<B>Irving Janis, one of the world’s leading authorities on decision making, presents a comprehensive analysis that shows corporate executives, government and organizational policymakers, and general managers how to avoid making critical errors and ensure quality in making vital decisions.</B><BR><BR><B>Using cogent evidence and illustrations from studies of top-level policymakers in government, business, and public welfare organizations, Janis shows how the likelihood of failure is substantially reduced if sound procedures of information search, appraisal, and planning are used.</B> He alerts executives to the preconditions, precipitating events, and catalysts that create situations where the most dangerous error of decision making—relying on simplistic decision rules—often occurs.<BR> <BR>By following the four essential steps outlined by Janis, policymakers can adopt “vigilant problem solving,” the high-quality procedural strategy for arriving at policy