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Problemistics - Problémistique - Problemistica
The Art & Craft of Problem Dealing
Budgeting
Budget (Union of International Associations)
Budget (Aaron Wildavsky)
Function (Richard M. Cyert and James G. March)
[1986, Second Edition] Union of International Associations eds. Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, K. G. Saur, München
“An organizational budget is a plan covering all phases of operations for a definite period in the future. It is a formal expression of policies, plans, objectives, and goals laid down in advance by management for the organization as a whole and for each subdivision thereof. Budgets serve a multiplicity of purposes including forcing managers to direct attention to the formulation of the objectives and goals sought; coordinating operations through the manner in which budgets for different functions are integrated into a comprehensive budget, and setting standards against which actions can be measured.
Budgeting not only facilitates but forces integration of functional elements in both the development of plans and in carrying them out. Budgets force managers to concentrate on quantifying ends to be achieved. They can be used as a vehicle for widespread participation among people in the planning process, thereby promoting better understanding and motivation for achievement, and bridging the gap between strategic planning and current actions.” (KC0967)
[1978] Aaron Wildavsky, Budgeting as a political process, in Richard J. Stillman ed. Public Administration, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston
“Budgets are prediction.” (p. 247)
“Budgeting is concerned with the translation of financial resources into human purposes. Since funds are limited, a budget may become a mechanism for allocating resources. If emphasis is placed on receiving the largest returns for a given sum of money, or on obtaining the desired objectives at the lowest cost, a budget may become an instrument for pursuing efficiency.” (p. 247)
[1964] Richard M. Cyert & James G. March, A Behavioural Theory of the Firm, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs
“The budget in a modern large-scale corporation plays two basic roles. On the one hand it is used as a management control device to implement policies on which executives have decided and to check achievement against established criteria. On the other hand, a budget is a device to determine feasible programs. In either case, it tends to define - in advance - a set of fixed commitments and (perhaps more important) fixed expectations.” (Chapter 5, p. 111)