Litzenberger and Joy (1975) note that in a decentralized system, quantitative measures are more common for evaluating projects, but they also note that for larger projects there is some degree of centralization. This is the case with Stryker, where the most substantial projects are approved by the Board of Directors.

Ang (1986) notes, however, that there can be agency problems where the interests of the division are misaligned with the interests of the corporation as a whole. A good system for CER, therefore, will incorporate checks into the system, to ensure that projects are aligned. To some extent, alignment at Stryker is generally the responsibility of the Capital Committee. The problem with this system is that the Capital Committee only sees projects that have already been approved by the divisions. This means that there might be some useful projects that are rejected at the division level but that might have...
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