The Differences Between Administraton and Management Definitions Management

The Differences Between Administraton and Management

Definitions • Management: the act or skill of directing and organizing the work of a company or organization; the people who are in charge of a company or organization; the act or skill of dealing with a situation that needs to be controlled in some way. • Administration: all activities that are involved in managing and organizing the affairs of a company or institution; the government of a country at a particular time.

Eight categories of characteristics • • objectives success criteria resource use decision making structure roles attitudes

Objectives Management • Stated as broad strategic aims • Supported by more detailed short-term goals and targets reviewed frequently Administration • Stated in general terms and reviewed or changed infrequently

Success Criteria Management • Success seeking • Performance mostly measurable Administration • Mistake avoiding • Performance difficult to measure

Ressource Use Management • Primary task Administration • Secondary task

Decision Making Management • Many decisions • Decisions affect few • Decisions must be made quickly Administration • Few decisions • Decisions affect many • Decisions take time to be made

Structure Management • Short hierarchies • Maximum delegation Administration • Roles defined in terms of areas of responsibility • Longer hierarchies • Limited delegation

Roles Management • Protagonist Administration • Arbitrator

Attitudes • • Management Active: seeking to influence ther environment, best people used to find and exploit opportunities Time sensitive Risk accepting but minimizing it Emphasis on results Doing the right things Local experiments; need for conformity to be proved Independence

Administration • Passive: workload determined outside the system, best people used to solve problems • Time insensitive • Risk avoiding • Emphasis on procedure • Doing things right • Conformity • Uniformity

Skills Management • Numeracy • statistics • figures Administration • Literacy • reports • notes

Conclusion • Management is about directing, improving, innovating in order to reach the organization’s goal of profit-maximizing • Administration is about analyzing reports, correcting mistakes and solving problems in order to reach the same goal • A company, an organization or an institution needs both. “It must not only keep things going; it must also m 13 ake things go: a distinction which represents a succint, yet valid, definition of the difference between administration and management”.

Bibliography • Longman Web Dictionary • Rees, D. Skills of Management , Thomson Learning. London: 2001 • Mintzberg, H. The Strategy Process, Prentice Hall. New Jersey: 1992 • Marshall, P. Dynamics of Diplomacy, Diplomatic Academy of London: 1990