Due to various activities carried by the various departments in our businesses and the many people who we have employed as our employees, management becomes vital. Management and administration are two different things.
Management and administration arises in our businesses because we cannot imagine our lives without work. Life won’t make any meaning without work. It is given to man as a punishment from God.
Perhaps that is why our bosses yell at us or pressures us to do something that we don’t feel like doing. It may be the reason why we face some obstacles while executing various tasks in our work place. But all in all life is incomplete without work.
We have got many activities to do daily,
and these activities are grouped into two categories. We have the first category which is a non economic. Non economic activities arise out of love, humanity and sympathy. It is not intending to create any wealth to the individuals who undertake them.
The second category is economic activities that do generate incomes for the individuals who undertake them. They create wealth to economies.
As a business man, you are under the category of economic activities. Your business is running these activities through the people whom you have employed. These employees are in various levels of your business management. They do man your business department’s activities efficiently and effectively if only you have good management.
So, what is this management that is vital in your enterprise? I borrow the definition from the educated fellow who defined it… S. George says, “Management is getting things done through the efforts of other people.” This sounds pretty good because you get your business activities executed by others as a manager.
Eight Distinctions between Management and Administration
1. Administration is concerned with the determination of major policies while management executes these policies.
2. Administration is the thinking and the determination of functions while management is the doing of these functions.
3. Administration makes major decisions of the business while management executes these decisions within the framework that is set by administration.
4. Administration is a top level activity of any business while management is a middle level activity of any business.
5. Administration is made up of the owners of the business who have invested their capital in it and receive profits as a reward while management is a group of persons who render their skilled services to the business and get payments in form of salaries. This group of persons is termed as employees.
6. Administration is a term that is common in governments, military, education and religious organizations while management is a term that is common in business organizations.
7. Administration is not concerned with directing human efforts in the implementation of plans and policies of any business organization while management is concerned with the directing of human efforts towards implementation of plans and policies of any business organizations.
8. In Administration, planning and organization functions are involved while in management motivation and control functions are involved.
To summarize the distinctions, administration is concerned with the setting of major objectives, determination of policies and decisions while management executes these policies and decisions.
