Cohen, March & Olsen, A garbage can model of organizational choice, 1972 Flashcards
Which assumption is the garbage can model built upon?
Organizations are organized anarchies:
types of organizations that dont have a clear preference (problematic preferences),
no clear view on what succes is (ambiguous success),
people move in and out of the organization and decision making process (fluid participation).
Why did they start working on the garbage can model?
”Organizations were managed by busy people with numerous claims on their time.”
Therefore, the decision makers would be moving from one type of decision to the next. And depedent on who would be in the decision, the outcome would be completly different.
Starting point of the garbage can model.
Decision making processes are complex but not chaotic.
It follows a temporal logic: The time in which things appear seems to have a very high degree of explanation of what actually happens.
Temporal order (in other words): problems, solutions and participants are loosely coupled, and connect by being there at the same time
Explain The garbage can.
Choice opportunities (the garbage can): When the organization is expected to make a choice.
Solutions and problems will enter the ”room”. But they are not necesseraily related to one another (loosely coupled).
Participants will also enter. They will connect the solutions and the problems.
Access structure: Not everyone can enter every room. This is very much coaleted with the org/project’s structure.
We dont create solutions based on the problems we have, but we have this flow of solutions and the participants are clever enough to connect the dots.
The participants can choose to enter into this room instead of another (attention). They also choose how much mental energy they are putting in to each decision (energy).
Core message:
Problems and solutions are loosely coupled. The link between solutions and problems is not given. They are coincidently there at the same time. Participants connect the dots. It is created and this takes energy, intelligence, creativity…
three types of different decisions to make:
Resolution: We solve problems.
Oversight: There was not enough problems, solutions, participants, so we could make the decision quickly.
Flight/drift: People are fed up with being in the room: they are never arriving at a decision, because there are way too many solutions and problems and the participants are going in different directions. And then people give up and leave. And if enough people, solutions and problems leave the room, then it becomes easier to make a decision.
Is the garbage can one room where all decisions are made?
No. Garbage can model is an organizational model, it doesn’t have only one but many garbage cans that are competing for one’s attention…
Garbage can model - Implications
- Critique to rational model -> embrace the fundamental ambiguity of reality
- Search for alternative rationale: Temporal logics – decisions are made based on concurrence not necessarily technical relevance
- Problems and solutions are loosely coupled
- Fluid participation -> Managing attention
March and Olsen offer several tips to manage within a temporal logic, e.g.:
- Spend time
- Persist
- Overload the system – if you have many projects, some of them will end up being successful
- Deadline helps managing the flow of problems
Organizational slack
Forskellen mellem organisationens ressourcer og kombinationen af efterspørgslen på dem.
Net energy load
Forskellen mellem den energi organisationen har behov for og den energi der er til rådighed i organisationen.
Energiniveauet i organisationer påvirker løsningsprocesserne og deres tempo. I organisationer med et velfungerende miljø vil løsninger være nemmere at finde da the net energy load er mindre.
