Management and Administration

Tree Setiawan Pamungkas, SAP., MPA

The terms 'administration' and 'management' are
used in different senses by different writers. Broadly,
there are three different types of views expressed by
different schools of thought which are given below.
Administration = Management
According to some writers (like Drucker, Fayol and Newman),
there is no distinction between the terms 'administration' and
'management' and both of them are synonymous and used
interchangeably. According to these writers, running of a
business or social institution, or a government office requires
specialized skill and this specialized skill is called
'management' in business and 'administration' in government
and other social institutions
In other words, executive functions in business are referred to as
'management' whereas the executive functions of other institutions like
government and public bodies are termed 'administration.' Henry Fayol
who is regarded as the real originator of management has pointed out that
there is only one administration or management science which can be
applied equally well to the public and private affairs. He has stated: "All
undertakings require planning, organizing, command, co-ordination and
control and in order to function properly, all must observe the same
general principles. We are no longer confronted with several
administrative sciences, but with one which can be applied equally well to
public and private affairs."
Administration as top level function
According to another school of thought, administration and management
are different functions. According to this school, administration is a top
level function, which centres round the determination of major policies
and objectives of a business enterprise (i.e., thinking function), while
management is a lower level function involving the execution of policies
and directing the operations to attain the objectives laid down by the
administration (i.e., doing function). This view is supported by eminent
writers like Oliver Sheldon, William R. Spriegel, G.W. Milward and others
and we quote here the concepts of these writers.
Oliver Sheldon. Administration is the function in industry
concerned with the determination of the corporate policy, the
co-ordination of finance, production and distribution, the
settlement of the compass (structure) of the organization
under the ultimate control of the executive. Management,
according to him, "'is the function in industry concerned with
the execution of policy within the limits set by the
administration and the employment of the organization for
the particular objects set before it."
William R. Spriegel. "Administration is that phase of business
enterprise that concerns itself with the overall determination
of institutional objectives and the policies necessary to be
followed in achieving those objectives. Administration
predetermines the specific goals and lays down the broad
areas within which those goals are to be attained.
Administration is a determinative function; management, on
the other hand, is an executive function which is primarily
concerned with the carrying out of the broad policies laid
down by the administration."
G.E. Milward. "Administration is primarily the process and
the agency used to establish the object or purpose which
an undertaking and its staff are to achieve; secondarily,
administration has to plan and stabilize the broad lines or
principles which will govern action. These broad lines are
in their turn usually called policies. Management is the
process and the agency through which the execution of
policy is planned and supervised."
Thus, according to this school of thought,
administration and management are not synonymous
and they have different functions to perform. If we
accept this view, the differences between
'administration' and 'management' are as follows:
• Administration is concerned
with policy-making while
management is concerned
with the implementation of
policy.
• Functions of administration
are legislative and largely,
determinative, whereas
functions of management are
executive and largely,
governing.
• Administration is a thinking
function and management is a
doing function.
• Administration relates to the
apex and top level
management whereas
management relates to middle
and lower level management.
• Administration needs
administrative rather than
technical ability but
management requires
technical ability more than
administrative ability.
Administration as part of Management
Another viewpoint which has been expressed by E.F.L.
Brech and others interprets management as a
comprehensive generic term which includes
administration. Brech, the renowned management
expert, regards management as a comprehensive generic
function, embracing the entire process of planning,
policy-making, co-ordination of activities, maintaining of
moral and discipline as well as controlling the operations
so as to attain the best possible results.
Administration, according to him, signifies certain aspects
of management functions (viz., planning and control) and
it is interpreted as a branch of management. On the basis
of this concept, the management function has been
divided into two categories: (1) administrative
management and (2) operative management. The upper
level of management is usually called administrative
management and the lower level is known as operative
management.
The Type of Skills in Organisation
• Conceputal skills
• Human resources skills and
• Operating or Supervisory skills.
Conceputal Skills
• involve the ability to understand the organisation
as a whole.
• Policy making body should possess these skill to
a greater extent to know how various functions of
the organisation support one another, how the
organisation responds to the external environment
and how changes in one operational function will
affect the other operational functions.
Technical Skills
• refer to specialised knowledge and expertise
possessed by the manager to execute work-related
planning programming and accounting
• This is more concerned with "Things" - Processes
or physical objects.
Human Skills
• are the ones that develop cooperation within
the team lead by the manager
• This is more concerned with attitudes,
perceptions, communication power of the
individual, human resource management etc.
These skills are more concerned with people
and working with them.