ABSTRACT
Decision-making needs a basis of information: it cannot operate in a vacuum. It is true that some administrators put up remarkable virtuoso performances, at times appearing to manage without any information at all; and others seem to dislike being hindered by the facts. In the public service the limitations may be greater than in industry because of the nature of the problems that have to be solved. The problem is not just one of making ends meet, but one requiring forethought about the information needed, skill in getting it, and proper use of the results as a basis for decision and control. A reasonable compromise is to have the simplest possible estimate but with full supporting information about its make-up for any members want to probe more deeply and for administrative use afterwards. Computers have two separate functions: one is high-speed arithmetical calculation and the other is data-processing — storing, sorting and ordering information, alphabetical as well as numerical.
