IEEE Distinguished Lecture By Professor KEITH W. HIPEL

Trade versus the Environment: Strategic Settlement from a Systems Engineering Perspective

Time:2008-11-05(Wednesday) 16:00

Place:Room 418A, ShunDe Building, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University

Abstract

The key goal of this research is to employ a Systems Engineering approach to conflict resolution to clearly identify the ubiquitous conflict taking place at the local, national and global levels between the basic values underlying trading agreements and those principles providing the foundations for environmental stewardship, and to suggest solutions as to how this most basic of disputes can be responsibly resolved. Subsequent to outlining the current situation involving free trade among nations and associated environmental problems, the positions of both sides in this chronic dispute between trade and the environment are summarized. Supporting the stance of free trade is the fundamental driving forces of profit maximization, while in direct opposition to this market-driven value system are the principles of maintaining a healthy environment and related social welfare objectives. Accordingly, this global clash of values is systematically studied as a game in which the values of the Global Market-Driven Economy (GMDE) are in confrontation with those of a Sustainable Ecosystem (SES) philosophy. A Systems Engineering tool for strategic analysis, called the Graph Model for Conflict, is utilized for realistically capturing the key characteristics of this type of complex conflict and for providing strategic insights regarding its potential resolution. In particular, a systematic Graph Model investigation reveals that the environment and social standards will continue to deteriorate if the entrenched positions and related value systems of both camps persist. However, based on the strategic understanding gained from this formal conflict study, a number of positive proposals are put forward for resolving this conflict from a win/win perspective, at least in the long run. To highlight inherent advantages of employing a formal Systems Engineering tool for addressing strategic conflict problems, the application is used for illustrating how the Graph Model can be conveniently applied to a specific dispute and comments regarding the capabilities and benefits of the conflict methodology are provided at each step in the modeling and analysis procedure.

Biography

Keith Hipel is University Professor of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and is Vice President of the Academy of Sciences which is part of the Royal Society of Canada. His major research interests are the development and application of conflict resolution, multiple objective decision making and time series analysis techniques from a systems design engineering perspective. The main application areas of these decision technologies are water resources management, hydrology, environmental engineering and sustainable development. Keith is the author or co-author of four books, nine edited books, close to 200 journal papers, as well as many conference and encyclopedia articles. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC), Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (FIEEE), Engineering Institute of Canada (FEIC), International Council on Systems Engineering (FINCOSE), and the American Water Resources Association (FAWRA). Keith is also a recipient of the Norbert Wiener Award from the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC) Society, Outstanding Contribution Award from the IEEE SMC Society, Docteur Honoris Causa from Ecole Centrale de Lille, W.R. Boggess Award from AWRA, and the University of Waterloo Award for Excellence in Research, He has held a Canada Council Killam Research Fellowship, Monbusho Kyoto University Visiting Professor Position, Stanley Vineberg Memorial Visiting Professorship, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Research Fellowship, and Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship. Keith is an Associate Editor of many international journals including the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part A, Group Decision and Negotiation, and Systems Engineering. Finally, Keith has been privileged to serve members of the IEEE SMC Society through activities such as being an elected member of the Board of Governors for a total of nine years since 1990, Vice President of Publications (1998-1999), Chair of the Strategic Opportunities and Initiatives Committee (2004-2005), member of the Strategic Planning Task Force (2004-2005), member of the Executive Committee (2004-2005, 1998-1999), organizer of sessions on Conflict and Risk Analysis in Systems Management at all of the annual IEEE SMC Conferences since 1991, member of the IEEE SMC Fellow Selection Committee (2007-2008, 1997-1998,), and, currently, Co-Chair of the Technical Committee on Conflict Resolution for which he jointly received the Most Active SMC Technical Committee Award (2007).