Integrating Context and Decision Strategy

Abstract

The authors have drawn from the literature in organization theory and behavior to develop a theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of public personnel administration. They recast the traditional discussion of public personnel administra tion in order to identify when "merit" would be reflected in "routine" decision-making strategies and when it would better resultfrom "bargaining" and the use of "judgment" decision-making strategies. The responses of practitioners in the Midwest provide the basis for an exploratory study testing the utility of this approach.