ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the importance of enhanced "strategic" analysis and decision making on the part of United States firms and government agencies. Indeed, many of today's most perplexing problems are attributed to poor strategic planning or shortsighted policy analysis. Planning problems increasingly diverge from the assumptions associated with the traditional rational-analytic approach: seldom do the situations, options, or outcomes come clearly defined in strategic settings. Instead, such problems are complex and interconnected, involving multiple perspectives and assumptions. Herbert A. Simon's concepts of "bounded rationality" and "satisficing" form the foundation of a literature that stresses the inability of individuals or organizations to achieve intellectual mastery of complex problems. While strategies of incrementalism and satisficing work well for complex problems when the nature of the problem and means available for dealing with it do not change significantly. They have been criticized in situations where radical changes appear to be necessary or where turbulence has rendered past actions inapplicable in the future.
