A consequence is flexible if it is highly sensitive to the choices that generate it. For example, ‘large sales volume’ is a consequence of the policy choice ‘low prices’ - if the policy were to change to high prices, volume would be likely to fall rapidly. In contrast, a rigid consequence is one that does not change rapidly with the choices that generate it; thus a ‘reputation for ‘‘fair’’ fares’ is a consequence that changes only slowly with changes in the choices that generate it.