Stages in the Policy Development Process

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Stages in the Policy Development Process

• Dr. Gary E. Gorman
• Dr. Daniel G. Dorner

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Stages in the Policy Development Process

• 1. identification of a problem
• 2. definition of the problem
• 3. search for, analysis of, alternatives
• 4. choice of policy and allocation of
  resources
• 5. implementation through legislation,
  regulation, etc. and
• 6. evaluation to ensure objectives have been
  met.

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Stage 1Identification of a problem

• A problem can be identified
• Before it occurs
• While it is occurring
• After it has occurred

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Policies occur at different levels

• International regional
• National
• Ministry

• Organisation
• e.g. university, business
• Library
• Academic
• Public
• Special

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Sources of policies

• Originated policy - stem from organisational
  goals
• Appealed policy - based on decisions made in
  specific situations
• Implied policy - develops from actions that are
  repeated over and over again
• Externally imposed policy - comes from sources
  outside the organisation.

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Originated policy stems from the organisation's
objectives and are formally written and reviewed.
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In an originated policy -

• problem identification is anticipatory
• a potential problem is identified
• a policy is developed and implemented to stop a
  problem from occurring.

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An originated policy at the international level

• The European Unions Universal Service Policy
  -In a liberalised open market for
  telecommunications, all people in the EU will be
  provided with access to basic telecommunications
  services at an affordable price.

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An originated policy at the national level in
Canada

• The Canadian Telecommunication Policy -- aims to
  render reliable and affordable telecommunications
  services of high quality accessible to Canadians
  in both urban and rural areas in all regions of
  Canada.

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An originated institutional policy

• Reference books are for use in the library only.

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Group Task 1 In each case - what policy problem
was anticipated? Telecommunications services
should be made available to all citizens at
affordable prices.Reference books are for use
in the library only.
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Reference books are for use in the library only.

• How is the above policy related to the goals of
  the library?

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Appealed policy

• covers common law
• is based on decisions made in specific situations
• is reinforced over time

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Appealed policies are often not successful
because

• they are often made through quick decisions which
  are not thoroughly considered
• and they can cause tension and confusion.

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A (fictitious) international appealed policy

• The World Trade Organisation reduces interest
  rates to North African countries but not to South
  East Asian countries
• The decisions
• would appear to be arbitrary or subjective
• could cause tension and confusion

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An appealed policy in an organisation

• Library manager provides funding for professional
  development to some staff but not others
• Circulation manager gives extended loans to young
  women but not to men or middle-aged women

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Why are appealed policies likely to lead to
tension or confusion?
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Externally imposed policy

• comes from sources outside the organisation, such
  as national government and local laws
• will require an organisation to give a higher
  priority to the higher level policy when making
  organisational policies.

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Examples of externally imposed policies

• Canadian economic policy imposed the reliance on
  market forces on Canadas telecommunications
  policy
• New Zealand local government taxation law imposed
  resident requirements on public library borrowers
  policy

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The best policies are originated policies that

• are pro-active
• stem from an organisations goals
• anticipate problems and resolve them before they
  occur.

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Stage 2 Defining the policy problem

• is considered the most important stage in the
  policy process
• when stakeholders are identified
• when parameters of the problem are determined

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The Information Highway Advisory Council was
established in Canada

• To take the government through the early stages
  of the policy development process
• to identify potential problems
• to define the problems from the stakeholders
  perspectives
• to provide recommendations for resolving them

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Stage 3 Search for, and analysis of alternatives

• Often occurs simultaneously with stage 2
• Stakeholders often define a problem and suggest
  ways to resolve it

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Phase 1 of Canadas Information Highway Advisory
Council

• Obtained input from stakeholders with regard to
  alternatives for resolving policy problems on 15
  policy issues
• Made 311 recommendations to the government for
  resolving them
• Coincided with stages 2 and 3 of the policy
  development process

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Stage 4 Choice of policy and allocation of
resources

• Requires decision makers to assess the
  accumulated information
• select the best alternative based on the
  objectives to be met and the resources required
• allocate the necessary resources

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Without resources -

• No chance of success!

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Stage 5 Implementation through legislation,
regulation, etc.

• Often policies require further action in the form
  of legislation, regulations, codes of conduct

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In Canada the information highway policy
development process led to

• The Converge Policy for broadcasting and
  telecommunications (1996)
• More public hearings held by the Canadian
  Radio-television and Telecommunications
  Commission
• Changed regulations with regard to
  telecommunications and broadcasting

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Stage 6 Evaluation -

• to ensure objectives have been met.

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Without ongoing evaluation

• The policy may not be meeting objectives fully
• but no one will know
• resources will be wasted

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With ongoing evaluation

• The policy will be modified to meet objectives
  more fully
• continual improvement will result

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How can an organisation identify and define its
information policy problems?

• By doing an information audit

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An information audit is defined as

• A systematic examination of information use,
  resources and flows,
• with a verification by reference to both people
  and existing documents,
• in order to establish the extent to which they
  are contributing to an organizations objectives.

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An information audit examines

• The information an organisation holds
• The resources for making it accessible
• The ways in which the organisation uses
  information
• The people involved
• The tools for doing things with information
• The criteria to assess the costs value of
  information.

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The aim of an information audit is

• to find out how the organisation is using
  information to meet its objectives.

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The starting point must be

• Finding out the organisations objectives
• and what they imply about the information it
  needs to achieve them
• and how it needs to use the information.

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From the examination of objectives you must
determine -

• How it should be with regard to information and
  its use
• This should be the point of reference from which
  to start your audit

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The audit process requires

• Asking key people appropriate questions to find
  out How it actually is
• Producing output which matches How it actually
  is against How it should be
• Interpreting the results
• Deciding what to do

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Your decision must focus on - bringing the
organisations use of information closer to what
the objectives require
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The strategy of the National Health Service (UK) -

• Identify and review organisation objectives
• Determine information needed to meet them
• Do information audit to determine what
  information is held and how it is used
• Address any immediate gaps and problems
• Develop information management policy to ensure
  appropriate resources, organisational structures
  and training

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Short term benefits from an information audit -

• attention to immediate threats - risk avoidance
• cost savings from more rational management
• gains from making information more accessible to
  those who need it

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Longer term benefits from an information audit -

• Better understanding of importance of information
  to the organisations goals
• Improved communication between guardians of
  information resources and users/stakeholders
• Strategic planning implemented for information
  management
• Better use of information in supporting
  organisations objectives
• Integrated management of organisations
  information, supported by appropriate systems
  technology
• Reliable assessment of cost-effectiveness of
  information and its use
• Better understanding of the value of information
  assets within the organisation

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An information audit

• is a complex task
• needs careful planning
• requires an allocation of resources
• must be ongoing
• is best managed in-house, though outside help is
  often useful

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Information needs assessment is a part of an
information audit