Involving stakeholder groups in decisions

Involving stakeholders in management decision-making is important in developing jointly-owned strategies for sustainable development. Involvement can be achieved in terms of defining the process to reach the decision, participating generally in the process, defining the multi-objective decision-making framework, defining parameters such as the decision criteria, or establishing the priorities to attach to the criteria, and consequently the tradeoffs that can be made - or all of these. Managers are unlikely to share significant decision-making power and authority with stakeholders who have not made the effort to become familiar with the issues. On the other hand, stakeholders may not seek their involvement in the final decision, if they feel comfortable with the priorities and competence of the executive management group. In some cases, however, stakeholders may need to be involved in real decision-making (e.g. voting, or the process of reaching consensus, or in software-assisted decision-making) or in simulated decision-making, to increase their general understanding of the basis for decisions by others.

Importance of simplicity, speed, and interactivity

There is an infinite array of software tools that can be used with groups to aid multi-objective decision-making. Some decision support may be delivered in specialised environments such as decision laboratories, and others, for example those that centre on use of a complex systems model, may require close supervision by technical experts to ensure sensible results are obtained. It is fair to say, that providing truly effective computer-based decision support for sustainable development has become something of a Holy Grail - a noble objective that is unlikely ever to be achieved. What is clear, is that

1. Different forms of decision support are useful to different types of users
2. Users' ideas of what constitutes a satisfactory decision support system evolve in time, as does their perception of the nature of the problems that are faced
3. There is a finite window of opportunity to provide a decision support system that meets stakeholder needs before they change, that constrains the sophistication of the solution
4. People tend to like spatial interfaces, and they like graphics such as maps, where they are dealing with spatial problems
5. Above all, stakeholders in the future of ecosystems value simplicity in the interface, speed, and interactivity, because they know the system is complex, and are suspicious of model complexity that may camouflage ignorance and incompleteness, and they want to change the value of parameters and see how conclusions are affected.

These requirements have led to a trend towards creation of modular modelling systems, that potentially allow people with varying degrees of knowledge and modelling skill, to build visual, integrated models that capture critical interdependencies within the system. This is particularly seen in the development of modelling tools for integrated catchment management. Typically these models are restricted to biophysical components, although increasingly models are being developed that capture aspects of the economic and even social dimensions.

Software tools

The Creative Decisions philosophy in helping groups with decision support software is as follows -

• Complex systems do not lend themselves to representation as fully integrated, large complex computer models, except as theoretical tools for game playing or education purposes
• Depending on the outcomes that are being modelled, totally different conceptualisations of the entire system being modelled may be required
• Critical interactions may be explored using a model that is partially integrative, for example linking land use economics with aspects of environmental performance
• Hyperlinked information systems provide a robust means of exploring behaviour of complex systems, with comparatively simple and different models used to capture behaviour at all levels
• Truly holistic multi-objective decision support is best offered using high level techniques that do not attempt to model physical or socio-economic realities

In line with this philosophy we advise -

• Extensive experience with a variety of modelling techniques and tools, spanning environmental science, engineering, risk and reliability modelling, spatial systems, and business financial modelling
• Assistance in defining needs for decision support systems in terms that are likely to be practicable, and in evaluation of past modelling efforts
• Simple, fast, interactive spatial multimedia products that allow users to explore either the results of sophisticated prior modelling efforts, or are based on inherently simple models
• Multimedia tools that include simple animation to assist understanding and provide greater impact
• Easy-to-use multi-objective decision support tools based around the KiwiGrowTM framework
• Facilitated decision support, that may use third party software
• Research to help design and build models for decision support