It is important to understand the organizational structures and decision making processes in the university and their relationship to the CWIS. This article describes, reviews and summarizes March and Cohens’ theories on the university as a structured anarchy. It also raises a list of questions that CWISs struggle with regularly which may be best answered by this theory. A second part of the article describes the companion theory of garbage can decision making proposed by March, Cohen and Olsen. Besides proposing the decision making model, March and Cohen even offer tactics to use in a structured anarchy that can enhance chances of success. Although CWIS problems seem dominated by management of technical questions, the authors feel that the ability to understand the organizational model of an institution and to manage the decision making process may be equally important to success as technical expertise is.
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1 March 1998
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Campus-Wide Information Systems
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March 01 1998
“Garbage can decision making” in a “structured anarchy” for your CWIS. Could you translate that for me please?
Sherman L. Hayes;
Sherman L. Hayes
Librarian, University of North Carolina at Wilmington William Madison Randall Library, North Carolina, USA
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Patricia B. McGee
Patricia B. McGee
Special Collections Librarian, University of North Carolina at Wilmington William Madison Randall Library, North Carolina, USA
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Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Online ISSN: 2054-5576
Print ISSN: 1065-0741
© MCB UP Limited
1998
Campus-Wide Information Systems (1998) 15 (1): 29–33.
Citation
Hayes SL, McGee PB (1998), "“Garbage can decision making” in a “structured anarchy” for your CWIS. Could you translate that for me please?". Campus-Wide Information Systems, Vol. 15 No. 1 pp. 29–33, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/10650749810369894
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