Making Good Choices with Decision Analysis

Enrico Manlapig, associate professor of economics and business, explores “Decision Analysis and the Common Good” in a live webinar on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at vimeo.com/474003951. The Westmont Downtown Lecture is sponsored by the Westmont Foundation, which helps build connections between Westmont and the greater Santa Barbara community.

The webinar features special guest and Westmont alumnus Phil Beccue ’81, decision consultant, risk manager and founder of White Deer Partners Inc.

“We’ll discuss decision analysis, which we use to support community organizations locally and abroad,” Manlapig says. “I hope attendees see two things: that good decisions are not the same as good outcomes and, that by focusing on good decisions, we are giving ourselves the greatest chance of making a lasting impact on our community.”

Manlapig and his students in Westmont’s Applied Management Science (AMS) course offer their expertise in analytic decision-making to the local community. Acting as the Westmont Decision Lab students engage with some of the most challenging and important issues facing our community. Students master rigorous analytical methods to support senior leaders and decision-makers.

“Decision analysis is a set of frameworks, tools and methodologies for making tough decisions, drawing upon ideas and techniques from economics, applied mathematics, behavioral economics and finance,” Manlapig says. “It’s a surprisingly little-known field, although its core principles are universal. I use decision analysis for personal decisions, too, and encourage students to do the same.”

Manlapig, an alumnus of the University of Queensland, did his graduate work in economics at Columbia University. He joined the Westmont faculty in 2014 after working as a decision analysis consultant at Deloitte.