Public Administration

Question When we define decision making, we refer to it as a process of identifying problems and opportunities, and then resolving them. Assuming that you are a Public Administrator, how would you define and identify the problems and opportunities that exist between the publics interest and the publics best interest

Decision making process is among the most important aspects in executing the roles associated with the position of a public administrator. In a precise way, decision making can be defined as the process of choosing from various alternatives or options a single course of action. The selected course of action should be able to yield the required results and this is a scorecard for measuring the effectiveness of decision making tool (Betsch, Heberstroh, 2005, p.16). There are several tools which can help a public administrator in selecting the correct and most effective course of action. However, some dubious techniques may be used and eventually lead the organization into real turmoil. The sensitivity of the process of decision making therefore requires that the public administration position be unquestionable and with great competence. The weighing of alternatives is an imperative procedure in determining the many public interests in question. Although the public interests can be diverse, it is the role of a public administrator to aptly differentiate and choose from the varied public interests only the best public interests. This not only satisfies the public or the individuals but also saves the expenses of the government investing on projects which have absolutely low public interests.

Tero (2005) has argued that, to effectively carry out the process of decision making, a public administrator will first identify the problem which requires attention, (p.7). This step will establish the nature of the issue and a precise classification is made to properly tackle the problem. The second step will be the gathering of the facts concerning the problem. At this stage, raw facts are collected which will be used in the processing of the information which will be crucial in the process of decision making. Economical expertise might not be required at this stage but rather the statistical tools for collecting data which should be accurate and concise. Another stage of the second step will be to use the data collected to process information. A competent understanding of statistics is required at this stage. The knowledge to represent the raw data into representations like graphs, pie charts or histograms will be necessary. The third step which is very crucial will involve the decision making using the prior knowledge on the problem in question. The last step is the implementation of the decision taken and then evaluating the efficacy pf the course of action.

The steps followed when making a decision are all important and must be followed with keen detail to avoid any mishaps. Particularly, the last stage which involves the implementation and evaluation forms a very special, component in the entire definition. This step emphasizes that the process of decision making does not end with the selection of the appropriate course of action. Rather, the process should have clear means of implementing the course and the subsequent evaluation of the course of action (Kelleher, Yackee, 2009, p.179). The role of making decisions by the public administrator encompasses the whole administrative organization almost to the same extent it does the performing task. This is the reason why the role of a public administrator should not stop at the level of decision making but spear ahead to the entire process of implementation and evaluation. Therefore, it has been observed that there is no such a standardized model of decision making process having a universal application each model will have different application in the effort of effecting the course action.

As a public administrator, I shall rigorously follow the four major elements in order to identify the public interests which are more of value from the ones which do not benefit the majority. The public will have to pose challenges because there are several categories of people, each with different type of needs and interests. This challenging scenario therefore needs to be addressed with some expertise-the model of decision making process. I shall first define the problem and search from the literature, personal views and observation the information which shall definitely be important in my decision making problem. The gathered information will be a tool in making empirical decisions based not on flaws but facts. Choice of the course action shall lead my process to evaluation. As an apt public administrator, I shall not wait for this process to take a sequential nature I shall perform some elements like definition of the problem and information gathering at the same time. Simultaneous performance of the process will lead to an appropriate course of action. For instance, during the process of gathering information, the choice of the course action can be identified and analysis process can betaking place in the background.

Proper problem definition will determine how the solution is going to be reached at. This first step recognizes that there are a number of problems which require to be addressed. Human beings always have the capacity to express themselves and will say of their sufferings and what they deserve. In the U.S, there are different groups of people in terms of age, religion, color, sexual orientation or class. The similar way there are several types of people in America, the very way there are a number of problems reported in the media or interviews. It is also normal to find that some problems are specifically restricted to some groups of people while other issues address the entire population or public. Some of the problems will not as easy as others may be and need not to be given much attention. Some issues can be raised which may have shown a potential of causing harm to the large number of people if not addressed (Nutt, 2006, p.72). For instance, terrorism is one of the problems which require a fast response and should be addressed as quickly as possible. As a public administrator, the identification of a problem and putting it in the limelight will be the first step to ensure that only the best public interests are given the first priority in problem solving.

