DECISION MAKING MODEL

LECTURE 2
• Movement from a problem to the design of a
course of action to resolve it.
• Involves DESCRIPTION & PRESCRIPTION.
• Between them-the level of reflection involved
at levels of moral rules and ethical analysis.
• The dilemma of the problem of application.
• E problems like surgical problems need us to
alter course if action if situation changes.
Dynamic nature.
 The descriptive task
• Problem presented in a fragmentary/distorted
fashion with judgemental language and
inflections. Analysis.
• Gathering more info and sifting out
unfounded judgements.
• Howard Becker’s “hierarchy of credibility”.
 Defining the Ethical Issue
• Tendency to define the problem in practical
rather that ethical terms.
• Issue of “ethical dilemma”. “Conflicting
loyalties”.
• Mistake of resolving the matter on purely
practical grounds.
 Identifying alternative courses of
action
• The either-or view= the most common trap in
the ethical process.
• Brainstorming alternatives before settling the
preferred one.
• Some people-an irresistible tendency to reject
an alternative as soon as it is uttered.
Projecting the Probable Consequences
• As we consider what we should do, we run out a
movie in our minds.
• For each alternative, we construct a scenario
with actors, interaction and consequences. Here,
attempting to raise this informal process to a
more formal, conscious and systematic level.
• The skill involved: “moral imagination”= the
ability to produce a movie In our minds.
• Job of “ writing out” scenarios.
 Continued
• Ethics refers to (approaches):
• ‘deontological’ (duty-oriented) –duty to
certain ethical principles.
• ‘teleological’ (consequence-oriented)-
consequences of a course of action.
• Duty to respect human dignity is inseparable
from the harmful consequences of not doing
so.
 Finding a fit
• Achieiving resolution involves a search for a fit
among the four elements.
• First consideration= moral rules to support each
alternative/course of action.
• Second step=“rehearsal of defenses”. Sixty
minutes test or New York Times test.
• Resolution reached when we discover an
alternative that provides an acceptable balance
to duty and consequences and second satisfies
our need to feel satisfied and has sound reasons.
 Continued
• Fourth element= “anticipatory self-appraisal”
• This is the test of how well a course of action
fits with our self-image.
• “Ethical” hangover.
• “Ethical autoniomy”
PA in modern and postmodern society
• How does Admin. Role relate to the social and
cultural contexts in which it functions?
• “Modern”- a global term for describing the
social, cultural and economic attributes
associated with industrial society.
• Berger, Berger and Kellner argue that key
phenomena of modernity are bureaucracy
and technological production. Carriers of
modern conscience
 Continued
• “Postmodern”=a world in which fundamental
assumptions are being discredited as final and
absolute.
• Cases.
• Problems of modernity in a postmodern
world.-attempts to apply scientific principles
to much of life; multiplicity and differentiation
of roles; separation of work and private life;
relativism; pluralization of society.
 Implications for PA
• -The political nature of PA.
• Three types of ethical concerns associated with
internal and external political transactions:
• Corruption, loss of efficiency, abuse of power.
• 1. Agency-Political Party
• 2. Agency-Agency
• 3. Agency-Constitutional Branch of Government
• 4. Agency- Interest Groups.