Cognitive mapping as a new method in optimizing budgeting decisions

Today with growing environmental complexity and dynamism, while decision making organizations are forced to consider several issues. Success in issues like evaluating several alternatives and selecting the best depends on both criterias and elternatives full recognition. While efficient soft operation research`s methods like MADM had been developed in order to evaluate alternatives, less attention had been focused on criteria recognition.Cognitive mapping is a new method in management science that could meet this need very well. In addition to providing factor identification, by using algebraic relations, cognitive mapping enabels decision makers to identify cusal relations and their relative strength. In this study we have used cognitive mapping to provide the map of Iranian center for statistics `s operations and then we have provided a solution for performance based budgeting. In order to do that we have identified the continuum of inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes nad the process wear ranked by calculating their indirect effect on different outcomes.