Identification of the problem which affects a majority Americans will be important in order to fulfill the interests of many. For instance, the problem of whole-body scans has been debated for sometime and still the problem remains to exist among most air travelers in America. It beats logic why public administrators will not be able to solve such a problem which deprives peoples right of privacy. In identifying peoples best interests, and discerning them from the general interests, it does not mean that only the problem affecting a large population is addressed. The problems affecting Americans can be within a small diameter but still will remain to impact heavily the lives of Americans. The body scanners used in the airport by security agents have drawn huge debates and the use has revoked the U.S Constitution and the Supreme Court provisions on privacy. Air traveler in the U.S may not form the majority of Americans but they occupy a considerable percentage which makes us to think about their welfare. The identification of the problem of privacy should be the starting point in order to address the peoples interests (Goldloff, 2000, p.193).

Acoording to Kline (2005), the next approach after identifying that a problem of privacy indeed exists is the gathering of information which will determine the course action, (p.52). I may be vaguely aware that there is problem of with the body scanners but it needs more picking of evidence. I will proceed to the collection of information from people through interviews which can be conducted through phone or live interviews. This way, it is very easy to learn more about some issues involving the problem from the affected population in order to make the right decision on the action to take. A practical scenario is the common problem which hit North America and Europe in the past years when plants started to dry due to acidic rain.

Scientists started investigating the problem and wanted to now the cause of the plant death. Some scientists implicated the problem on the changes in climate while others implicated the problem on the pollution. The right conclusion was that the problem was caused by air pollution and not as was suggested by other scientists. This situation implies that information searches are imperative to making decisions which will best address the interests of the public. The assumption that the dying plants were caused by climate change would have led to other mechanisms to alleviate the problem which would not have worked to appropriately address the problem. In addition, it would have taken too much financial investment to solve a problem which was not the real cause of the death of plants. Correct information searching therefore is imperative in the process of making decisions. Information plays an important role in the government in the process of executing various roles.  It is the government which is involved in making policies which make changes and if wrong information is gathered, wrong decisions are made (Bourdeaux, 2008, p.160). Most of the research activities sponsored by the government are driven by individual interests of the scientists and not the public. Therefore, it should be the role of the public administrator to check if the interest of the public is addressed or the best interest is given the first priority from that of the public interest.

After I have defined a problem, collected the information and examined the outcomes, I shall make a choice from the many possibilities which emerge. The case of body scanners at the airport used by security agents will have a number of possibilities on how to approach or solve the problem. The most visible process of decision making, involve the making of a choice by weighing the options.  Making choices may be sometimes a very difficult task to make. The hardship in making choices may be resulting from the lack of clarity of the choices themselves and the unpredictability of the results (Kaufman, Carter, 2009, p.10). As a public administrator, I will have the questions at hand and I shall make one choice which may seem viable. In the issue of scanning all the air travelers at the airport prior to taking flights, several questions will help in identifying the solution. Should we protect the lives of Americans from terrorist attack Do we wish to   save the lives of the hostages after they have been attacked during the flight Which one is safer and cheaper Are there other means or technology available which will be used to screen terrorist prior to taking flights Are there any problems with the current method of scanning air travelers Are the negative implications worse than the benefits However, in some cases, the selection process does not automatically lead to thee solution. As a public administrator, I feel that the reasoned judgments do not serve to satisfy the public best interest but rather may address the public interest. This means that it will only be viable to make decision depending on the group most affected. But still here again, the interests of other individuals will not be well addressed.

