Handbook of Group Decision and Negotiation (Hardcover)
Publication of the Handbook of Group Decision and Negotiation marks a milestone in the evolution of the group decision and negotiation (GDN) eld. On this occasion, editors Colin Eden and Marc Kilgour asked me to write a brief history of the eld to provide background and context for the volume. They said that I am in a good position to do so: Actively involved in creating the GDN Section and serving as its chair; founding and leading the GDN journal, Group Decision and Negotiation as editor-in-chief, and the book series, "Advances in Group Decision and Negotiation" as editor; and serving as general chair of the GDN annual meetings. I accepted their invitation to write a brief history. In 1989 what is now the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) established its Section on Group Decision and Negotiation. The journal Group Decision and Negotiation was founded in 1992, published by Springer in cooperation with INFORMS and the GDN Section. In 2003, as an ext- sion of the journal, the Springer book series, "Advances in Group Decision and Negotiation" was inaugurated.
D. Marc Kilgour is Professor of Mathematics at Wilfrid Laurier University and Adjunct Professor of Systems Design Engineering at University of Waterloo. His expertise in the application of mathematical principles to models of decision-making made him one of the earliest contributors to the emerging field of Group Decision and Negotiation, which he sees as lying the intersection of mathematics, engineering, and social science. In addition to his work as an originator of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution, he has also contributed innovative applications of game theory and related methodologies to international relations, arms control, environmental management, negotiation, arbitration, voting, and fair division. He has been active in the organization of GDN meetings for over two decades, was President of the INFORMS Section on Group Decision and Negotiation in 2014-17, and received the INFORMS GDN Appreciation for Outstanding Service Award in 2017. Colin Eden is Emeritus Professor of Management Science and Strategic Management at Strathclyde Business School. He has been involved in the Group Decision and Negotiation community from its outset. His research interests have been focused on the provision of group support as a part of strategy making in top management teams and problem structuring during operational research projects. Alongside these interests he has been involved in the analysis of project failure as a part of litigation, and in this work he has used a group support system to help unravel what happened in the projects. Recent research has explored the ways in which group decision support can aid teams in developing effective strategies to mitigate in complex risk situation where risk systemicity is rife (particularly with multiple vicious cycles).