Harnessing Complexity will be indispensable to anyone who wants to better comprehend how people and organizations can adapt effectively in the information age. This book is a step-by-step guide to understanding the processes of variation, interaction, and selection that are at work in all organizations. The authors show how to use their own paradigm of "bottom up" management, the Complex Adaptive System-whether in science, public policy, or private commerce. This simple model of how people work together will change forever how we think about getting things done in a group."Harnessing Complexity distills the managerial essence of current research on complexity.…A very valuable contribution to the emerging theory of competition and competitive advantage."-C.K. Prahalad, University of Michigan, coauthor of Competing for the Future"A brilliant exposition that demystifies both the theory and use of Complex Adaptive Systems."-John Seely Brown, Xerox Corporation and Palo Alto Research Center

Harnessing Complexity

Business & Money

Axelrod, Robert

Cohen, Michael D.

Management & Leadership

Basic Books

Hardback, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in fair all round condition, suitable as a reading copy.

Attitude Change Social Infl

Recent advances in the study of complexity have given scientists profound new insights into how natural innovation occurs and how its power can be exploited. Now two pioneers in the field, Robert Axelrod and Michael D. Cohen, provide leaders in business and government with a guide to complexity that will help them make effective decisions in a world of rapid change. Building on evolutionary biology, computer science, and social design, Axelrod and Cohen have constructed a unique framework for improving the way people work together. Their approach to management is based on the concept of the Complex Adaptive System, which can describe everything from rain forests to the human gene pool, and from automated software agents to multinational companies. The authors' framework reveals three qualities that all kinds of managers must cultivate in their organization: Variation What is the best way to manage the development of software? Should the problem be broken up into small pieces for programmers working independently, thus enhancing variation, or should there be a centralized hierarchy of programmers ruled by a chain of command? The authors show how the decentralized creation of variation combined with the centralized maintenance of standards was the key to the success of the Linux "open source software" project, which brought together thousands of volunteers in cyberspace to produce an operating system that can outperform Microsoft's. Interaction Why did northern Italy prosper while southern Italy remained poor? Recognizing the internal interactions of a Complex Adaptive System -- be it a national region, a company, or a nonprofit group -- reveals vital networks of trust. Axelrod and Cohen explain that in successful adaptive systems, rich networks of horizontal linkages foster cooperation and provide an advantage over other less cooperatively networked groups. In the case of Italy, voluntary associations created networks of trust in the Middle Ages that became northern Italy's critical advantage over the south. Selection Is a Pulitzer Prize better than a National Book Award? How can foundations and corporations design competitions that have a positive effect on the evolution of excellence? The authors' framework makes clear that the worst selection processes are mired in orthodox standards that have not adapted to a new environment. The best selection processes, on the other hand, are created and run by leaders who understand how the standards they use can transform their organization and its environment. This simple, paradigm-shifting analysis of how people work together will transform the way we think about getting things done in a group. Harnessing Complexity is the essential guide to creating wealth, power, and knowledge in the 21st

Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

Science & Math

Free Press

Examines the American college presidency, discusses goals, budgets, policy decisions, and tenure, and recommends ways to improve university administration

Leadership and Ambiguity: The American College President

Education & Teaching

March, James G.

Schools & Teaching

Harvard Business School Pr

Modern Political Campaigns: How Professionalism, Technology, and Speed Have Revolutionized Elections

