7: Power, Decisions, Strategy Flashcards
In the rational decision making model, decision makers:
- Know all relevant goals clearly
- Know how to apply values in order to rank goals
- Examine all alternatives
- Choose most efficient option to maximize goal
When consultants analyze work processes to improve efficiency/effectiveness, they are using this theory
Scientific Management
Example: bar codes on social security files
Linear programming
Uses math formulas to determine how many outputs can be produced with given inputs
PPBS
Planning and program budgeting system.
Presidential directive issued by Lyndon Johnson. Budget requests had to be tied to objectives.
Which president proposed zero based budgeting?
Jimmy Carter
GPRA is a version of the ___________ process.
Rational
Rational process has been less effective in the public sector because of these factors
Political
Institutional
External power and politics influence
internal power and politics
Early theory said that manager’s choices were based on rational choices and optimal alternatives. Newer theories account for
political environment.
These things weaken executive power
- Rules & controls
- Political alliances (agencies, interest groups, legislators)
- Influence
Agency power is enhanced by
- well organized constituencies
- skillful leadership
- organizational cohesion
- expertise-specialized knowledge needed to deliver a service the public wants.
Who developed the Bases of Power model?
John French & Bertram Raven (1968)
Reward power
Power to give or withhold rewards such as pay
Coercive power
To take forceful action against another person
Referent power
Emulating others
Expert power
Control of knowledge, information or skills that others need
Legitimate power
Formal authority to issue direction
What are the five types of power in the Bases of Power model?
Reward Coercive Referent Expert Legitimate
Three sources of power
Position (authority over decisions)
Allocation of resources
Network (brings information, loyalty & resources)
Rosabeth Moss Kanter said that higher level managers can empower middle managers by
relaxing rules
increasing participation
delegation
providing innovative rewards
Management or leadership approach that increases job performance and innovation
employee empowerment
What factor complicates empowerment approaches in government?
Accountability pressures
Decision making = power because
power determines who gets to decide.
Public organizations need specific decision making processes because of
political intervention
constraints in environment
diverse & diffuse objectives
Public sector decision making is different from private sector because of
complexity
dynamism
intervention
interruption
A key challenge for public managers related to decision making
when to standardize and and rationalize decision-making processes
Systematic, rational review of commitments and reallocations
Zero-based budgeting
Management style that focuses on setting objectives for individuals and units and tying them to performance appraisals & rewards
Management by Objective (MBO)
Public choice economists argue that
voters vote in their own self interest and that officials try to buy votes by providing services the public wants.
Criticism of public decision making
governments strive for greater budgets
tend toward rigidity
distort information
Although managers intend to be rational, cognitive limits, uncertainties and time limits result in
bounded rationality
Satisfice
The most satisfactory choice among limited alternatives
James Thompson’s contingency theory says that decision-making contexts vary along two major dimensions:
- the degree to which decision makers agree on goals
2. the degree to which they understand means-end or cause-effect relationships
According to Contingency Theory, very rational decision making occurs when both of these are high
technical knowledge
goal agreement
When goals are unclear and knowledge is limited, managers rely on
intuition
political maneuvering
Incrementalism is
making limited changes to polices, budgets, etc.
Positive aspect of incrementalism
It allows for input, bargaining and some change while guarding against radical change.
Criticism of incrementalism
Makes policymaking and budgeting too conservative.
Who wrote “The Science of Muddling Through” in 1958?
Charles Lindbloom
Lindbloom wrote that political consensus and compromise result in
vague goals and evaluation criteria.
This occurs because politicians and the public don’t totally understand the work and will push back on goals, timelines and desired outcomes that are too specific.
Etzioni’s Mixed Scanning model is a compromise between
rational decision making and incrementalism
Three phases in Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret’s incremental model
- identification (information gathering)
- development (designing a solution)
- selection (committing to a decision)
Decision making model that’s commonly used when there is ambiguity, uncertainty or rapid change
Garbage can model
Analyzing how stakeholders evaluate an organization and then forming strategies to deal with them
Stakeholder management
Analysis of forces acting on an industry in order to gain competitive advantage
Competitive analysis
Strategic issues management
Identifying crucial issues to an organization’s ability to achieve its objectives
Strategic negotiation
strategic decision making is highly political and will require established methods for bargaining with stakeholders
Logical incrementalism uses small steps to
guide along a strategic path.
Who said that managers formulate strategies congruent with the external environment that their organizations confront?
Miles and Snow, 1978
Four orientations described in Miles and Snow Typlology
- Prospectors-seek opportunities
- Defenders-don’t seek new ideas, little employee empowerment
- Analyzers-balance efficiency and learning (combo of prospector + defender)
- Reactor-lack of strategy, dysfunctional
