Super-Optimum Solutions and Win-Win Policy

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.

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.