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2011 Spring. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Rapid urbanization and development are causing severe problems of raw water extraction and related environmental and social impacts in developing countries. This study demonstrated that an integrated approach to decision making could help solve these problems. A case study of raw water management in the region of Jabotabek, Indonesia, which is in and around Jakarta, exhibited social and environmental problems including land-subsidence. The integrated approach was applied in a simulated planning process for raw water development, to include consideration of the economic, environmental and social demands, the hydrological system, and the institutional systems that exist in particular areas. Simulation and optimization techniques (Supply_sim model) were used to determine the planned water allocation for a series of demand clusters for a suite of alternatives and development strategies. A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) based on a decision support system (DSS) was used as an Integrated Decision-Making model to analyze the important and related aspects as one integrated system and to find the best set of decision options. The overall result of the study showed that the integrated approach could improve the decision process to solve the problem. However, its success ultimately depends on the political will of the government to apply the approach. The government needs to improve coordination among the institutions related to raw water supply development and to carry out a transparent decision-making process. Regulations on land-use planning, groundwater abstraction and water pollution control should be applied strictly and aimed to maintain raw water sources. The study also showed that a decision process tool such as the DSS within an integrated framework of decision making could help decision makers to reach consensus and gain stakeholder participation, accountability and commitment to the decision being made. In dealing with complex raw water problems in large cities, the study also showed that planning systems could help decision makers to think systematically to improve the decision results.

Identifies and analyzes factors contributing to the economic and social situations in most developing countries.

This article examines the business relationships in the cold chain used for exporting food to new markets in developing countries. The American Potato Trade Alliance, a cross‐network alliance that includes all levels of the value chain, is the subject of case study research involving participant observation and fieldwork in the Philippines and Thailand. Multinational restaurant companies manage technical challenges in target markets with tight specifications and exclusive supply chains, while smaller firms use extensive networks to supply imported frozen potatoes. Pricing strategies for cold chain services are closely related to quality and potentially affect the availability of outsourced cold chain services. Opportunistic behavior by buyers could reduce incentives for private investment in cold chain infrastructure, while long‐term commitment by chain partners would strengthen the potential for private markets to provide cold chain services in newly developing markets.