Decision-Making and Program Implementation in Organizations

Posted on Jan 10, 2025 in Business Administration and Innovation Management

Understanding Rationality in Decision-Making

At the very least, the following should be considered:

  • Shares must have an objective criterion available if everyone is reasonable.
  • Preferences are unambiguous, explicit, and stable.
  • It behaves as pure intellect.
  • Know or can know all possible alternatives.

Global Rationality Model Considerations

In the model of global rationality, the following elements must be taken into account:

  1. Information is scarce and of poor quality. Obtaining new data costs time and money, and is not always warranted.
  2. The selection criteria are scarce.
  3. The ability to generate and evaluate alternatives is limited.
  4. Individual choice is affected by the subject’s preferences, so one cannot speak of an objective criterion of choice.

Bounded Rationality Model

The bounded rationality model still does not fully explain the decision-making capacity of the individual within the organization.

The model of rationality raised by Lindblom is any attempt to overcome and generate a decision within a framework of global rationality.

Lindblom proposes that the logical approach is to simplify the analysis without falling into mere improvisation.

Confusion and Lack of Transparency

Confusion and lack of transparency affect:

  • Purposes and preferences.
  • Activities and tasks.
  • Procedures and ways of doing things.
  • Participants and actors.

These are the coordinates of a process carried out by four elements:

  • A problem (P).
  • An opportunity to choose (O).
  • A solution (S).
  • Actors (A).

Phase Three: Implementation

The purpose of the programs is not a study but to put them into practice to produce the desired change. The translation of goals and tasks designed to achieve them reveals a number of factors that may stand as obstacles in achieving the proposed objectives, thus calling into question the actual design of the program. To change these factors, it is necessary to differentiate between program execution and implementation. When we talk about implementation, we cannot say that it is simply running a program. Execution has connotations of automaticity that studies in this area show is very far from reality.

The implementation phase refers to that which lies between the political definition or regulation and the eventual evaluation of the results generated, a series of outcomes and impacts following the implementation of regulatory frameworks and instruments designed to cope with a problem. Implementation would be responsible for determining the means in space, time, money, organizational, and human resources that are necessary for the implementation of the program or project. Implementation research would place greater emphasis on the causal aspects of the successes and failures of program development.

Key Factors in Program Implementation

An important element of plans and programs is the organization of their implementation, which involves the following factors:

Technical Factors:

  1. Nature of the problem
  2. Severity of the problem
  3. State of technical knowledge
  4. Application of technical knowledge

Administrative Factors:

  1. Policy
  2. Instruments for the normative expression of the policy
  3. Framework for action that fits within the financial policy
  4. Schedule
  5. Costs and resources
  6. Constraints

Inter-Organizational Factors:

  1. Interested organizations
  2. Roles of the organizations
  3. Relations between organizations

Requirements for Successful Implementation

Successful implementation requires:

  1. A clear specification of who should make decisions.
  2. A structure that provides functional and administrative support for the proceedings.
  3. Economic forecasts for payments on precise dates.
  4. Forecasts of incidents that may arise in implementing the program.
  5. Coordination of all personnel involved in both the bureaucratic management of the program and its implementation.
  6. Control of the planned actions of the program.

Fundamental Methodological Issues

There are three fundamental methodological issues in implementing the program:

a. System of Organization: The organization is conceived from an open, active, and dynamic perspective.

b. Realization of Activities: Activities must be consistent with the objectives.

c. Budget per Program: Consists of the following sections:

  • Description of the program or subprogram.
  • Description of costs and revenues to be carried out.
  • Indicators present during and after the exercise.