In every day running of an organization, policy evaluation is an essential phase especially during policy development. Policies, are deliberate systems of principles used in guiding the organizations during decisions making so as to come up with the best possible outcome. At times, an organization has to choose between group or individual policy evaluation approaches before making critical decisions that may affect the operation of the institution. Although both approaches drive value into the organization, they differ when it comes to how they are applied and the possible outcomes expected from them. In individual approach, decisions are made by one person while in a group one, decisions are made by several people. One of the major companies’ concerns is which among them is the best approach and therefore, to articulate that, one need to compare and contrast both before deciding which one to apply.
Individual evaluations involve one person to do the job and deliver the outcomes and does not involve many people. The decision is generally cost effective and very quick since only one person is involved in making the decision. Such is because, an individual does not require additional resources or time since less consultations in needed. This type of evaluation Is done when an urgent decision is need to be done and therefore, involving a group of will delay the process (Schaufele et al., 2010). However, when it comes to quality of the decision make, individual evaluations produce poor decisions as compared to the group decisions. An individual makes decisions solely depending on their experience and the information they have gathered which can be insufficient depending on the nature of the problem at hand. Although the individual might apply logical reasoning, they could be biased which leads to biased decisions that affects the whole process of policy development and implementation. Additionally, using individual policy evaluations when making policy decisions introduces one-man control system. The individual that gets involved makes policies decision that favor them without big consideration of the entire organizational personnel affected by the formulated policy. Such gives them power over the organization.
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On the contrary, group evaluation is said to be the most effective method of policy evaluation. However, group evaluation consumes a lot of time and resources due to the fact that the whole process requires consultations and collaboration between group members. The whole group is required to come up with a consensus and present a joint decision. Such would take more time as compared to the individual policy evaluations (Leroy & Crabb, 2012) . However, group policy evaluation leads to high quality decisions that tend to yield best results after the implementation of the policy. Such is because, individuals have time to consult and come compare ideas before making a decision. The group contains individuals with different views and approaches pertaining the policy promoting the synergy benefits. Discussing all this view yields greater results which after implementation yields greater results. However, group evaluation promotes employees’ inclusivity which allows them feel committed during the implementation of the laid down policy. Such is because after evaluating the policy and making the decisions, the member group feels the need to actualize the decisions.
Although, individual policy evaluations seem to be a cheaper method especially when it comes to decision making, investing in group policy evaluation will yield more benefits at the long run. Policy plays an essential role in the running of an and the method involved during evaluation plays a major role in the quality of decisions. Therefore, the individual policy evaluation is effective during crisis or emergencies but does not yield greater results during making long term decisions. That’s calls for an implementation of group policy evaluation approach.
References
Leroy, P., & Crabb, A. (2012). The Handbook of Environmental Policy Evaluation. No eBook available.
Schaufele, B., McMillan, M., L. Boxall, C. P., L.Wiktor, A., & Rivera, C. S. (2010). MEASURING SOCIAL PREFERENCES IN GROUPS VERSUS AS INDIVIDUALS: INCOME INEQUALITY AVERSION USING THE LEAKY-BUCKET METHOD. Journal of Applied Economics & Policy, 29 (1), 1-14.
