Doctoral Degrees (School of Public Leadership)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (School of Public Leadership) by Author "Ballard, Harry Herbert"

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    Effective decision-making within a large local authority
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1994-12) Ballard, Harry Herbert; Schwella, E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Decision-making, the process of choosing between alternatives, is the single most important function within any organisation whether it be in the private or public sector. Local government is located in a unique dynamic political, economic, social and technological environment and provides services to the community within this environment through the transformation of resources. The transformation process relies on a series of decision-making processes to ensure the continuation of this transformation process. The decision-maker in local government is faced with ever-increasing demands for basic collective services with a diverse population with different and increasing needs, expectations and interests. Constitutional reform has also made an impact on local government as it will have to be representative of the community which it serves for legitimacy purposes. These external and internal influences will impact on the decision-makers whose success will be dependent upon whether they are able to improve the general welfare of the community. In view of the scenario sketched above it is clear that decision making is more complex in the public sector environment as it is value-laden. Various decision-making models and techniques have been propagated to assist the decisionmaker in the search for the best alternative. This process is referred to as optimisation. These models and techniques do not however, ensure that the envisaged outcome of the decision will be achieved because of the dynamic and changing environment within which local government is located. In view of this uncertainty there has been a tendency for decisionmakers to make decisions which satisfy the circumstances prevailing at that particular point in time (satisficing) which is not always effective. No attempt has been made to provide the decision-maker with a set of norms or rules to be applied which could be of assistance either individually or collectively to arrive at a more effective decision. In order to assist the decision-maker to arrive at a more effective decision, this research attempts to ascertain quantitatively which norms or criteria should be applied so as to achieve the prime purpose of the mission which is to improve the general welfare of the community. The research will also attempt to take into account the diverse interests, needs, values and perceptions of the community as well as the subjective bias and perceptions of the decision-makers themselves. The purpose of this study/research is to determine the increased possibility of more effective decision-making through the application of applicable normative criteria against the background of an open systems environment, as sketched above. A case study approach was adopted whereby two actual decisions were identified and evaluated according to selected applicable normative criteria. The evaluation was undertaken by the decision-makers themselves (i.e. selected local authority) as well as three representative control groups within the wider community of the selected local authority. The results were computed quantitatively through the application of an appropriate selected statistical model which could measure factual and value-laden judgements, as to the extent of application of these normative criteria. The results were developed from the responses received from the actual four participatory groups. The analysis and conclusions will be based on the quantified results arising from the evaluation of the two decision-cases in question.