Knowra Garbage can model Garbage can model A decision-making model in which problems, solutions, participants, and choice opportunities flow independently through organizations and sometimes meet by chance. It describes choices in organized anarchies, where preferences, technology, and participation are unclear or shifting.
Organized anarchy : An organization with unclear preferences, uncertain technology, and fluid participation. The model explains decision making under precisely these organizational conditions.
Michael D. Cohen : An American organizational theorist who coauthored the 1972 garbage can model. His work with March and Olsen introduced the model's central formulation.
Rational choice theory : A framework that models choices as selections made to maximize preferences under constraints. Unlike rational choice, the model allows solutions and problems to meet without deliberate matching.
University governance : The systems and processes through which universities make and implement collective decisions. Universities exemplify organizations with fluid participation and contested priorities.
Organizational theory : The study of how organizations are structured, operate, change, and interact with their environments. The model became a distinctive account of choice within this broader field.
Problem stream : The flow of recognized concerns and issues seeking attention within an organization. Problems may attach to choices independently of the solutions available.
James G. March : An American scholar of organizations and decision making, known for influential theories of organizational behavior. March coauthored the model to challenge orderly accounts of organizational choice.
Rational-comprehensive model : A decision model that defines goals, compares alternatives, and selects the option with the best expected outcomes. Its orderly sequence contrasts with the model's shifting streams and ambiguous preferences.
Policy window : A limited period when conditions permit a policy proposal to gain serious consideration. A window resembles a choice opportunity where previously separate streams can couple.
Policy process theory : The study of how public problems, proposals, decisions, and outcomes develop over time. Stream-based ideas from the model influenced later theories of policy change.
Show all 27