Review\nFor anyone who wants to gain an understanding of how technology has revolutionized modern politics and political campaigns, Michael Cohen’s book is a must read.\n-- Tony Fabrizio, Fabrizio Lee, Pollster, Donald J. Trump for President\nAs both an academic researcher and a political professional Michael Cohen effectively bridges theory and practice. Modern Political Campaigns is an important contribution to the literature on contemporary political strategy.\n-- Shaun P. Herness, Ph.D., GOP Political Consultant\n“Voters live online…” says Michael D. Cohen in MoMichael Cohen has written a perceptive, lucid and entertaining account of how political campaigns actually operate, and gives the reader a much more realistic framework for viewing contemporary politics than can be gained from most academic analyses or the conventional wisdom narratives many in the media rely on. Most usefully, he provides an insightful examination of the modern transition from persuasion to turnout strategies in political campaigns, and its impact on the health of our Republic.\n-- Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D., Partner, Unfiltered.Media and Turner4D\nMichael Cohen has written a perceptive, lucid and entertaining account of how political campaigns actually operate, and gives the reader a much more realistic framework for viewing contemporary politics than can be gained from most academic analyses or the conventional wisdom narratives many in the media rely on. Most usefully, he provides an insightful examination of the modern transition from persuasion to turnout strategies in political campaigns, and its impact on the health of our Republic.\n-- Mark Salter, Senior Advisor, McCain for President\nModern Political Campaigns is a contribution to helping people who are interested in politics and campaigns to understand how it really works. Michael Cohen’s book goes beyond the academic literature, laying out in great detail how modern technology helps us better understand, reach, and motivate voters as well as heightened responsibilities live up to our ideals.\n-- Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research Partners, Pollster for Joe Biden for President\nMike is a "Mad Political Scientist", his book perfectly captures the never-ending campaign in this digital era.\n-- Jesse Thomas, CEO & Founder, JESS3\nMichael Cohen has written a book that is rare in politics. It is both practical and aspirational, concluding that technology innovations are both the cause of division and our potential salvation. It's a must-read for all political professionals who work to elect candidates and help them move the nation forward once in office.\n-- Bruce Mehlman, Founder, Mehlman, Castagnetti, Rosen, & Thomas\nReading Michael Cohen's survey of political campaign techniques and talents is like stepping into a field of dreams for anyone seeking to determine if their future lies in politics, political science, public affairs and administration. For anyone interested in learning how public policy gets made, this is the textbook that has been missing from our curriculum.\nStudents, teachers, activists and leaders alike will appreciate that the digital landscape and advanced technology applications highlighted in Cohen's political narrative are the same that drive today's important social justice and sustainability movements. Reading this work will help so many to have a greater impact for good.\n-- Dora Kingsley Vertenten, Ph.D., USC\nMichael Cohen has written a fascinating, readable, humorous and helpful look at the key aspects of modern political campaigns. As both a practitioner and a theoretician, Cohen knows campaigns cold. After reading his book, you will as well.\n-- Tevi Troy, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center, Presidential Historian and Former White House Aide. Author of Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump\nDr. Cohen has long brought his enthusiasm and sharp insight of political campaigns into board rooms and classrooms alike. This book is

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Modern Political Campaigns brings together academic, practical, and interviews to help understand how professionalism, technology, and speed have revolutionized elections, creating more voter-centric races for public office. Dr. Michael D. Cohen, a 20+ year veteran of working on, teaching, and writing about political campaigns take readers through how campaigns are organized, state-of-the-art tools of the trade, and how some of the most interesting people in politics got their big breaks.The book takes readers through clear-eyed chapters on parties and elections, campaign planning and management, fundraising, independent groups, vulnerability and opposition research, data and analytics, focus groups and polling, earned, paid and social media, and field operations. Finally, the book revisits the Permanent Campaign in terms of modern approaches to winning elections raising questions about today's uniform preference for turnout over persuasion and what that means for our American democracy.Modern Political Campaigns will appeal to students and political activists interested in working in political campaigns. It is also a great read for anyone who wants to better understand the nuts and bolts of campaigns in practical terms from professionals, and the opportunities they provide all of us to be more engaged citizens and hold our leaders more accountable each Election Day.

Murder Most Fair investigates the appeal of mystery fiction with examples from before Poe to the end of the twentieth century. Mystery fiction and mainstream or ‘serious' fiction changes places in many late-twentieth-century works, raising the question whether mystery can continue to appeal. But mystery's conventions are not belief systems or ideologies to be made obsolete; its formulas have resilience and longevity.

Murder Most Fair: The Appeal of Mystery Fiction

Reference

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

When Proliferation Causes Peace: The Psychology of Nuclear Crises

Does state acquisition of nuclear weapons lead to stability and peace or instability and crises? This is one of the great debates in international relations scholarship. Michael D. Cohen argues that nuclear weapons acquisition often does dangerously embolden the acquiring state to undertake coercion and aggression, but that this behavior moderates over time as leaders learn the dangers and limitations of nuclear coercion. This book examines the historical cases of the Soviet Union and Pakistan in depth and also looks at mini-cases involving the United States, China, and India. This book broadens our understanding of how leaders and states behave when they acquire nuclear weapons and is important reading for scholars and students of international relations, security studies, and political psychology.

History

Military

Georgetown University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cohen, Michael D.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cohen, Michael D.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cohen, Michael D.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Harnessing Complexity

Attitude Change Social Infl

Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier

Leadership and Ambiguity: The American College President

Modern Political Campaigns: How Professionalism, Technology, and Speed Have Revolutionized Elections

Modern Political Campaigns: How Professionalism, Technology, and Speed Have Revolutionized Elections

Murder Most Fair: The Appeal of Mystery Fiction

When Proliferation Causes Peace: The Psychology of Nuclear Crises

When Proliferation Causes Peace: The Psychology of Nuclear Crises