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dc.contributor.authorEden, C.
dc.contributor.authorAckermann, Fran
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-30T11:11:08Z
dc.date.available2017-01-30T11:11:08Z
dc.date.created2014-02-24T20:00:20Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.identifier.citationEden, Colin and Ackermann, Fran. 2013. Problem Structuring: On the Nature of, and Reaching Agreement About, Goals. EURO Journal on Decision Processes. 1 (1-2): pp. 7-28.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9202
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s40070-013-0005-6
dc.description.abstract

In this paper, we raise issues about discovering and modelling purpose that, in our view, can often be missed within operational research practice. We suggest that, in problem solving, there is a danger of taking too little account of: the differences between espoused goals and goals-in-use; the potentially misleading nature of published goals; goals that express the need to avoid outcomes—‘negative goals’; the meaning of goals in an action context rather than the semantics of goal statements; the dynamics and clarity implied by goal relationships; the potential that derives from multi-organisational settings where goals that express an outcome that can only be achieved collaboratively; stakeholder responses to expressed goals—that good solutions can be sabotaged by others; the fact that some goals are contextually important but not a focus for problem solving because they are ‘not-our-core-goals’; and the need to design ambiguity of purpose in expressing goals systems. These issues are illustrated through a number of real case examples drawn from engineering, Police, NHS, a Research Institute, and a Utility company/Regulator setting.

dc.publisherSpringer Berlin Heidelberg
dc.subjectMultiple-criteria
dc.subjectGoals system
dc.subjectMulti-organisation
dc.subjectCausal mapping
dc.titleProblem Structuring: On the Nature of, and Reaching Agreement About, Goals
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume1
dcterms.source.startPage7
dcterms.source.endPage28
dcterms.source.issn2193-9438
dcterms.source.titleEURO Journal on Decision Processes
curtin.note

The final publication is available at Springer via http://doi.org/10.1007/s40070-013-0005-6

curtin.note

NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work in which changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication.

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curtin.accessStatusOpen access


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