Causal policy maps of managers: Formal methods for elicitation and analysis

A connection is traced from the informal policy maps of managers, to some formal methods that have been reported for eliciting causal policy maps from the minds of managers, to commercially available computer‐driven 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.