Respond to the following: The discretion of public administrators can be minimized however it cannot be completely
Question:
Respond to the following:
The discretion of public administrators can be minimized however it cannot be completely eliminated. I think it is necessary for officials to use their discretion during a situation because not all situations are ‘by the book’ there are multiple factors that come into play and often times using discretion is a necessary reaction. Of course there should be a standard procedure that most of the time is not deviated from but sometimes things come up and it is necessary to deviate. A disaster is not a black or white matters there are gray areas to take into consideration. Public administrators are chosen or elected for the job because they are deemed to have qualifications to handle these situations and they have undergone training. It is unlikely that they would have gotten the job lacking the common sense and skills necessary to make discretionary decisions in a time of crisis. If a situation arises, as it has in the past, that an official makes a bad discretionary decision that results in negative consequences during a disaster then that can cause issues, however this is rare. Standard operating procedures are important for efficiency but they should not be set in stone and there should be occasional deviation if it is necessary since every circumstance is different.
Management Accounting Information for Decision-Making and Strategy Execution
ISBN: 978-0137024971
6th Edition
Authors: Anthony A. Atkinson, Robert S. Kaplan, Ella Mae Matsumura, S. Mark Young