Showing papers by "Simon French published in 2009"

Decision Behaviour, Analysis and Support

Abstract: Decision Behaviour, Analysis and Support seeks to explore the interplay between the perspectives of many different disciplines in understanding how we may help decision makers to deliberate and decide better. The book is virtually unique in both its breadth and its recognition that the characteristics of decision making situations vary greatly and hence that the form of support required varies too. The study considers both the use of computers and databases to support decisions as well as human aids to building analyses and some fast and frugal tricks to aid more consistent decision making. In its exploration of decision support it draws together results and observations from, inter alia, decision theory, behavioural and psychological studies, artificial intelligence and information systems, philosophy, operational research and organisational studies. It spans the range of decision contexts from individual choice through decision making in groups and organisations to societal choice. One strength is in its discussion of the manner in which unaided intuitive decision making may be flawed and using this to drive the development of prescriptive support help real decision makers towards more rational decisions. The style is accessible to a wide range of disciplines, assuming little more than everyday knowledge of the many disciplines on which it draws.

Multi-criteria decision support and evaluation of strategies for nuclear remediation management

Abstract: Environmental emergency situations can differ in many ways, for instance according to their causes and the dimension of their impacts. Yet, they share the characteristic of sudden onset and the necessity for a coherent and effective emergency management. In this paper we consider decision support in the event of a nuclear or radiological accident in Europe. RODOS, an acronym for real-time on-line decision support system, is a decision support system designed to provide support from the early phases through to the medium and long-term phases. This work highlights the role of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) within RODOS in ensuring the transparency of decision processes within emergency and remediation management. Special emphasis is placed on the evaluation of alternative remediation or countermeasure strategies using the multi-criteria decision support tool Web-HIPRE in scenario focused decision making workshops involving different stakeholder and expert groups. Decision support is enhanced by a module that generates natural language explanations to facilitate the understanding of the evaluation process, therefore contributing to the direct involvement of the decision makers, with the aim of increasing their confidence in the results of the analyses carried out, forming an audit trail for the decision making process and improving the acceptability of the system as a whole.

Web-Based Group Decision Support for Crisis Management

Abstract: The early designs for crisis management decision support systems used data-based or model-based methodologies and architectures. We argue that the complexity of crisis management situations means that a greater emphasis on collaboration is needed. Moreover, modern interactive Web 2.0 technologies allow group decision support to be offered to geographically dispersed teams. Given that crisis management often requires teams to be drawn together from a number of organisations sited at different locations, we reflect upon the potential of these technologies to support the early stages of crisis management without the need to draw the team together at a common location. We also report on a small scale experiment using GroupSystems ThinkTank to manage an emerging food safety event. We conclude that such systems have potential and deserve more careful evaluation.