DECISION MAKING AND ORGANIZING DECISION MAKING Decision making

DECISION MAKING AND ORGANIZING

DECISION MAKING • Decision making means selecting from various alternatives one course of action • Four steps in decision making • Identifying the problem (or opportunity) • Gathering facts • Making the decision • Implementing and evaluating the decision

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM • Is problem generic or unique?

GATHERING FACTS • Solutions to problems fit between the upper and lower limits of a decision • Upper limits of a decision include: • Limits of permissibility • Limits of available resources • Limits of available time • Limits of previous commitments • Limits of available information • Lower limits of a decision refers to what must occur for the problem to be solved • Consult those who will be affected by the decision, compare facts, and listen to their opinions

MAKING THE DECISION • Six analytical techniques • Cost-benefit analysis • Multiobjective models • Decision analysis • Systems analysis • Operations research • Nominal group technique

DECISION MAKING IN THE REAL WORLD • Must deal with bounded rationality and satisficing • Six biases • Seeing only one dimension of uncertainty • Giving too much weight to readily available or recent information • Being overconfident • Ignoring the laws of randomness • Being reluctant to audit and improve decision making

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO THINKING • Empirical • Kantian • Pragmatic • Dialectical

ORGANIZING • Organizing is the grouping of activities necessary to attain a program’s objectives • Five types of organizations • Leader-follower • Consortium • Pyramid • Matrix • Teams

DESIGNING AN ORGANIZATION • Should the structure be “tight” or “loose”? • What should the units be? • What units should join together, and what units should be kept apart? • Where do decisions belong?

DESIGN CRITERIA • Clarity • Simplicity • Adaptability • Coherence

REASONS FOR REORGANIZATION • Growth • To create greater efficiencies and more logical combinations of functions • To reflect changes in public policy • To make government more politically responsive • Do they ever work? ?

RE-THINKING GOVERNMENT • Bureaucracies are steady but slow and cumbersome, not suited for technology age • Government organizations are monopolies with few incentives to innovate or improve • Politics! • Re-thinking government • What is your mission? • Is it still the right mission? • Is it still worth doing? • If we were not already doing this, would we go into it now?

FURTHER DISCUSSION?