Management and administration are two pillars of an organization. They both might sound the same but are not exactly. Organizational success depends on these two pillars. The administration stands high than management in a company. The Administration is the brain of a company as it decides on everything a company needs to perform whereas management is under administration, and it follows and works for it. Here, let’s know about the differences between Administration VS Management.
Management controls all activities and gives directions, and on the other hand, administration deals with organizing and planning. These functions of business activity can be performed through planning, controlling, and coordinating.
Let’s study the two in-depth and find their differences and similarities.
Meaning of Administration
The administration is an organized process of setting up the policies and objectives of an organization. It performs the higher-level activities of an organization. The functions and duties of an administration include making policies, plans, and procedures. It also sets up the objectives, goals, and implements rules, and regulations of the organization.
Administration sets the foundational plan of a company, and the management is expected to function according to that. It is bureaucratic as it consists of activities like planning, forecasting, organization, and decision-making function. Administration stands at the top level of a hierarchy in the organization. This top level of a hierarchy consists of the owners and the investors or business partners who invest their capital in the organization.
Organizational success depends upon the performance of an administrational department. The administration’s responsibility is to ensure the quality of the company’s work. For any business to function well, it needs to have a strong and skilled administrative plan.
Meaning of Management
Management is the process of managing people and the work they do. Through this act, the management aims at achieving common organizational goals and success by using the resources given by the organization. It is a simple way of getting the work done by others. The managers and their subordinates create an environment where they work together in unity for achieving a common goal and objectives.
It is a group of people who performs and run the system of an organization and works to complete the tasks given by the administration by utilizing their skills and talents. This group of people are highly skilled and experienced in executing the operations. The crucial activities performed by the management include organizing, leading, controlling, motivating, decision making, and coordinating.
An effective management team will always enhance organizational success. It creates a healthy working environment for all the workers because a uniform workflow is the most crucial element. The manager or the management expert controls the entire working environment through directions and coordination.
The leading characters of management are the general manager and the CEO. Whereas the top management is under the chief executive officers and board of directors. It is a result-oriented activity of an organization because its only focus is to achieve the desired output.
Differences of an Administration and Management
- Meaning: Management is a process of managing people and their work to achieve common goals and success by utilizing the resources provided by the organization. Whereas the administration is an organized process of administering the management of an organization and setting up its policies and objectives.
- Organizational level: In the hierarchy of an organization, the management performs the business and functional activity and belongs to low or middle-level authority while administration belongs to and performs the higher-level activity.
- Attention or focus: The focus of the management is to implement the policy, whereas the administration focuses on the policy formulation.
- Functions: The management functions include execution and governing, while administrative functions include determination and legislation.
- Decision making: The management takes the executive decisions, under the administration boundaries whereas the administration takes all the crucial decisions for an organization.
- Formation: The management involves a group of employees who work together to achieve a common goal, whereas administration comprises owners of the organization and the business partners or investors.
- Founded in or organizational type: The management can be found in a profitable organization like a business enterprise while the administration is found in hospitals, military offices, religious organizations, schools, and colleges.
- Objectives: the management is concerned with the plans, actions, and output of an organization whereas the administration deals with setting objectives and making policies.
- Role: the role played by the management is the executive, whereas the role of an administration is conclusive.
- Tasks performing: The management decides on which work should be assigned to whom and how it should it carried out, whereas an administration sets goals as to what should be done and provides a time framework within which it should be done.
- Skills required: The people involved in the management division of an organization require technical and human skills while the administrative people require administrative and conceptual skills.
- Orientation: The management is result-oriented whereas an administration is procedural-based.
- Concerned areas: The management is concerned and focused on the people in the organization and their work while an administration is concerned with utilizing the resources of an organization to the maximum.
- Process: Management is a process that continues, while Administration is a process that is one way.
- Scope of function: Management is narrow and operational, and administration is broad and conceptual.
- Factors affecting decisions: Management is affected by internal factors whereas administration is affected by external factors.
