Decision-making and Power in Public Organizations

Your boss left for few days and now you run the show.

Some important decisions have to be made. What to do? During decision-making processes, what is the right measure of staff participation? Which issues require an autocratic or a democratic approach?

These were the questions that set the context of the exercise we played last night during the class about power and decision-making in public organizations.

Some issues highlighted were:

i) Allocation of desirable parking spaces
ii) Adoption of flexible hours
iii) Elimination of a program due to a budget shortfall
iv) Disciplining an employee
v) Establishing organization’s mission and vision

To make the best judgment regarding these issues, it is necessary to understand that the exercise is a role-playing activity on leadership, not on a group session that requires the analyses of staff’s wishes on how organizations should treat them. Having said that, it is important to keep in mind that the main goal of public organizations is fundamentally the solution of common problems efficiently and impersonally.

Considering these goals of efficiency and equality in public organization, let’s analyze the issues above:

i) Allocation of parking space has to do with the temporary ownership of public areas. As public organizations are not driven by the private motto of “the more you have, the more you can”, but by the equality of treatment, then it is reasonable to agree on an autocratic decision establishing the rotation of parking spaces.

ii) Fixed hours spent in the office does not mean efficiency. More important is clarifying goals, expectations, and deadlines from daily tasks. Once employees know where their responsibilities lie, they can figure out effective ways to hold accountable for self-controlling ad self-directing activities.

iii) Managers must listen to the head of each department before making a decision concerning the elimination a program because of a budget shortfall. Once aware of the risks, the solitary decision has to be based on the welfare of constituents rather than the preservation of human relations within the organization.

iv) Anyone is subject to making mistakes. In addition, not the individual but the group is to blame for whenever bad decisions are made. Before disciplining an employee, bosses are encouraged to reflect on the reasons why and what they should have done differently to avoid current problems. After reflection, problems are solved vis-à-vis.

v) Public leaders and political appointees are supposed to be driven by the mandate of their agencies whereas civil servants are widely known to be sensitive to hierarchical personal interests. It is not plausible, therefore, to expect that bureaucrats have a voice on what missions should be. They learn by watching the leader, who is expected to inspire them.