Super-Optimum Solutions and Win-Win Policy: Basic Concepts and Principles

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Is there a way for people on both sides of a dispute to come out ahead Yes, says Stuart Nagel, and he calls his method super-optimizing decision making. Instead of expecting both sides to come out ahead of their worst initial expectations, Nagel's super-optimum solutions approach (SOS) allows both to come out ahead of their best initial expectations, and to do so simultaneously. Nagel offers readers in all fields of the public sector, with diverse interests and experiences, a clear, well-illustrated introduction to the basic concepts and principles of super-optimized decision making. Emphasizing rule-making and broader policy controversies rather than individual cases of adjudication, and with less reliance on mathematics and statistics than other books on decision-making techniques, Nagel's approach is basically commonsensical and easily grasped. Decision makers in the public sector will find the book fascinating and of special importance in their daily activities. Private-sector executives will find that its approaches can indeed be adapted to their own special concerns.

Reviews

"I am quite impressed by this brand new and very useful philosophical concept and practical approach at the same time, and consider that it is much more correspondent with our reality than [the] usual compromising approach."-Marian Lupu Department of Foreign Economic Relations Republic of Moldova
"I now use the approach in every class I teach! It allows us to discuss very controversial issues, take extreme positions while still attempting to come to resolutions. It is just great!"-Roger J.R. Levesque Indiana University
"Various forms of the alternative resolution of disputes have appeared in recent years, and Nagel adds to them the fertile notion of super-optimum solutions."-Robert Golembiewski University of Georgia
"This book serves as a primer for persons interested in alternative problem solving. It provides a comprehensive list of various public policy controversies, describes the solutions preferred by interested parties (with a focus on conservatives and liberals), and offers alternative win-win or super-optimum solutions (SOS)....This book is clearly written in easy to understand language....[It] should appeal to a wide range of readers in academic and professional disciplines."-Evaluation and Program Planning
This book serves as a primer for persons interested in alternative problem solving. It provides a comprehensive list of various public policy controversies, describes the solutions preferred by interested parties (with a focus on conservatives and liberals), and offers alternative win-win or super-optimum solutions (SOS)....This book is clearly written in easy to understand language....[It] should appeal to a wide range of readers in academic and professional disciplines.-Evaluation and Program Planning

Author Bio

STUART S. NAGEL is Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois, Associate Dean of International Policy Studies, and Coordinator of the Miriam K. Mills Research Center for Super-Optimizing Analysis and Developing Nations. Dr. Nagel has received awards, fellowships, and grants from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, the National Science Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and other prestigious organizations. This is the 12th book he has written or edited for Quorum.