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 responsibi- lity

• 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 m13ake 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. London: 1990