Abstract
This paper discusses the rational decision-making model and its deficiencies, explaining how they may be mitigated.

From the Paper
"According to Rational Decision-Making Models, the rational decision-making model uses a logical approach that considers each step in order, thinking through and weighing up the alternatives to come up with the best potential result. The rational model starts with a definition of the situation or the decision that needs to be made, identifies..."

Tags:rational decision-making model, bounded rationality, emotion

From the Paper
"SEXUAL HARASSMENT AS AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

This research considers sexual harassment as an ethical dilemma in the business (or organizational) environment. Within the realm of ethics, balance theory, the optimal rational model, the bounded rational model, the intuitive model, and the concept of propinquity are discussed.
The topic of sexual harassment has become increasingly importance in the United States as women the usual targets of sexual harassment have come to comprise a larger proportion of the country s work force (Lee & Greenlaw, 1995). A study of federal workers revealed that 42 percent of the female employees reported being sexually harassed within a two year period (Merit Systems Protection Board, 1988). Another study found that one-half or more of working women can expect to be sexually harassed during their ..."

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts the classical theories of human rationality with the bounded rationality model. It discusses the importance of emotions and the mechanisms in human cognition and everyday decision-making. The paper then aims to prove that the unconscious system of decision-making is inevitably activated because of natural selection and that humans are primarily driven by emotions. It also discusses how the loss of emotions corrupts decision-making ability.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Criticisms of the Classical Rationality
The Bounded Rationality Model
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The Classical view of rationality holds that "the laws of human inference are equivalent to the laws of probability and logic." The concern is the methods of thinking and not the conclusions of the thinking . This is a normative theory as it suggests ways people ought to think in order to achieve their goals in an efficient, logical way. A good outcome yielded by a decision does not make that decision a good decision. Similarly, a good decision does not guarantee a good outcome. Examples of inferences labeled "irrational" are overconfidence, base-rate neglect, and the conjunction fallacy. These "cognitive illusions" actually help us a great deal in decision-making. These heuristics are applied unconsciously everyday in many situations. It does not make sense to contemplate and go through the logical calculation for every decision we are faced with. Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould writes, "Our minds are not built to work by the rules of probability"."

Tags:rationality, cognitive, performance, decontextualization

Abstract
Rationality in the pursuit of goals is ensured on the one hand by rewarding departments that stick closer to the organizational goal with a larger budget, and by punishing departments that do not, with a smaller budget. Secondly, rationality is achieved by controlling the people working in the organization either by measuring their output (output control) by supervising them (process control) or by selecting, employing or training people in such a way that they believe in the mission and the overall objectives of the organization (clan control). Thirdly, reward systems are put in place, which remunerate people for helping to achieve the organizational goals. Examples of these are executive bonuses and stock options. It is widely believed, that through these measures it is possible to align the human resources of the organization with the organization's goals and thus ensure a rational pursuit of the goals that have been set. Thus an organization that has the appropriate systems in place is assumed to be characterized by the rational pursuit of organizational goals.

From the Paper
"The view that organisations are characterised by the rational pursuit of some specific goal, is very prominent in organisation theory and in management literature. Pioneered by Frederick Taylor in his Scientific Management theory, it assumes that there is one best way to achieve a specific goal. A large amount of management literature supports this approach by suggesting procedures by which this "one best way" can be found. "

Tags:behavioural, bounded, economics, management, monopoly, psychology, rationality, scientific, stakeholders, taylor

Abstract
The paper discusses how high technology companies seem to occupy the juncture of a typical revenue generating for-profit enterprise, with the idealistic disregard for revenue of a non-profit. The paper explains that this situation occurs because while the high-tech enterprise itself is driven by the requirements of shareholders, the research and development (R&D) activities of the enterprise require artistic creative forces that are free from the constrictive weight of fiscal responsibility. Thus, the paper shows how bounded rationality offers the best decision-making model for such an enterprise, because it appropriates the mental capacities of the human condition and makes the seemingly over complex palatable to the creative minds driving typical R&D departments.

Tags:decision, making, bounded

Abstract
This paper explains that Socrates would note that consumerist and materialist tendencies have extended beyond products and services to our interpersonal relationships as well. The author points out that, having said that the unexamined life is not worth living, Socrates would wonder if any of us living in the Age of Technology have really examined our lives. The paper relates that Socrates and others of his time wrestled with issues such as bounded rationality and the mind-body problem and whether such a thing as consciousness and memory exists beyond life's end: Would they conclude that all this information is really knowledge.

From the Paper
"One feature of the so-called "modern" world is its dependence upon information. Information drives Western civilization. It is the lever which allows the modern Archimedes to move the world of finance and industry against the fulcrum of time. It is what keeps workers competitive in the job market, and what keeps businesses competitive in the market at large. One major factor in the success or failure of any firm today is the degree to which it acquires and implements the information that can distinguish it from its competitors."