- Key people or head: The management is handled by the general manager and the CEO while the administration is headed by the owners or the administrator of an organization.
- Audience: The audience of management is the program managers and staff whereas the audience of an administration is its administrator, funding agencies, potential consumers, and policymakers.
- Frequency of data collection: The management collects data frequently whereas an administration is infrequent with its data collection.
Similarities of an Administration and Management
- The management and administration both are practiced under expertise for attaining the goals.
- Both administration and management are performed by people working in an organization.
- Administration and management have the same period of existence and both fucuses and contribute to the uniform running of an organization.
- Both are process-based techniques.
- Whether they apply several different techniques separately but the common goal of both management and administration is to be able to attain and deliver the expected goals and outcomes.
- They both are a part of the new public management model.
- Management and administration both need to be carried through in the organization for a long period to get effective and positive results.
- The functions of both management and administration collide and overlap with each other.
- Mostly the management performs the task given by the administration, but simultaneously administration works with management as well. The manager together needs to know about both management and administration activities.
- The initiatives taken by both are the same as they both apply proper tricks and techniques to run the organization.
- The management and administration perform in and cover all levels of an organizational hierarchy which is lower level, middle level, and top-level.
- They both are directly involved in planning, organizing, and controlling.
- Despite dealing with different organizational types, they have the same utility.
Manager Vs Administrator of the organization
Managers and administrators are two different levels of people working in two different levels of an organization. They both are the leaders of an organization but at a different level. Both have the authority according to the positions given to them. Let’s further study them and the differences they share.
Who is a manager?
A manager is a person in an organization who oversees the execution of policies and objectives that are set by the top-level personnel of the company. He or she takes responsibility as to how it should be performed. A manager is very social and has direct communication with the employees and ensures their smooth performance.
He or she is authorized to control the employees and monitor their work. The work and responsibility of a manager change according to the type of structure a company has.
Who is an administrator?
An administrator is a person who decides on the company’s plans, policies, and objectives. He or she plans the functions of an organization. He has the authority to take the overall decision of an organization. They plan and set up goals for a company to earn profit.
At times an administrator can also perform the duties of a manager or work as an employee, but it depends on the company structure. An administrator can also be an owner in cases where the company has a small structure.
Differences of an administrator and a manager
- Meaning: An administrator sets up the policies and objectives whereas a manager is responsible for putting these policies and objectives into action to make sure at the end it delivers the desired result.
- Authority: A manager holds his position somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy whereas an administrator has the highest authority and performs at a high level.
- Competition: A manager faces internal competition in the company while an administrator does not face anything such.
- Skills required: The skills required in a manager are managerial and technical skills whereas administrative and decision-making skills are required in an administrator.
- Decision making: An administrator takes the company’s overall decision whereas a manager is authorized to take a few decisions which the administrator has permitted him to.
Conclusion:
Management and administration are equally important for an organization to develop and grow successfully. An administrative department cannot function independently without the support and help of a management department. Organizational success depends on both hands. Both might have several differences in terms of functions and decision making but they have some similarities. So, we can say that management and administration go hand in hand.
Frequently asked questions
Question 1: What are the duties performed by an administration?
Answer: Administration performs all the higher-level activities. It makes the organizational plans and policies and sets up goals and objectives. It also has the complete authority to make all the decisions regarding the business and implement rules and regulations for an organization to follow in order or attain its goals.
Question 2: Does administration stand high than management?
Answer: Yes, the administration stands at the top level of an organizational hierarchy whereas management stands either in the middle level or low level of a hierarchy.
Question 3: Is administration a part of management?
Answer: Yes, it can be considered because both are a part of an organization, and they perform for organizational success. To be specific an administration sets up policies and objectives for management to perform them practically. So, both are incomplete without each other’s support, and they go hand in hand. This is one of the reasons why they can be considered as a part of each other.
Question 4: who is the head of management?
Answer: The management function of an organization is looked after by a manager or a CEO.
