Leroy White - Böcker

The past two decades have seen an increase in the number oforganisations working together in multiagency settings andincreased calls for partnership and participation in organisationaland public life. Models for this kind of working arrangement rangefrom contracting out and joint planning, through to more formalarrangements such as setting up a joint agency. How to make thesearrangements effective in developing policy and aidingdecision-making can, however, be problematic. To make themultiagency setting work, organisations must manage diversity,resolve conflict and promote collaboration. The processes foreffective decision-making in multiagency settings form the centralconcern of this book. Group processes must become moreparticipatory, democratic and empowering. Illustrated with casestudies drawn from the US, Africa, Asia, Latin America, as well asthe UK and Europe, the book surveys the range of multiagencysettings, explores the mechanisms and processes for multiagencywork, and reviews a range of processes and tools that have shownthemselves to be effective. Partnership & Participation offersno guaranteed answers, but provides a useful framework andstimulating guidelines for those facing the many questions that areraised by working in a multiagency setting.

Behavioral research is making a significant impact on many academic disciplines. Its status as the source of some of the most profound research in the social sciences is unparalleled. Therefore, it is not surprising that interest in Behavior and Operational Research (OR) is burgeoning, even though understanding the relationship between knowledge, behavior and action has been an academic preoccupation in OR since the beginning of the discipline.This book introduces the idea of Behavioral OR, where the theoretical and empirical developments in the behavioral field are making an impression on OR academics and practitioners alike. The book provides a much needed overview that connects together theory, methodology and practice and offers the “state of the art” on Behavioral Operational Research theory and practice. The book not only includes chapters by leading academics, but also includes rich and insightful real-life case studies by practitioners.

This edited collection addresses the question of which capabilities and competencies enable Behavioral Operational Research to provide sustained improvement to decision processes.