A new quantitative technique for identification of industrial and organizational problems

The paper is baaed on two interlinked concepts, demonstrated by three investigations, one in England, two in Canada. When faced with the necessity to rank in order of priority a series of decisions which must be made within a finite range of choice, the ranking when arranged cumulatively by priority follows a definite pattern which can be expressed by the relationship y = axb, which is illustrated graphically as a straight line plot on log-log graph paper. In all three enquiries; one concerns the purchase of women's shoeB, one with the sorting out of the priorities within the problems of a religious organization, the third with ranking the decisions that are taken by industrial executives, in the equation y =y axb has a value of between 0·4 and 0·6. The similarity is striking. It is felt that it is only possible to discover the genuine ranking of priorities within a finite range by allowing the person concerned, man or woman, complete freedom of choice. In Case 1 there was the physical ranking i...