Herbert A. Simon: - Introduction

Herbert A.
Simon
• INTRODUCTION
• Herbert Alexander Simon was born into a

Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
on June 15, 1916. His father, Arthur Simon
(1881–1948) was an electrical engineer
Herbert A.Simon
who had come to the United States from
1916-20011903 after earning his
Germany in
engineering degree from the Technische
Hochschule ofDarmstadt.
• Herbert A. Simon was 31 years old when he published
his book "Administrative Behavior" in 1947.
• The aim of the book was to show how organizations
can be understood in terms of their decision processes.
• The language and conceptual framework for describing
administration must be based on the logic and
psychology of human choice, i.e. economic theory and
psychology.
• Simon got a Nobel's prize in 1978 for his contributions
to science within decision processes in economic
organizations.
• His book, "Administrative Behavior", was emphasized
in particular (Bakka and Fivesdal,) .
Books
1. Measuring Munciple Activities in co

authorships with Clarence Ridley.
2. Administrative Behaviour
3. Public Administrative
4. Organisation: in co authorship with James
G. March .
5. The New Science of Management Dicision
The following conclusion from his book “administration Behaviour “ are
worth recording:
 The Organisation
1) a specialization of the organization according to

purpose, process, cliental (customers), or place;
2) arranging the organization in a determinate

hierarchy of authority;
3) limiting the span of control at any given point in

the hierarchy to a small number.
• How does the organization fit the individuals behavior into an overall
pattern ?
• How does it establish and maintain the premises that influences his
decisions?
• Simon distinguish between two principal sets of mechanisms or

aspects of influence
 external and
 internal:
• External mechanisms are the stimuli with which the organization

seeks to influence the individual. those that initiate behavior in
a particular direction.
• Internal mechanisms are those which determines his response the

stimuli. those that cause behavior to persist in a particular direction
once it has been turned in that direction.
DECISION MAKING
• Simons definition for a strategy is as follows: "Decision,
or choice, is the process by which one of [the]
alternatives for each moment's behavior is selected to
be carried out.
• The series of such decisions which determines behavior
over some stretch of time may be called a strategy.
• Simon, Administrative Behavior,
- You will always choose the alternative which is highest
on your value-scale (maximization).
- You will always make the same choice if/when the
situation recur.
Model of Dicision making.
According to him, the dicision process can be broken
into a series of three steps .
a) Intelligence activity: borrowing from the millitary

meaning of intelligence , the initial phase consists
of searching the environment for condition called
dicision.
b) Design Activity: In the phase inventing, developing
and analysing possible course of action take place.
c) Choice Activity : the third and final phase is the
actual choice selecting a particular course of action
from those available.
The Economic Man
The economic man represents the objective rationality in an ideal model. In
reality there are of course limitations to this model. You are limited by
unconscious skills, habits, and reflexes; by your values and conceptions of
purpose, which may diverge from the organization goals; and by the
extent of your knowledge and the information available . Actual behavior
is thus limited compared to objective rationality in at least three ways:
• 1) Rationality requires a complete knowledge and anticipation of the

consequences that will follow on each choice. In fact, knowledge of
consequences is always fragmentary.
• 2) Since these questions lie in the future, imagination must supply the
lack of experienced feeling in attaching value to them. But values can be
only imperfectly anticipated.
• 3) Rationality requires a choice among all possible alternative behaviors.
In actual behavior, only a very few of all these possible alternatives come
to mind.
• Given these limitations a model of rational behavior by the
administrative man is outlined. The administrative man as a
model compared to economic man is different in two major
ways:
• - Whereas economic man maximizes - selects the best
alternative from among all those available to him, his
cousin, administrative man, satisfices - looks for a course of
action that is satisfactory or "good enough.“
• - Economic man deals with the "real world" in all its

complexity. Administrative man recognizes that the world he
perceives is a drastic simplified model .He makes his choices
using a simple picture of the situation that takes into
account just a few of the factors that he regards as most
relevant and crucial.
The Administrative Man
• The administrative man will always have a simplified model of the
situation in question.
• The administrative man will seek only a limited number of alternatives

and/or information about the consequences of different alternatives.
• Decision processes are oriented towards finding and choosing among

