Chapter 5

Thinking Government: Public Administration and Politics in Canada

Organizational Design and Management Decision Making

This chapter discusses the functions of management and the significant difference between the values and operational dynamics of the public and private sectors. It conducts a review of organizational design theories, especially in relation to the public sector, and explores the two dominant conceptual models of organizational structure:

  • the organic-humanistic model; and
  • the structural-mechanistic model.

The chapter provides a short history of interpretations of these models developed over the course of the twentieth century. Each variation purports to describe the ideal flow of bureaucratic influence and power.

  • incrementalism;
  • rationalism;
  • bounded rationalism; and
  • mixed scanning.

These techniques can be applied within either the organic-humanistic or the structural-mechanistic model. Finally, the chapter explores the motivations behind managerial decision making, specifically as theorized in

  • public choice theory;
  • bureaucratic politics theory; and
  • policy network theory.

These approaches together offer a picture of bureaucratic motivation under various circumstances.


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