PLANNING THEORIES
There are two different theoretical approaches to planning. The two theoretical approaches are rational comprehensive planning and incrementalism.
Rational comprehensive planning focuses on logical decision-making approach and advocates that problem solving should be looked at from a integrated systems viewpoint. Planners that use this approach gather information from the environment in order to run models that will allow them to determine what the future will be like. This allows the organization to be adapted accordingly.
The purpose of incrementalism is to recognize the problems with RCP. A famous sociologist, Amitai Etzioni, provided the foundation for an incrementalist approach with his six key procedures for "disjointed incrementalism".
The SIX key procedures are the following:
1. Rather than attempting a comprehensive survey and the evaluation of the alternatives, the decision maker focuses only on those policies that differ incrementally from existing policies.
2. Only a relatively small number of policy alternatives are considered.
3. For each policy alternative, only a restricted number of "important" consequences are evaluated.
4. The problem confronting the decision maker is continually redefined as it allows for countless ends-means and means-ends adjustments.
5. There is no one decision or "right" solution but there is a never-ending serious of attacks on the issues at hand through serial analysis and evaluation.
6. Incremental decision making is described as remedial, geared more to the alleviation of present, concrete social imperfections than to the promotion of future goals.
The strength of incremental planning is that rather than trying to be both rational and comprehensive, it looks at decision making as it occurs. It has a fewer information demands and examines the consequences of smaller change both of which allow decision makes to act more quickly in response to environmental changes.
There are two different theoretical approaches to planning. The two theoretical approaches are rational comprehensive planning and incrementalism.
Rational comprehensive planning focuses on logical decision-making approach and advocates that problem solving should be looked at from a integrated systems viewpoint. Planners that use this approach gather information from the environment in order to run models that will allow them to determine what the future will be like. This allows the organization to be adapted accordingly.
The purpose of incrementalism is to recognize the problems with RCP. A famous sociologist, Amitai Etzioni, provided the foundation for an incrementalist approach with his six key procedures for "disjointed incrementalism".
The SIX key procedures are the following:
1. Rather than attempting a comprehensive survey and the evaluation of the alternatives, the decision maker focuses only on those policies that differ incrementally from existing policies.
2. Only a relatively small number of policy alternatives are considered.
3. For each policy alternative, only a restricted number of "important" consequences are evaluated.
4. The problem confronting the decision maker is continually redefined as it allows for countless ends-means and means-ends adjustments.
5. There is no one decision or "right" solution but there is a never-ending serious of attacks on the issues at hand through serial analysis and evaluation.
6. Incremental decision making is described as remedial, geared more to the alleviation of present, concrete social imperfections than to the promotion of future goals.
The strength of incremental planning is that rather than trying to be both rational and comprehensive, it looks at decision making as it occurs. It has a fewer information demands and examines the consequences of smaller change both of which allow decision makes to act more quickly in response to environmental changes.