Paper I, Unit 3: Administrative Behaviour
Formal authority does not automatically produce cooperation.
Formal authority does not automatically produce cooperation. This unit explains how people perceive information, select action, respond to rewards and follow leaders. Distinguish the individual, group and organisational levels of explanation.
Official wording of this unit: see the Paper I syllabus (unit 3).
Syllabus phrases and how to read them
| Syllabus phrase | Meaning and preparation focus |
|---|---|
| Decision process and techniques | Understand problem framing, alternatives, criteria, choice, implementation and feedback. Compare programmed and non-programmed decisions; show bounded rationality, uncertainty and organisational constraints. |
| Communication | Map downward, upward, horizontal and informal communication; distinguish transmission from shared understanding. Noise, filtering, status and fear can block feedback even when digital systems transmit instantly. |
| Morale | Treat morale as confidence and collective willingness in a work setting. It is related to motivation and satisfaction, but high morale does not guarantee high productivity under poor work design. |
| Content theories of motivation | Compare Maslow, Herzberg, Alderfer and McClelland by what needs or factors they explain. Distinguish need hierarchy, hygiene/motivators, frustration-regression and learned needs. |
| Process and contemporary theories | Use expectancy for effort-performance-reward links, equity for perceived fairness, and goal-setting for specific challenging goals and feedback. Add intrinsic motivation and public service motivation as extensions. |
| Leadership: traditional and modern | Compare trait and behavioural accounts with contingency and situational approaches. Transactional, transformational, ethical and distributed leadership answer different questions about influence and context. |
A motivational intervention works only if its causal link is credible. A reward cannot motivate better performance if staff lack resources, distrust appraisal, or believe the result depends on political influence. Diagnose the bottleneck before prescribing incentives.
Paper II: staff morale, training, grievance redressal and district leadership. Example: if officials avoid reporting implementation failures, a dashboard improves decision-making only when the organisation protects candid upward feedback.
Why might a transparent appraisal process motivate more effectively than a larger discretionary reward?
See βParticipation is a theory of power and workβ on the page Paper I, Unit 2: Administrative Thought.
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