Tags:materialist, interpersonal, unexamined, technology, rationality

Abstract
This paper offers an in-depth study of managerialism, explaining that the term is usually - and inadequately - explained as a meta-narrative in various attempts to legitimize the governance of individuals, societies, their organizations, and even the world. The paper states that an alternative characterization of managerialism is as a form of governmentality which implicates the subject in its own governance, and opines that managerialism in nursing is problematic and should not just be accepted as a positive modality in society and in nursing without investigation of its nature and impact on aspects such as the self, identity and difference. The paper concludes that the discourse of managerialism that employs the metaphor of autonomy is problematic, as state-induced self management then, can be characterized as a discourse bound, neoliberal form of governmental discipline; thus, any belief in the appeal to a new level of freedom for the individual by providing more choices and opportunities within self management as part of a reason of state, is an illusion.

Outline:
Introduction
Managerialism
The Context of Capitalism
Persuasive Ideologies: Enlightenment, Rationality, and Colonialism
Discourses on the Ideology of Managerialism
Principles of Managerialism
Rhetorical Paradigms of Managerialism
Bureaucratic Theory
Welfare Capitalism
Scientific Management
Administrative Theory
Human Relations Theory
Systems Rationalism
Culture Management
Nursing and Managerialism
The Consequences
Final Comments

From the Paper
"It is important to note how various ideological factors, which derive for the matrix of reason and rationality, became an integral part of the capitalistic ethos. In the United States and in Europe in the 1870's and 1880's doctrines of Social Darwinism were widely expounded and their ideas of competition and natural selection suggested that entrepreneurs and owners need have little regard for the active welfare of their workers. Nature's laws would ensure the survival of the fittest, and the sensible employer should therefore manage with this natural 'legislation' by retaining the healthiest, strongest workers and not paying much attention to the rest (Perrow, 1979: 60 -61). These precursors of the capitalistic ethos can be seen to demonstrate the rigid logic of rationality and the overarching ideology of the enlightenment and progress, which was to lead to the trajectory of managerial ethics and rationality. These aspects are also reflected in the modern problematics of nursing and identity."

Tags:capitalism, welfare, rationalism

Abstract
This paper explains that, although historical facts are supposed to be objective, historical remembrances are based on emotion and are equivocal and biased due to the varying viewpoints and the prejudices of the time. The author reviews, from this perspective, (1) Edward Ball's "Slaves in the Family", an investigation of his family's history as slave owners in South Carolina, (2) Tim O'Brien's novel "The Things They Carried", a glimpse into the world of the Vietnam War and the "truths" of its vulgarity, and (3) Sherman Alexie's "The Case of Thomas Builds-the-Fire", about the 1858 murder trial of Builds-the-Fire, who is accused of killing Colonel Steptoe. The paper concludes that it is difficult to try to rationalize and analyze past wars and terrible events because they are bound by prejudices, cultural taboos, misconceptions and madness.

From the Paper
"The Civil War was not so long ago, but its legacy still affects us; its stories are the notions of times gone, yet they are as true as the feeling they incite. A collection of interviews and document analysis is the basis for the factual book, "Slaves in the Family" by Edward Ball. Ball investigates his family's history as slave owners in South Carolina. South Carolina was the leader of inducing civil war when it seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. Edward Ball is the great-grand son of Isaac, the Confederate ..., who obviously fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War."

Tags:war, prejudices, emotion, define, viewpoints

Abstract
This paper presents a critical review of "The Book of Strangers" by Ian Dallas, in which the spiritual journey and enlightenment of a rational duty-bound college librarian is depicted.

From the Paper
"Ian Dallas, in the novel The Book of Strangers, explores three events which focus on the development and enlightenment of the main librarian at State University Library. The three events are the librarian's evolution from a focus on words and the mind to a realm where words and rationality are transcended; his mysterious "decision" to give up the "white hash" which he had previously believed to be the means to enlightenment; and his discovery of a God and spirituality rooted not in duty but in delight. Together, these three events are crucial in the narrator's spiritual awakening, and lead him to discover that what he has been seeking all along is the knowledge and experience of his own self."

Abstract
An examination of three different organizational behavior theories - Scientific Management which was created to organize workers, managers, and operations during the Industrial Revolution and states that workers are basically machines and are easily replaced; The Human Relations Movement, which stated that human beings were more than machines; and Weber's Model of Bureaucracy which states that formal rules and behavior are bound by rules and division of labor is based on the different specializations that people have, which leads to the rational allocation of tasks.

From the Paper
"Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing." Warren Bennis, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader". Since organizational behavior is the "study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations", then to build an argument for or against this as a vital ingredient in the work force, we need to look at a few of the theories surrounding this study."

Tags:bureaucracy, relations, human, scientific, management