Wicked Problems – Social Messes: Decision Support Modelling with Morphological Analysis

✍ Scribed by Tom Ritchey (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 112
• Series: Risk, Governance and Society volume 17
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This is the first dedicated book to be published on computer-aided General Morphological Analysis (GMA) as a non-quantified modelling method. It presents the history and theory of GMA and describes how it is used to develop interactive, non-quantified inference models. Eleven case studies are presented out of more than 100 projects carried out since 1995, illustrating how GMA has been employed for structuring complex policy and planning issues, developing scenario and strategy laboratories, and analysing organisational and stakeholder structures. Also discussed are the concepts of “wicked problems” and “social messes”, their characteristics and treatment, and problems concerning the facilitation of morphological analysis workshops.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-vi
Introduction....Pages 1-6
General Morphological Analysis (GMA)....Pages 7-18
Wicked Problems and Genuine Uncertainty....Pages 19-29
Modelling Complex Policy Issues with Morphological Analysis....Pages 31-37
Strengths, Limitations and Advanced Topics....Pages 39-45
On the Formal Properties of Morphological Models....Pages 47-59
Facilitating GMA Workshops....Pages 61-68
GMA Case Studies....Pages 69-85
About Fritz Zwicky....Pages 87-89
Glossary of Terms....Pages 91-101
Back Matter....Pages 103-106

✦ Subjects

Innovation/Technology Management; Methodology of the Social Sciences; Operations Research/Decision Theory; R & D/Technology Policy