Multi-Actor Systems: Analysis, Design and Management
Programme directors: Prof.mr.dr. J.A. de Bruijn and Prof.dr.ir. W.A.H. Thissen
Motivation and mission
Many decision and management problems at the interface of technology, policy and management display three characteristics:
- They exist in a non-hierarchical multi-actor context: no actor[1] has the ability to solve the problem unilaterally; different actors will have different opinions and interests; although cooperation between the actors is indicated, for many of them this will not be self-evident
- They are unstructured and complex: different problem definitions exist, which implies there is no one unique, ‘right’ solution; there are many objectives, alternatives, aspects and relations to be taken into account. Complexity may be the result of a lack of appropriate data or accepted theory, of disagreement on leading values and evaluation criteria, of the dynamics of the problem, of various uncertainties, of the connection of problems at different scales, or a combination of these
- They have a strong engineering component. Technological expertise is needed in order to solve the problems, but it is not sufficient and must be combined with knowledge from other disciplines including economics, and the policy and organization sciences.
Decision making in such situations is generally hard to predict and control; often results in temporary and partial agreements with limited support; is very demanding in terms of time and energy; and makes little use of or neglects technological and expert knowledge.
The programme’s mission is to contribute to the resolution of these types of complex, multi-actor decision and management problems by developing and testing innovative concepts and theories, design guidelines and supporting methodologies and tools. The programme does so by achieving a creative synthesis of insights from the field of public policy and administration on the one hand, and the fields of applied operations research and systems analysis and design on the other.
[1]An actor is defined as an independently acting social unit. It can be a person, an organisation, a country, etc. In the literature, the word ‘stakeholder’ is often used as a synonym.
