CAUSAL POLICY MAPS OF MANAGERS - FORMAL METHODS FOR ELICITATION AND ANALYSIS

A connection is traced from the informal policy maps of managers, to s ome formal methods that have been reported for eliciting causal policy maps from the minds of managers, to commercially available computer-d riven methods for storing, displaying, and analyzing policy maps in a group setting. A gap in available techniques for analyzing policy maps is identified, and a path-finding algorithm built into an artificial intelligence program is put forward as a step toward closing this gap. It is used to demonstrate a causal-map analysis as an aid to a group policy meeting.