Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

Types of Audience Decisions 93

Organizational Decision Criteria for Policy Decisions

The following list of questions provides a starting point for predicting the decision criteria of

policy makers in many for-profi t and nonprofi t organizations. Each question tests the proposed

new policy against the organization’s established goals. The fi rst question tests the policy against

the mission and values, or high-level goals, of the organization as a whole. The remaining ques-

tions test the policy against the goals of the departments that make up many organizations—that

is, the fi nance department, the strategy and marketing departments, various departments that deal

with operations, the legal department, and the public relations department. For a new policy to

meet the goals of the PR department, it may have to meet the goals of external stakeholders in the

policy decision as well.

• Is the policy consistent with the organization’s mission and values?


• Is the policy consistent with the organization’s financial objectives?


• Is the policy consistent with the organization’s strategy?


• Is the policy consistent with the organization’s operational capabilities?


• Is the policy consistent with the organization’s legal and ethical obligations?


• Will the policy generate positive PR for the organization?

In addition to answers to the previous questions, policy makers may also require benchmark infor-

mation about the outcomes of other, prior policies, of competitors’ policies, as well as the outcomes

of the organization’s current policy.

Note that professionals may need to develop different sets of questions to address the decision

criteria of different types of groups and organizations. For example, decision criteria for U.S. for-

eign policy decisions typically include criteria related to the policy’s diplomatic, military, political,

and economic implications for the country.^136 As we have seen, the decision criteria used by the

Dutch ministers differ from those used by the community groups with an interest in the Orme

Dam, and the decision criteria of both groups differ from those used by businesses. Moreover, as we

TABLE 2.8 Allowing Stakeholders to Determine Decision Criteria and to Rate Alternatives on the Basis of
Them Can Resolve Confl icts
(Numbers indicate average approval rating on a 100-point scale)

Community’s
Decision Criteria

Build

No Dam

Build

Orme Dam

Build

Cliff Dam

Build

Waddell Dam

Control fl ooding
in valley

57 33 68 71

Control fl ooding
in city

52 39 72 75

Promote recreation 62 26 68 72

Increase water
supply

58 34 70 72

Protect
environment

75 17 70 72

Respect tribal
property

80 16 70 74

Overall Approval
Rating

64 28 70 73

Source: Adapted from Brown (1988, p. 335)