Herbert Simon’s Forgotten Legacy for Improving Decision Processes

ABSTRACT:

Public administration scholarship could benefit from a return to its Simonean roots for distinctively managerial insights about decision processes. Though Simon is often juxtaposed with Dwight Waldo and portrayed as a rationalist focused on the limits of human cognition, a full understanding of his work reveals a rich understanding of the decision context that managers face. Simon argued that decisions should (1) account for norms and values; (2) link means to ends; (3) identify feasible alternatives; and (4) automate processes where automation improves transparency and evaluation. To date, economics and psychology have exploited these insights to a greater degree than has the study of management and administration in the public sector. We use one example of a structured decision process in a salmon fishery and another in a case of religious and cultural conflict in schools as illustrations of the potential for Simon’s decision principles to improve public sector decision making.

Note

Notes

1 Some scholars, however, question the reliance on heuristics for political decision making in the absence of appropriate institutions and guarantors of rights and liberties (Achen and Bartels 2016).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patrick S. Roberts

Patrick S. Roberts ([email protected]) is an associate professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, VA. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, and his current research examines public management decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

Kris Wernstedt

Kris Wernstedt ([email protected]) is a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, VA. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and his current research examines public management decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty.