Strategic decisions invariably entail risk. CVP analysis can be used to evaluate how operating income will be affected if the original predicted data are not achieved – say, if sales are 10% lower than estimated Evaluating this risk affects other strategic decisions a company might make. For example, if the probability of a decline in sales seems high, a manager may take actions to change the cost structure to have more variable costs and fewer fixed costs. We return to our GMAT success example to illustrate how CVP analysis can be used for strategic decisions concerning advertising and selling price.