A Quantitative Approach for Policy Analysis

by Karl Vesper, Yutaka Sayeki


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Abstract

The article discusses a quantitative approach for policy analysis. To know whether one have been consistent in picking the best of many possible combinations of actions to implement policies to pursue objectives with the appropriate relative emphasis for the overall goal of the company, one has to follow a right approach. The approach that follows is one way of checking. Basic procedures of the approach are fundamentally quite simple, and once they are mastered the numerical computations involved are elementary arithmetic. In application to a real company, however, the steps can multiply so that they appear quite involved, and full appreciation of the logical processes involved requires considerable qualification regarding assumptions and limitations. Rather than confront the reader at once with the entire logical maze it will be presented in stages. First an example, oversimplified for policy analysis, will be presented to illustrate how the arithmetic works. Then rules will be given by which the procedure can be extended to recognize more complexities in the real circumstances of a business or any other goal seeking organization.

California Management Review

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