Whether we like it or not we all feel that the world is uncertain. From choosing a new technology to selecting a job, we rarely know in advance what outcome will result from our decisions. Unfortunately, the standard theory of choice under uncertainty developed in the early forties and fifties turns out to be too rigid to take many tricky issues of choice under uncertainty into account. The good news is that we have now moved away from the early descriptively inadequate modeling of behavior. This book brings the reader into contact with the accomplished progress in individual decision making through the most recent contributions to uncertainty modeling and behavioral decision making. It also introduces the reader into the many subtle issues to be resolved for rational choice under uncertainty.

By framing issues, identifying risks, eliciting stakeholder preferences, and suggesting alternative approaches, decision analysts can offer workable solutions in domains such as the environment, health and medicine, engineering and operations research, and public policy. This book reviews and extends the material typically presented in introductory texts. Not a single book covers the broad scope of decision analysis at this advanced level. It will be a valuable resource for academics and students in decision analysis as well as decision analysts and managers

Discover recent powerful advances in the theory, methods, and applications of decision and risk analysis Focusing on modern advances and innovations in the field of decision analysis (DA), Breakthroughs in Decision Science and Risk Analysis presents theories and methods for making, improving, and learning from significant practical decisions. The book explains these new methods and important applications in an accessible and stimulating style for readers from multiple backgrounds, including psychology, economics, statistics, engineering, risk analysis, operations research, and management science. Highlighting topics not conventionally found in DA textbooks, the book illustrates genuine advances in practical decision science, including developments and trends that depart from, or break with, the standard axiomatic DA paradigm in fundamental and useful ways. The book features methods for coping with realistic decision-making challenges such as online adaptive learning algorithms, innovations in robust decision-making, and the use of a variety of models to explain available data and recommend actions. In addition, the book illustrates how these techniques can be applied to dramatically improve risk management decisions. Breakthroughs in Decision Science and Risk Analysis also includes: An emphasis on new approaches rather than only classical and traditional ideas Discussions of how decision and risk analysis can be applied to improve high-stakes policy and management decisions Coverage of the potential value and realism of decision science within applications in financial, health, safety, environmental, business, engineering, and security risk management Innovative methods for deciding what actions to take when decision problems are not completely known or described or when useful probabilities cannot be specified Recent breakthroughs in the psychology and brain science of risky decisions, mathematical foundations and techniques, and integration with learning and pattern recognition methods from computational intelligence Breakthroughs in Decision Science and Risk Analysis is an ideal reference for researchers, consultants, and practitioners in the fields of decision science, operations research, business, management science, engineering, statistics, and mathematics. The book is also an appropriate guide for managers, analysts, and decision and policy makers in the areas of finance, health and safety, environment, business, engineering, and security risk management.

Application of Decision Science in Business and Management is a book where each chapter has been contributed by a different author(s). The chapters introduce and demonstrate a decision-making theory to practice case studies. It demonstrates key results for each sector with diverse real-world case studies. Theory is accompanied by relevant analysis techniques, with a progressive approach building from simple theory to complex and dynamic decisions with multiple data points, including big data, lot of data, etc. Computational techniques, dynamic analysis, probabilistic methods, and mathematical optimization techniques are expertly blended to support analysis of multi-criteria decision-making problems with defined constraints and requirements. The book provides an interface between the main disciplines of engineering/technology and the organizational, administrative, and planning abilities of decision making. It is complementary to other sub-disciplines such as economics, finance, marketing, decision and risk analysis, etc.

This book focuses on some of the most energy-consuming HVAC systems; illuminating huge opportunities for energy savings in buildings that operate with these systems. The main discussion is on, cutting-edge decision making approaches, and algorithms in: decision making under uncertainty, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, agent based modeling, and game theory. These methods are applied to HVAC systems, in order to help designers select the best options among the many available pathways for designing and the building of HVAC systems and applications. The discussion further evolves to depict how the buildings of the future can incorporate these advanced decision-making algorithms to become autonomous and truly ‘smart’.

