Society of Decision Professionals (SDP) Webinar
Is It Approximate? Or Is It A Fundamentally Flawed Decision-Making Method?
Featuring: Dr. Ali Abbas, University of Souther California
Moderator: Robin Dillon-Merril, DAS-INFORMS
📅 Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
⏰ Time: 8:00–9:00 AM PT | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM ET
💻 Location: Online via Zoom
Abstract
The impetus for this talk was the observation that (i) numerous decision-making methods—that violate fundamental principles of consistency—are still widely used in industry and the government, and are widely advocated in academic papers as well as news and media outlets. Furthermore, (ii) common misconceptions about expected utility theory, including the belief that it must be modified to reflect actual human behavior persist, as demonstrated by queries with Artificial Intelligence (AI) .
The objective of this talk is to help researchers, analysts, and practitioners distinguish between approximate and fundamentally flawed decision-making methods, especially when encountered in practice. A follow-up discussion in the member meet-up will invite both academics and practitioners to share perspectives on gaps in decision-making research that may benefit practitioners, as well its intersection with AI. The talk will also feature accessible excerpts from the forthcoming book Advanced Topics in Decision Analysis by Howard and Abbas.
Meet the Speaker
Dr. Ali Abbas
Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Professor of Public Policy, University of Southern California
Dr. Ali Abbas is professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Southern California. He is author, coauthor, and editor of numerous books including (i) Foundations of Decision Analysis, with Ronald A. Howard, (ii) Foundations of Multiattribute Utility, (iii) Next Generation Ethics, and (iv) Ethical Decision Quality: Building an Ethical Decision Culture. He received the Decision Analysis Society Best Paper Award in 2011, the IEEE Systems Council Best Publication Award in 2019, and the Clemen-Kleinmuntz Best publication award in Decision Analysis in 2026. He has been involved in numerous high-stakes decisions including the analysis of TSA-Pre decisions with the Chief Risk Officer of the TSA.
Moderator
Robin Dillon-Merrill
President, DAS-INFORMS
Robin Dillon-Merrill has been a faculty member at the McDonough School of Business (MSB) at Georgetown University since 2001 and currently serves as the Vice Dean of Faculty. From 2017-2019 she served as the Program Director for the National Science Foundation’s Humans, Disasters and the Built Environment program in the Directorate of Engineering. She seeks to understand and explain how and why people make the decisions that they do under conditions of uncertainty and risk. She is currently the President of the Decision Analysis Society within INFORMS.
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