satisfying alternatives. Only occasionally a decision is driven by maximizing.
• -As the administrative man is satisfied with a limited knowledge of the

situation that she must consider, she can make decisions from relatively
simple heuristics, which does not require an impossible or unrealistic
overview and insight.
Organisation and dicision making
• Organizational influence are manifested through five
mechanisms:
• Authority, defined as "the power to make decisions which guide

the actions of another. It is a relationship between two
individuals, one "superior", the other "subordinate." The
superior frames and transmits decisions with the expectation
that they will be accepted by the subordinate.
• Communication. Formal communication is expresses by media's

like the spoken word, memoranda, letters, records, reports, and
manuals. Informal communication is build around the social
relationships of the members of the organization.
• Training : "prepares the organization member to reach
satisfactory decisions himself, without the need for constant
exercise of authority or advice“ Training includes both "pre-
service" (educational qualifications) and "in-service" (day-to-day
supervision and formal training within the organization.
• The criterion of efficiency: which "demands that, of two

alternatives having the same cost, that one be chosen which will
lead to the greater attainment of the organization objectives;
and that, of two alternatives leading to the same degree of
attainment, that one be chosen which entails the lesser cost”
• Organizational identification and loyalty: This concerns the process
whereby the individual substitutes organizational objectives
(service objectives or conservation objectives) for his own aims as
the value-indices which determine his organizational decisions.
Planning play a major role to organisation take a dicision.
• Planning involves general decisions that influences future

decisions by:
• limiting future possibilities by providing a strategy,
• guiding future decisions by providing particular values as a

decision criteria. (e.g. in terms of stated goals).
JAMES G. MARCH
INTRODUCTION
James Gardne March (born 1928 in
Cleveland, Ohio) is Jack Steele Parker
Professor Emeritus at Stanford University,
best known for his research on
organizations and organizational decision
making. March is highly respected for his BORN IN 1928
broad theoretical perspective which
combined theories from psychology and
other behavioural sciences. As a core
member of the Carnegie School, he
collaborated with the
cognitive psychologist Herbert Simon on
several works on organization theory.
About his work:
• The scope of his academic work is broad, but focused
on understanding how decisions happen in
individuals, groups, organizations, companies and
society.
• He explores factors that influences decision making,
such as risk orientation, leadership and the ambiguity
of the present and the past; politics and vested
interests by stakeholders; the challenges of giving and
receiving advice; the challenges of organizational and
individual learning and the challenges of balancing
exploration and exploitation in organizations.
Contribution of James G. March in
organisation:
• In the book “organisation” written in collaboration with
Herbert A. Simon , he has analysis the organisational
phenomena. This book bears testimony to his deep
insights into the organisational phenomena.
• His model of organisation is descriptive , comprihending
, analytic and predicts organisational behaviour.
• He has indulged in mentioning universals in
administration.
According to March and Simon, in the U.S.A two
types of views on the position of men in an
organisation prevail .
There is a tendency to view the employee

as an inert instrunment performing the task
assigned to him.
There is a tendency to views personal as a

given rather than as a variable in this system

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Herbert A.

• Herbert Alexander Simon was born into a

1. Measuring Munciple Activities in co

1) a specialization of the organization according to

2) arranging the organization in a determinate

3) limiting the span of control at any given point in

• Simon distinguish between two principal sets of mechanisms or

• External mechanisms are the stimuli with which the organization

• Internal mechanisms are those which determines his response the

a) Intelligence activity: borrowing from the millitary

• 1) Rationality requires a complete knowledge and anticipation of the

• - Economic man deals with the "real world" in all its

• The administrative man will seek only a limited number of alternatives

• Decision processes are oriented towards finding and choosing among

• -As the administrative man is satisfied with a limited knowledge of the

• Authority, defined as "the power to make decisions which guide

• Communication. Formal communication is expresses by media's

• The criterion of efficiency: which "demands that, of two

Planning play a major role to organisation take a dicision.

• Planning involves general decisions that influences future

• limiting future possibilities by providing a strategy,

• guiding future decisions by providing particular values as a

There is a tendency to view the employee

There is a tendency to views personal as a

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