caa a22 4500 397524064 CHVBK 20180308164640.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161202e199501 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037238 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)oxford-10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037238 Heimann C.F. Larry Michigan State University Different Paths to Success: A Theory of Organizational Decision Making and Administrative Reliability [Elektronische Daten] [C.F. Larry Heimann] Discussions on organizational reliability have concentrated largely on structural means by which an agency can improve its performance. Agencies have two options, however, in achieving reliability objectives. An agency either may employ fewer but more reliable components in its administrative system, or it may choose to utilize less reliable components, counting on structural redundancy to increase the agency's overall reliability. The key question is when to choose one of these strategies for achieving organizational reliability rather than the other. In this article, I develop a theory explaining why agencies may choose to pursue organizational reliability using different strategies; the theory relies on Herbert Simon's distinction between programmed and nonprogrammed decision making. This theory is tested through a comparison of two case studies: NASA's pursuit of reliability in the area of manned space flight, and the drug testing process of the FDA. © 1995 by The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Inc. ARTICLES nationallicence Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Oxford University Press 5/1(1995-01), 45-72 1053-1858 5:1<45 1995 5 jopart https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037238 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037238 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Heimann C.F. Larry Michigan State University NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Oxford University Press 5/1(1995-01), 45-72 1053-1858 5:1<45 1995 5 jopart Metadata rights reserved CC BY-NC-4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-oxford