Effects of Planning on the Garbage-Can Decision Processes: A Reformulation and Extension

A computer simulation, based on the garbage-can decisionmaking process, is presented in order to investigate effects of making plans and of two other organizational characteristics—namely, decision cost and problem disutility—on the behavior of complex systems. In this simulation a three-factor factorial design was implemented where decision cost, problem disutility, and planning investment were considered in terms of combinations of six levels of these factors. The results suggest that all three factors have statistically significant effects on the behavior of the complex system. In particular, decision cost and problem disutility tended to have effects counter to each other, whereas planning resulted in more efficient decisionmaking, but at the cost of resolving fewer problems.