Bureaucratizing Democracy, Democratizing Bureaucracy

2000 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 1077-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Nelson Espeland
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Development Agency ◽  
Water Development ◽  
Bureau Of Reclamation ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Models ◽  
The Relationship

This article analyzes the relationship between how rationality is conceived and how democracy is practiced in the Bureau of Reclamation, a water development agency in the Department of Interior. The efforts of some inside the agency to institutionalize rational decision-making models, partly in response to new environmental law, expanded the number and range of interest groups that participated in its decisions fry incorporating their preferences into their models for evaluating plans. But the terms under which people could express their values and interests were strictly controlled in ways that some felt misrepresented their concerns. How we conceive of rationality has important implications for how and which people are included in bureaucratic decision making.

Influence of age and gender on decision-making models and leadership styles of non-profit executives in Texas, USA

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis C. Uzonwanne
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Decision Making Models

Purpose The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by investigating the relationship between age and other demographics on decision-making and leadership styles of executives in the non-profit sector. Design/methodology/approach This study is a quantitative research using correlation analysis and analysis of variance. The quantitative approach establishes facts, makes predictions and tests stated hypothesis and used the Pearson correlation coefficient, the ANOVA and the two-way analysis of variance. This study used surveys to collect data. Findings H1 states that there will be no significant difference in the decision-making models used among non-profit organizational leaders (rational, intuitive, dependent, spontaneous and avoidant) based on demographic variables: gender and age. H2 states that there will be no significant difference in the leadership style used among non-profit organizational executives (selling, telling, delegating and participating) and different dimensions of demographic variables: gender and age. Research limitations/implications This study explored the relationship between the demographics, age and gender and the decision-making models (rational, intuitive, dependent, spontaneous and avoidant) and leadership styles (selling, telling, delegating and participating) of executives in non-profit organizations. The age of the executives also showed to be important factors that influenced executive’s leadership styles and decision-making models as well. Practical implications Rational decision-making as reflected to in this study has been used by older, possibly more experienced non-profit executives. This model is favorable towards making decisions on complicated issues. The final choice rational decision-makers select will maximize the outcome; it is assumed that the decision-maker will choose the alternative that rates the highest and get the maximum benefits (Robbins and Decenzo, 2003, pp. 141-142). The researcher suggests that non-profit executives, especially the younger executives, should attend management and leadership conferences that focus on rational decision-making models as concerns business strategies and making the best choices based on possible alternatives. Social implications Rational decision-making as reflected to in this study has been used by older, possibly more experienced non-profit executives. This model is favorable towards making decisions on complicated issues. The final choice rational decision-makers select will maximize the outcome; it is assumed that the decision-maker will choose the alternative that rates the highest and get the maximum benefits (Robbins and Decenzo, 2003, pp. 141-142). The researcher suggests that non-profit executives, especially the younger executives, should attend management and leadership conferences that focus on rational decision-making models as concerns business strategies and making the best choices based on possible alternatives. Originality/value This is an original piece of research that contributes to the literature on leadership style.

After the Punctuation: Competition, Uncertainty, and Convergent State Policy Change

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas T. Holyoke ◽  
Heath Brown
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Punctuated Equilibrium ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
New Policies

What happens after longstanding policies are overthrown in fierce political battles, events scholars refer to as punctuated equilibrium? Do these new policies remain static and unchanging until the next big punctuation, or do they continue to change in explainable and predictable ways? In this article, we develop a model of postpunctuation policy change grounded in theories of boundedly rational decision-making by policymakers. Uncertain about how well the new policy will perform, policymakers learn to rely on competing interest groups for information or, under certain circumstances, look to other political jurisdictions for cues on how their policies ought to be further refined. We test our predictions by studying changes in state charter school laws from 1996 to 2014. We find evidence of policy change, and even convergence, across states suggesting that policies after punctuation do change in ways explained as reactions to political pressures in an environment fraught with uncertainty.

Evidence on rationality and behavioural biases in investment decision making

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 270-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satish Kumar ◽  
Nisha Goyal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Significant Implication ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between rational decision-making and behavioural biases among individual investors in India, as well as to examine the influence of demographic variables on rational decision-making process and how those differences manifest themselves in the form of behavioural biases. Design/methodology/approach Using a structured questionnaire, a total of 386 valid responses have been collected from May to October 2015. Statistical techniques like t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) test have been used in this study. Structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used to analyse the relationship between rational decision-making and behavioural biases. Findings The findings show that the structural path model closely fits the sample data, indicating investors follow a rational decision-making process while investing. However, behavioural biases also arise in different stages of the decision-making process. It further explores that gender and income have a significant difference with respect to rational decision-making process. Male investors are more prone to overconfidence and herding bias in India. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study have significant implication for the individual investors. It is recommended that if individuals are aware about the biases, they may become alert before taking irrational investment decisions. Originality/value To best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is a first of its kind to investigate the relationship between rational decision-making and behavioural biases among individual investors in India.

The Relationships between Top Management Demographic Characteristics, Rational Decision Making, Environmental Munificence, and Firm Performance

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 999-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Goll ◽  
Abdul A. Rasheed
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Environmental Munificence ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
The Relationship

This study examines the relationships between top management demographics, rational decision making (RDM), munificence, and firm performance. We expect top management demographics to influence rational decision making, and rational decision making to influence firm performance. In addition, we hypothesize a moderating effect of environmental munificence on the rational decision making-firm performance relationship. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a survey that measured RDM. Top management demographic characteristics, environmental munificence, and firm performance were collected from archival sources. We examined the relationships between RDM and top management age, tenure, and education level, using regression analyses. The results of this study provide support for the assertion that top management demographic characteristics influence decision making, and for the role of environmental munificence as a moderator in the relationship between decision making and organizational performance.

scholarly journals Gauging the capacity for concurrent motor planning in human fMRI with information constraints in bounded rational decision-making models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Schach ◽  
Axel Lindner ◽  
Daniel Alexander Braun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Single Action ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Optimal Information ◽  
Decision Making Models ◽  
Information Constraints ◽  
Concurrent Planning

While traditional theories of sensorimotor processing have often assumed a serial decision-making pipeline, more recent approaches have suggested that multiple actions may be planned concurrently and vie for execution. As most of the evidence for the latter comes from monkeys, here we study concurrent prospective motor planning in humans by recording functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a sequence planning task with multiple potential targets. We find that fMRI activity in premotor and parietal brain areas modulates both with the sequence complexity and the number of targets. We test the hypothesis that fMRI activity is best explained by concurrent planning as opposed to the incomplete determination of a single action plan. We devise a bounded rationality model with information constraints that optimally assigns information resources for planning and memory for this task and determine predicted information profiles according to the two hypotheses. When regressing fMRI activity using this model, we find that the concurrent planning strategy provides a significantly better explanation of the fMRI modulation profile. Moreover, we find that concurrent planning is limited for most subjects, as expressed by the best fitting information capacities. We conclude that bounded rational decision-making models allow relating both behavior and neural representations to utilitarian task descriptions based on bounded optimal information-processing assumptions.

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