Rationality in Administrative Behavior: Alternatives and consequences

The objections that have been raised to the means-end schema are (a) that it obscures the comparative element in decision-making, (b) that it does not achieve a successful separation of the factual elements in decision from the value elements, and (c) that it gives insufficient recognition to the time variable in purposive behavior. A

Rationality in Administrative Behavior: Value and possibility

There remains for discussion the third element in decision-making; namely, the process of determining preferences among consequences. This process may be termed valuation. To each strategy corresponds a unique set of consequences. Rational behavior involves a listing of the consequences in their order of preference, and the choice of that strategy which corresponds to

Definitions of rationality

A principal aim of this chapter has been to build the foundations upon which a clear understanding of the concept of “rationality” could be erected. Clarity does not necessarily imply simplicity, however. Roughly speaking, rationality is concerned with the selection of preferred behavior alternatives in terms of some system of values whereby the consequences

Rational behavior and administration

The social sciences suffer from acute schizophrenia in their treatment of rationality. At one extreme, economists attribute to economic man a preposterously omniscient rationality. Economic man has a complete and consistent system of preferences that allows him always to choose among the alternatives open to him; he is always completely aware of what these

Deliberate and habitual rationality

In the final pages of Chapter IV a number of distinct types of rationality were discussed briefly. In particular, it was asked whether a choice should be regarded as rational if it served a purpose (e.g., withdrawing a finger from a hot stove), or only if it were made with deliberate purpose (a skilled

Motivation and emotion in decision-making

In everyday thinking about human behavior, we often treat reason and emotion as polar opposites, the expression of our emotions preventing our behavior from being rational (perhaps even from being boundedly rational), and our rationality preventing us from expressing our genuine emotions. To find the measure of truth that resides in this popular view,

The Psychology of Administrative Decisions: The limits of rationality

Objective rationality, as that term was defined in the previous chapter, would imply that the behaving subject molds all his behavior into an integrated pattern by (a) viewing the behavior alternatives prior to decision in panoramic fashion, (b) considering the whole complex of consequences that would follow on each choice, and (c) with the

The Psychology of Administrative Decisions: Purposive behavior in the individual

These remarks concerning the departure of actual behavior from the norm of rationality serve already to indicate some of the characteristics of the psychological process of choice. It is time now to examine these characteristics more systematically. 1. Docility As was pointed out in Chapter IV, the simplest movement taking a step, focusing the

The Psychology of Administrative Decisions: The integration of behavior

It is time now to turn from the mechanisms that make integration possible to the pattern of behavior that results from the operation of these mechanisms. The process involves three principal steps: The individual (or organization) makes broad decision regarding the values to which he is going to direct his activities, the general mothods

Empirical evidence for bounded rationality

In psychology during the past fifty years, there has been a great renaissance of interest in human thinking. As a result, it is more feasible now than when Administrative Behavior was first written to construct a model of rational choice that incorporates the actual properties of human behavior and at the same time matches

Relation to current developments in formal decision theory

It is interesting and even a bit ironical that at the very time when we have learned to build rather precise and empirically verified theories of rational human decision-making there should be a vigorous renaissance of formal theorizing about economic man. The renaissance can be dated from the remarkable progress in game theory, owing

Components missing from the classical theory

Empirical study of decision-making quickly revealed that three basic components of the process were absent from the classical theory. One omission is the process of setting the agenda that determines what deci-sions will be made at what particular times. The second is the process of obtaining or constructing a representation for the problem selected

The Psychology of Administrative Decisions: The role of intuition

Objections are frequently raised to current decision-making theory on the grounds that almost exclusive attention is given to the systematic and “logical” aspects of the process without taking sufficient account of the large role that is played in these matters by human intuition and emotion. The dispute about “logical” versus “intuitive” decision-making goes back

The Psychology of Administrative Decisions: Knowledge and behavior

What managers know they should do, whether by analysis or intuition, is very often different from what they actually do. One common failing of managers, which all of us have observed (sometimes in ourselves), is the postponement of difficult decisions. What is it that makes decisions diffi- cult and hence tends to cause postponement?

The Equilibrium of the Organization: Types of organization participants

Organization members may be classified in other ways than in terms of the inducements they receive for their participation. They may be classified in terms of the types of contributions they make to the organization: specific services (a supplier of material); money or other neutral services that may be employed as incentives (customers); and

The Equilibrium of the Organization: Incentives for employee participation

To an employee of a non-volunteer organization the most obvious personal incentive that the organization offers is a salary or wage. It is a peculiar and important characteristic of his relation with the organization that, in return for this inducement, he offers the organization not a specific service but his undifferentiated time and effort.

Values derived from organization size and growth

The third type of incentive that induces individual participation in orga- nization derives from the size and growth of the organization. These might be referred to as “conservation” values. Most prominent in the group for whom these values are important is the entrepreneur. It is true that the entrepreneur, to the extent that he

Organization equilibrium and efficiency

The basic value criteria that will be employed in making decisions and choices among alternatives in an organization will be selected for the organization primarily by the controlling group—the group that has the power to set the terms of membership for all the participants. If the group that holds the legal control fails to

On the concept of organization goal

In Chapter VI, the survival and success of organizations was discussed in terms of organizational goals and two kinds of personal goals (obtaining rewards associated with organizational growth and success, and earning wages and other rewards not so associated). Viewed as forces motivating individuals to participate in the organization’s activities, organizational goals (i.e., the

The organization as workplace: satisfaction

The central thesis of Chapter VI is that the survival and success of organi- zations depend on their providing sufficient incentives to their members to secure the contributions that are needed to carry out the organizations’ tasks. Monetary rewards are, of course, important; but willingness to do the work and the enthusiasm with which