ID - 131890162 TI - The Institutional Compass: Method, Use and Scope AU - Friend, Michèle Indira AU - SpringerLink (Online service) PY - 2022 SN - 9783031054525 9783031054532 3031054539 PB - Cham Springer International Publishing :Imprint: Springer DB - UniCat KW - Political philosophy. Social philosophy KW - Theory of knowledge KW - Sociology: work and labour KW - Operations research. KW - Databases. KW - Social and political philosophy KW - Data Representation KW - Ecological Economics KW - Institutional Analysis KW - Multi-Criteria Decision Aides KW - Non-Linear Accounting KW - Policy Analysis/Justification KW - Policy Decisions KW - Qualitative Data Analysis KW - Qualitative Objectivity KW - tool for the assessment of an institution KW - quantitative and qualitative assessment KW - comparative institutional analysis KW - qualitative indicators for institution KW - measuring institutions KW - policy analysis reader KW - Adaptation of the institutional compass to ecological economics UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:131890162 AB - This open access book presents a new generation multi-criteria, multi-stake holder, decision aide, called an "institutional compass". Based on hard data, the compass tells us what quality-direction we are heading in as an institution, region, system or organisation. The quality is not chosen from the usual scalar qualities of: good, neutral and bad. Instead, it is a quality chosen between: harmony, discipline and excitement. None is good in and of itself. We need some of each. The compass marks a new generation in four respects. 1. The representation of the data is intuitive and simple to understand, and therefore can be used to communicate and justify policy decisions. 2. Any data can be included, i.e., none is excluded. This makes the compass tailored to particular situations, voices and contexts. 3. The data includes different time horizons and different types of value: monetary, use, social, sentimental, religious, intrinsic, existential... 4. The process of compass construction can be made inclusive at several junctions. An institutional compass can be extended to evaluate products, add normativity to a systems analysis, reflect world-views such as that of ecological economists or function as an accounting system to manage scarce resources. There are four parts to the book. The first part introduces the general ideas behind the compass. In the second part, the author presents the method for constructing the compass. This includes data collection, data analysis and a mathematical formula to aggregate the data into a single holistic reading. In the third part, the author extends the methodology: to incorporate it into systems science, adding a normative and quality-direction dimension, to use it as a non-linear accounting method and more thoroughly to reflect the philosophy of ecological economists to give a real measure of sustainability. In the fourth part, we see three case studies: one for the World Health Organisation, a second is the use of the compass to label products in a shop and the third is as a regional compass for Hauts-de-France. The book ends with philosophical conclusions. Throughout the book, we see tight arguments, refreshing ideas and a thorough treatment of objectivity in decision making. ER -