Flowgraphing executive problems

The power and usefulness of flowgraphs to formulate and utilize models of complex financial and administrative problems are demonstrated. Specific problems investigated in detail include the compound interest evaluations, the Hoskold Transformation for determining profitability in research, the weighted guidelines approach for establishing profit in R and D contracts, and the solution of problems by linear programming techniques. The range of application is broadened to include relatively complex systems such as economic models. The engineering executive, as a technical expert, must communicate effectively and unambiguously with salesmen, accountants, and engineers as well as corporation officers. To facilitate this communication, a common language is needed to serve many fields. Flowgraphs are shown to provide an effective evaluation technique for linear systems similar to the classic management tools PERT and CPM, with equal completeness and visualization. The scope of the flowgraph is much broader, however, and extends from applications such as cost and profit to complex microelectronic systems.