Behavioral values

The behavioral scienties studies an individual in terms of the choices he makes, the goals he seeks, his beliefs, his concepts of reality, both conscious and unconscious. To this end, they use a variety of behavioral methods - mostly laboratory, interviews, and questionnaires (TSA 197-212). Other methods include "gaming" and social psychology (the effect of leadership on group success). The latter is relevant because the systems approach requires team work and once the plan is ready the planner must interact with the manager (TSA 2009). Also, if the manager feels he played a part in the recommendation, implementation is apt to occur. If not, alienation will block implementation. Hence perhaps the need to bring the technological and the social sides into a coherent package: the sociotechnical system.

In the area of behavioral values, the concept of a level of aspiration can be relevant to planning. It simply means that people are often well satisfied with below-optimum solutions as long a they meet or approximate their level of aspiration. This may also apply to the way managers spend their time (TSA 208).