According to Endelenbos and Klijn, (2006), the next step is the evaluation process which will follow the choice made (p.144). Putting a stop at the procedure of body scanning at the airport, and the introduction of other technologies which trace terrorist like fingerprint technology or other detectors which do not deprive the citizens their privacy, will definitely result to some debate. It is necessary to carry out an evaluation which will confirm the efficacy of the choice made. It is common that the decisions do not always end up with choices among options. The process of making decisions involves the evaluation of the consequences and the actions. It can either be done that evaluation can take a very informal nature.  The informal evaluation can be the scanning of the results or news or talking to the colleagues about the results. Formal evaluation is the preparation of the official study program of the results.  Whether formal evaluation or informal evaluations is made, evaluation itself is another special tool which can be used to gather information after the choice is made.
The difference between the process of searching for information and the evaluation is rather arbitrary. It comes out that before most decision makers reach their conclusions they make attempts to anticipate for the outcomes (Nutt, 2006, p.73).   Establishing the criteria for the evaluation of the program will be another difficult task. However, it is important to note that the most obvious criterion will be the consequence or the result from the decision made. As an administrator, I would feel that things have gone positive only when I shall see the people happy and their interests have been addressed.   The best evaluation is therefore the observation that thing are working out well but suppose things are not working well, it shall be that the choice was the worst one. As an administrator, it is proper to investigate if the interest of the public is addressed or the best public interest is considered. It may happen that good luck can be confused to success or good decision making process. A practical example is a patient who undergoes a surgical operation. Upon successive operation of a small tumor in his brain, the patient can say he made the right choice. He forgets that surgery is indeed a very risky decision which nay cost his life. It is universally understood that all surgery involves some form of risk, and incase a person decides to bear the very slight risk to do away with that small tumor but unfortunately dies during the process of surgical operation, should we say that the decision was wrong. It then remains that the results will never be universal criterion for the eminence of the decision being taken (Goldloff, 2000, p.195). The assessment of any decision-making process has to involve the clear investigation of the results and processes. It may also need the investigation of the situation the decision makers met during the process. The decision making process follows some specified models which are merely used as guidelines. Otherwise, there will never be the right or wrong way of making decision. Sometimes, taking cautious decisions can be the most required aspect in the process of making decisions (Kline, 2005, p.79). However, scholars have talked of two models. These suggested models are rational and rational nature. The rational decisions are those choices which are based on the outcomes and preferences. These approaches are not devoid of constant failures and are never considered best. At times, in rational decisions, the goals are very important that the decision makers take a very rational decision with a very little promise of any payoff.

In this case, deciding to undergo surgical operation is a very rational decision taken over the ever disturbing life of pain.  The non rational decisions on the other hand, are the choices which never result from the intentional striking of a balance between the pros and cons. The models, rational and non rational models share some form of assumption which mix the participants shape, the rules and that the participants will always shape the decisions. In some situations like deciding to put a ban on the body scanners at the airport will pose a complex state for decision makers. Issues touching the individual lives, the constitution and ethics can be very challenging when solving them (Bourdeaux, 2008, p.163). These issues have a mix of ingredient which makes it so hard to solve the problem and the government might not ever address the issue. Governments around the world will always apply the two typical decision models in solving most of the problems which face the people of the state. One problem with government decisions is that the process is tightly complicated to even account for the multiple goals. It might appear easier to make decisions over a small group of interest but when it comes to a multitude of people having different interests, it becomes very challenging (Tero, 2007, p.18). There are several options or alternatives as well as the impacts of each and every alternative. Making it worse, the time required make decisions is usually very short with very thin financial allocation on even critical project. As a result of this, the research into problems is not taken with the seriousness it deserves.

Generally, when taken to some limits, rational models by a large extent reduce human decisions to computation while non rational models embody decision outcomes as a consequence of forces further than individual control. Both the rational and the non rational models of the process are the yields of social science of neutral value. It should be noted that the values enter the models of rational decision only in the preference form although they are normally defined in self-interest terms of self-interest.

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