author: Arie Y. Lewin
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 501
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483279243

Policy Sciences presents the framework of situational normativism, a descriptive-normative methodology by which the components of policy sciences may be pragmatically integrated and applied to real decision problems. The uniqueness of this approach derives from the integration of behavioral, political, and social considerations with a broad range of systems and quantitative methodologies. Furthermore, this approach encompasses specific considerations of implementation, political feasibility, and organization redesign. Organized into three parts, this book begins with an overview of policy sciences followed by a description of the adaptive analytical framework of situational normativism. Policy making is considered as a process of adaptation and a policy-making system generally composed of two or more coupled policy makers, each of whom is viewed as an adaptive purposeful system, is described. The last part consists of nine original cases that demonstrate the application of specific methodologies to real-world problems within the framework of situational normativism. Three of the case studies focus on the zoning decision process in the city of Pittsburgh; the use of a Delphi procedure to isolate and define the influential goals of an organization; and national policies toward foreign private investment. This monograph is intended for senior undergraduates and graduates taking a course in policy sciences and inter-organizational decision making and similar courses.

Philosophical Foundations of Quality of Life

Philosophical Foundations of Quality of Life
Author: Alex C. Michalos
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2017-06-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319507273

This first volume has as its main focus the philosophical foundations of Michalos’ work and describes it in the broad context of the study of logic, the philosophy of social sciences, and a general theory of value. After distinguishing things that have value from the value that things might have, it describes the foundations of a pragmatic theory of value. This theory plays a key role in the author’s research on the quality of life and connects his empirical research to the philosophical tradition of the American pragmatists William James, Ralph Barton Perry, John Dewey and Clarence Irving Lewis. The volume addresses various aspects and issues concerning decision making, including decision procedures used in committees, used for assessing the acceptability of scientific theories and new technologies, procedures for a science court, ethical issues involved in the formation of beliefs, some limitations of classical economists’ alleged postulates of rational preference, and the importance of analytic guides to decision making. Finally, it describes the organization of the Social Sciences Federation of Canada and a formal accounting system for scientific research.

The Oxford Handbook of Management

The Oxford Handbook of Management
Author: Adrian Wilkinson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 668
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0191018961

Management, the pursuit of objectives through the organization and co-ordination of people, has been and is a core feature-and function-of modern society. Some 'classic' forms of corporate and bureaucratic management may be seen as the prevalent form of organization and organizing in the 20th century, but in the post-Fordist, global, knowledge-driven contemporary world we are seeing different patterns, principles, and styles of management as old models are questioned. The functions, ideologies, practices, and theories of management have changed over time, as recorded by many scholars, and may vary according to different models of organization, and between different cultures and societies. Whilst the administrative, corporate, or factory manager may be a figure on the wane, management as an ethos, organizing principle, culture, and field of academic teaching and research has increased dramatically in the last half century, and spread throughout the world. The purpose of this Handbook is to analyse and explore the evolution of management; the core functions and how they may have changed; its position in the culture/zeitgeist of modern society; the institutions and ideologies that support it; and likely challenges and changes in the future. This book looks at what management is, and how this may change over time. It provides an overview of management - its history, development, context, changing function in organization and society, key elements and functions, and contemporary and future challenges.

Social Change and Politics

Social Change and Politics
Author: Morris Janowitz
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351490486

This classic study deals with social control in advanced industrial society, especially the United States, and particularly the half-century after World War I. The United States is representative of Western advanced industrial nations that have been faced with marked strain in their political institutions. These nation-states have been experiencing a decline in popular confidence and distrust of the political process, an absence of decisive legislative majorities, and an increased inability to govern effectively, that is, to balance and to contain competing interest group demands and resolve political conflicts.Janowitz uses the sociological idea of social control to explore the sources of these political dilemmas. Social control does not imply coercion or the repression of the individual by societal institutions. Social control is, rather, the face of coercive control. It refers to the capacity of a social group, including a whole society, to regulate itself. Self-regulation implies a set of higher moral principles beyond those of self-interest.Since the end of World War II, the expanded scope of empirical research has profoundly transformed the sociological discipline. The repeated efforts to achieve a theoretical reformulation have left a positive residue, but there have been no new conceptual breakthroughs that are compelling. This book is a concerted and detailed effort organize and to make sense out of the vastly increased body of empirical research.

Great Writers on Organizations: The Second Omnibus Edition

Great Writers on Organizations: The Second Omnibus Edition
Author: Derek Pugh
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2018-04-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351785397

This title was first published in 2000: A collection of the thoughts of many great writers on organizations. These writers are from a variety of different backgrounds. Some draw upon their expertise as practising managers, some on their knowledge of rational and local government administration, and some on the findings of their research work. All have attempted to draw together information and distil theories about how organizations function and how they should be managed. The volume seeks to provide a general overview of the field, and does not provide critical analysis of the views provided.

The Programming Approach and the Demise of Economics

The Programming Approach and the Demise of Economics
Author: Franco Archibugi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2019-11-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319780603

This trilogy deals with an epistemology of economics, arguing for a radical overturning of conventional analysis and providing an alternative to political economy and social sciences, based not on positivism, but on a normative and programming paradigm. Volume II builds on the work presented in Volume I to explore oppositions to the traditional and conventional teaching of economics, and presents testimonies that are favourable to a trend towards a programming approach, thereby giving substance to the epistemological 'overturning' of conventional analysis. Such oppositions studied include the work of Ludvig von Mises and his theory of praxeology; Ian Tinbergen and Wassily Leontif's preference for 'planning' over 'forecasting science'; Bruno de Finetti and Daniel Bell's support for the base of 'utopia' in economics; the trend from the 'theory of planning' towards the 'methodology of planning, by Andreas Faludi; neoclassic curiosity about the 'multi-purposes approach' and 'non-economic commodities' as investigated by Walter Isard, as well as theories expressed by Herbert Simon, Robert Lucas, George Soros and Mark Blaug. Volume III takes studies further and presents a concrete and practical example of how to build a Planning Accounting Framework (PAF), as associated with Frisch's 'plan-frame' (explored in Volume II), to demonstrate the extent to which decisions and negotiations can be routed in the social sciences.