Summary: Principles of Decision-Making and the Austrian Armed Forces
Thomas Müller
The tasks of an organisation are the main starting point for all three elements of a decision - program, principle, and process. In the case of the general set-up of decisions in defence we have to differentiate between the levels of strategy, operation, and tactics, which reflect the gradual materialization of the Armed Forces’ organisational goal. The principles of efficiency, economy and practicality, developed using underlying findings of administration and economics, are generally effective for all kinds of decisions, optimization as a maxim of action then being the main principle.
The efficiency principle affects the field of conflict between aims and means and its optimization. Thus, efficiency means achieving an optimum relation between risk and result by either maximization or minimization. The rigid limitations of funds can imply a striking violation of the efficiency principle if a major part of its potential benefit is lost because of that, and this is more or less the situation of the Armed Forces. The economy principle, in comparison with the efficiency principle, for the time being merely means a minimization of the use of resources, without paying attention to the aim. Low pricing, as is the case in the example mentioned above, would be irreconcilable with the economy principle, neither.
Like economy, practicality is a form of the efficiency principle. Those means are practical which guarantee optimum achievement. Effectiveness expresses the degree of achievement, but here the necessary use of resources is irrelevant. Efficiency, however, is the relationship between results produced and the resources used in order to produce them, at a given degree achievement. From a military point of view, efficiency is a measure of attack and defence power of armed forces, which can be gained by the use of specific (financial) resources. A military organisation will be efficient if it achieves maximum results (fighting strength) by optimizing the criteria mentioned earlier. The efficiency of the Austrian Armed Forces in the military sense has suffered from low defence expenditure and - under these circumstances - from the strategy of "muddling”.
Logistics is particularly suitable for depicting decision principles, as it is basically oriented towards realization. Here three principles are considered core elements of logistic thought and logistic decision-making: comprehensive approach, flux principle, and feasibility. Many military findings and achievements in the fields of organization, leadership, and decision-making processes, especially in the fields of logistics and personnel management, have become basics for civil administration or further scientific developments in business administration. Here, the specific material fulfilment of decision-making principles and the selection of a decision-making procedure depend on the particular situation and the decision-maker’s terms of reference. His decision depends on his individual assessment of alternatives. Nevertheless, his way to the decision ought to be guided by the two cornerstones, principle and procedure. Thus, the "correct decision” is not a question of reason any longer, but of assessment.
Ihre Meinung/your opinion/votre opinion:
