Synonyms
Definition
Garbage-can model of decision-making is a form of decision-making often used to explain choices made in higher education that views organizations as choices looking for problems and solutions looking for issues.
Introduction
The Garbage-Can model of organizational decision-making was originally developed by Cohen et al. (1972) to describe organized anarchy. The model attempts to explain organizational decision-making anomalies. In particular, according to Maister (1983), this model is most relevant in decisions made by “organized anarchies,” or those which attempt to conduct themselves on democratic, consensus-building principles. Cohen and March, in their book Leadership and Ambiguity, defined “organized anarchy” organizations as having some of the following characteristics:
First, an ambiguity of goals with inconsistent, poorly defined preferences and numerous objectives. Due to this aspect of...
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References
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Lind, N.S., Butler, T. (2016). Garbage-Can Model of Organizations. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_62-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_62-1
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