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On red tapes in the administration of scientific grants/contracts
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On administration red tapes
Today I received a comment from a young scholar concerning my blog
piece on research and education #6 (6/27/07). He laments the
enormous time that he had to spend on contract administration
and fulfilling red tape issues to the detriment of his research
effort. I made a short reply to him. However, it occur to me
that while I am not an expert political scientist or an administrator,
this topic of inefficiency in administration is worth a general
discussion.
Government and administration inefficiencies are universal.
It is a matter of degree. I had some experience with this in four
countries. While America is definitely most efficient, China is by
no means the last. However, because of wide spread corruption and
abuse in current conditions, red tapes and administrative overhead
increase proportionally in an effort to give the impression that
something is being done. As a result, required forms and signatures
multiply with the burdens fall mostly and ultimately on the
recipients of grants and contracts. But a practical result which
every administrator (world wide not just in China) knows is this:
Any form that requires multiple signatures , say three or more, is
basically meaningless. If something goes wrong, no one will be
held responsible.
One of the successes of American democracy is that decisions
tend to be made at the lowest level practicable and possible.
With the authority to make decision comes the concomitant
responsibility, i.e. authority and responsibility go together.
You live and die by the same sword. This has a very salutary
effect on a person who has authorities. (Note: I don’t want
to give the impression that everything is perfect in America.
But the idea is that the majority hold such democratic
principle dear and attempt to practice it). Now, I realize
a wholesale adoption of this principle is not practical in
China immediately. Certain level of general economic developments
and education in the general public are necessary conditions.
Until then, decentralization will generate more chaos than benefit.
What we are entitled to is a positive derivative toward it.
It is also my understanding that the central government is
beginning to practice it on a limited scale, e.g., in village
elections. Let us hope the academic and scholarly sphere will
not be far behind.
https://wap.sciencenet.cn/blog-1565-7233.html
上一篇："入境问俗(入乡随俗)” 还是 “同化人家” Chinese American in the US #2
下一篇：Decentralized Decision Making vs "one size fits all (一刀切)” approach to governing
Today I received a comment from a young scholar concerning my blog
piece on research and education #6 (6/27/07). He laments the
enormous time that he had to spend on contract administration
and fulfilling red tape issues to the detriment of his research
effort. I made a short reply to him. However, it occur to me
that while I am not an expert political scientist or an administrator,
this topic of inefficiency in administration is worth a general
discussion.
Government and administration inefficiencies are universal.
It is a matter of degree. I had some experience with this in four
countries. While America is definitely most efficient, China is by
no means the last. However, because of wide spread corruption and
abuse in current conditions, red tapes and administrative overhead
increase proportionally in an effort to give the impression that
something is being done. As a result, required forms and signatures
multiply with the burdens fall mostly and ultimately on the
recipients of grants and contracts. But a practical result which
every administrator (world wide not just in China) knows is this:
Any form that requires multiple signatures , say three or more, is
basically meaningless. If something goes wrong, no one will be
held responsible.
One of the successes of American democracy is that decisions
tend to be made at the lowest level practicable and possible.
With the authority to make decision comes the concomitant
responsibility, i.e. authority and responsibility go together.
You live and die by the same sword. This has a very salutary
effect on a person who has authorities. (Note: I don’t want
to give the impression that everything is perfect in America.
But the idea is that the majority hold such democratic
principle dear and attempt to practice it). Now, I realize
a wholesale adoption of this principle is not practical in
China immediately. Certain level of general economic developments
and education in the general public are necessary conditions.
Until then, decentralization will generate more chaos than benefit.
What we are entitled to is a positive derivative toward it.
It is also my understanding that the central government is
beginning to practice it on a limited scale, e.g., in village
elections. Let us hope the academic and scholarly sphere will
not be far behind.
https://wap.sciencenet.cn/blog-1565-7233.html
上一篇："入境问俗(入乡随俗)” 还是 “同化人家” Chinese American in the US #2
下一篇：Decentralized Decision Making vs "one size fits all (一刀切)” approach to governing