An introduction to decision making under uncertainty from a computational perspective, covering both theory and applications ranging from speech recognition to airborne collision avoidance. Many important problems involve decision making under uncertainty—that is, choosing actions based on often imperfect observations, with unknown outcomes. Designers of automated decision support systems must take into account the various sources of uncertainty while balancing the multiple objectives of the system. This book provides an introduction to the challenges of decision making under uncertainty from a computational perspective. It presents both the theory behind decision making models and algorithms and a collection of example applications that range from speech recognition to aircraft collision avoidance. Focusing on two methods for designing decision agents, planning and reinforcement learning, the book covers probabilistic models, introducing Bayesian networks as a graphical model that captures probabilistic relationships between variables; utility theory as a framework for understanding optimal decision making under uncertainty; Markov decision processes as a method for modeling sequential problems; model uncertainty; state uncertainty; and cooperative decision making involving multiple interacting agents. A series of applications shows how the theoretical concepts can be applied to systems for attribute-based person search, speech applications, collision avoidance, and unmanned aircraft persistent surveillance. Decision Making Under Uncertainty unifies research from different communities using consistent notation, and is accessible to students and researchers across engineering disciplines who have some prior exposure to probability theory and calculus. It can be used as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in fields including computer science, aerospace and electrical engineering, and management science. It will also be a valuable professional reference for researchers in a variety of disciplines.

At a practical level, mathematical programming under multiple objectives has emerged as a powerful tool to assist in the process of searching for decisions which best satisfy a multitude of conflicting objectives, and there are a number of distinct methodologies for multicriteria decision-making problems that exist. These methodologies can be categorized in a variety of ways, such as form of model (e.g. linear, non-linear, stochastic), characteristics of the decision space (e.g. finite or infinite), or solution process (e.g. prior specification of preferences or interactive). Scientists from a variety of disciplines (mathematics, economics and psychology) have contributed to the development of the field of Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) (or Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Multiattribute Decision Making (MADM), Multiobjective Decision Making (MODM), etc.) over the past 30 years, helping to establish MCDM as an important part of management science. MCDM has become a central component of studies in management science, economics and industrial engineering in many universities worldwide. Multicriteria Decision Making: Advances in MCDM Models, Algorithms, Theory and Applications aims to bring together `state-of-the-art' reviews and the most recent advances by leading experts on the fundamental theories, methodologies and applications of MCDM. This is aimed at graduate students and researchers in mathematics, economics, management and engineering, as well as at practicing management scientists who wish to better understand the principles of this new and fast developing field.

This book discusses an emerging area in computer science, IT, and management, i.e., decision sciences and management. It includes studies that employ various computing techniques like machine learning to generate insights from huge amounts of available data; and which explore decision making for cross-platforms that contain heterogeneous data associated with complex assets; leadership; and team coordination. It also reveals the advantages of using decision sciences with management-oriented problems. The book includes a selection of the best papers presented at the Third International Conference on Decision Science and Management 2021 (ICDSM 2021), held at Hang Seng University of Hong Kong in China.

Designated a Doody's Core Title! "This is a valuable resourceÖto help prepare advanced practice nurses with the skills necessary to navigate the healthcare arena. The editors and contributors are experienced advanced practice nurses with valuable information to share with novice practitioners." Score: 100, 5 stars.óDoodyís Medical Reviews Now in its fourth edition, this highly acclaimed book remains the key title serving graduate-level advanced practice nurses (APNs) and recent graduates about to launch their careers. The book outlines what is required of the APN, with guidelines for professional practice for each of the four APN roles: the nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse midwife, and certified registered nurse anesthetist. Advanced Practice Nursing focuses not only on the care and management of patients, but also on how to meet the many challenges of the rapidly changing health care arena. Obtaining certification, navigating reimbursement, and translating research into practice are just a few of the challenges discussed. Key Features: Essential information on educational requirements and certification Advice on how to make the transition into professional practice Guidelines for ethical and clinical decision making Discussions on the DNP and CNL roles in AP nursing Updated and revised content on leadership development, regulation, informatics, health care organization, and health care policy

The volume provides users and developers of the IT/S (information technology and systems) with information about the advances in decision making and decision-making support that empower and enable information technology in the direction of productivity and effectiveness of decision making in business. The chapters have been written by well-known international experts in decision making and they explore the frontiers of decision making in the era of IT/S. The book is intended to serve as a research source, scientific reference and business support source, as well as a book of student readings that will appeal to a larger international audience.