ABSTRACT
Management exercises its art through specific well-defined and disciplined functions. Planning is another basic management function. Corporate planners base their proposals to top management on objectives, forecasts, available assets, expected returns, possible implications, and projected requirements for corrective action. One of the most challenging issues confronting senior management and the functions it is expected to perform is the management of change. Policy is a guide for thinking and for avoiding having to make time and again the same decisions. Examples of policy decisions are the firm’s product line, product mix, customer handling, innovation, cost control, leverage, make-or-buy, inventories-to-sales ratio, hiring and firing practices, discounts, marketing thrust, the use of high technology in management information, and more. Risk management provides another example on policy impact. Goldman Sachs had the policy of promoting senior traders to risk positions, letting it be known that such moves are a potential stepping stone to the top.
