ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the organizational aspects of public administration by examining how organizations motivate employees and make decisions, two processes that play a crucial role in an organization's ultimate success or failure. It uses Graham T. Allison's decision-making models as the framework for examining organizational decision-making. Organizations that are effective at motivating workers and ones that make consistently good decisions are generally better performers overall. The chapter looks at the role of organizational culture in helping or hindering change. Change is a constant in today's world. All organizations must learn to adapt to environments that are in a state of constant flux, but this is particularly true for public organizations. Important components of effective adaptation include motivating workers, organizational decision-making, and organizational learning. The chapter considers the importance of organizational culture in producing or resisting change. The chapter concludes with a discussion of organizational development and total quality management, two important recent techniques for managing change in organizations.
