Strategy Process
1. Which strategic decision making model is reflected in the Cuban missile crisis, the rational model, the political model, or the garbage can model?
Before we can explain which decision making was used in the Cuban missile crisis we first need to explain and understand what the different models are, therefore we explain in appendix 1 what each decision model is.
We see some features of the garbage can model in the decision making process in the Cuban missile crisis, like the appearance and the role the ABC reporter played in the crisis. This reporter is contacted by the Soviets and works as a communication channel between the USA en the Soviet. Normally this reporter wasn’t involved in the decision-making process so this shows that there is an aspect of luck in the decision-making process, and that decision-makers come and go randomly (although he isn’t really a decision makers, he does play an important role).
But apart from that feature we don’t believe the decision making model use in the Cuban missile crisis reflects the garbage can model, since the decision-makers have very clear preferences (The Joint Chiefs of Staff has a clear preference for a strike attack followed by an invasion) and the participants aren’t random (before the process you could know that these actors involved right now would be involved, only the ABC reporter is an exception).
At first sight, It looks quite clear that the strategic decision making model in the Cuban missile crisis reflects the political model. We see the formation of coalition, for example we see the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Dean Acheson form a collation. We also see the rise of conflicts, especially between the president and different members of the executive committee who favor a strike attack. And we see that almost every actor engages in politics to influence others, for example that special assistant O’Donnell calls the pilot who is responsible to fly a mission over Cuba to take pictures and commands him to
Before we can explain which decision making was used in the Cuban missile crisis we first need to explain and understand what the different models are, therefore we explain in appendix 1 what each decision model is.
We see some features of the garbage can model in the decision making process in the Cuban missile crisis, like the appearance and the role the ABC reporter played in the crisis. This reporter is contacted by the Soviets and works as a communication channel between the USA en the Soviet. Normally this reporter wasn’t involved in the decision-making process so this shows that there is an aspect of luck in the decision-making process, and that decision-makers come and go randomly (although he isn’t really a decision makers, he does play an important role).
But apart from that feature we don’t believe the decision making model use in the Cuban missile crisis reflects the garbage can model, since the decision-makers have very clear preferences (The Joint Chiefs of Staff has a clear preference for a strike attack followed by an invasion) and the participants aren’t random (before the process you could know that these actors involved right now would be involved, only the ABC reporter is an exception).
At first sight, It looks quite clear that the strategic decision making model in the Cuban missile crisis reflects the political model. We see the formation of coalition, for example we see the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Dean Acheson form a collation. We also see the rise of conflicts, especially between the president and different members of the executive committee who favor a strike attack. And we see that almost every actor engages in politics to influence others, for example that special assistant O’Donnell calls the pilot who is responsible to fly a mission over Cuba to take pictures and commands him to
References: Eisenhardt, K.M., & Zbaracki, M.J. 1992. Strategic decision making. Strategic Management Journal, 13 (Winter Special Issue): 17-37 Simon, H. A (1965). The Shape of Automation: for Men and Management. Harper and Row, New York.