In order to understand the administration, you must know the perspective of the history of its discipline, the facts about what has happened in previous similar situations, and relate them to other experiences and other current knowledge. That is why the importance of knowing the history and origin of the administration.
The administration appears since the man begins to work in society. The rise of the administration is a major event in social history. In a few cases, if any, a basically new institution, or some new ruling group, has emerged as fast as administration since the beginning of the century. Few times in the history of humanity has an institution manifested itself so quickly. The administration, which is the specific body responsible for making resources productive, that is, with the responsibility of organizing economic development, reflects the essential spirit of the modern era. It is really indispensable and this explains why, once created, it grew so quickly.
Definitions by different authors:
- Clushkov: “It is a device that organizes and performs the orderly transformation of information, receives the information from the address object, processes it and transmits it in the form necessary for management, carrying out this process continuously.” Guzmán Valdivia I: “It is the effective management of activities and the collaboration of other people to obtain certain results. ”FL Brech:“ It is a social process that carries with it the responsibility of planning and regulating the operations of a company efficiently, to achieve a given purpose ”.D. Mooney: "It is the art or technique of directing and inspiring others, based on a deep and clear understanding of human nature." And he contrasts this definition with the one he gives about organization as: «the technique of relating specific duties or functions in a coordinated whole».Peterson and Plowman: "A technique by means of which the purposes and objectives of a particular human group are determined, clarified and carried out." Koontz and O'Donnell: they consider Administration as: "the direction of a social organism, and its effectiveness in achieving its objectives, based on the ability to lead its members ».P. Terry: "It consists of achieving a predetermined objective, through the effort of others." Tannenbaum: "The use of authority to organize, direct, and control responsible subordinates (and consequently, the groups they command), in order to that all the services provided are duly coordinated in achieving the end of the company. ”Henry Fayol (considered by many to be the true father of modern Administration), says that“ to administer is to foresee, organize, command,coordinate and control ". Morstein Marx conceives it as:" Every action aimed at turning a purpose into a positive reality "…" is a systematic ordering of means and the calculated use of resources applied to the realization of a purpose ».M. Fernández Escalante: «It is the set of principles and techniques, with their own autonomy, that allows directing and coordinating the activity of human groups towards common objectives». Reyes Ponce: «It is a set of systematic rules to achieve maximum efficiency in the forms to structure and manage a social organism »."It is the set of principles and techniques, with their own autonomy, which allows directing and coordinating the activity of human groups towards common objectives." Reyes Ponce: "It is a set of systematic rules for achieving maximum efficiency in the ways of structuring and manage a social organism »."It is the set of principles and techniques, with their own autonomy, which allows directing and coordinating the activity of human groups towards common objectives." Reyes Ponce: "It is a set of systematic rules for achieving maximum efficiency in the ways of structuring and manage a social organism ».
Definition of Administration:
Each of the above definitions, if we analyze them in detail, will lead us to penetrate the true nature of administration and its distinctive properties. As such, the definitions are valid for all kinds of administration (Private, Public, Mixed, etc.), and for all kinds of organizations (industrial, commercial or service).
Administration: It is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which, working in groups, individuals efficiently meet specific objectives.
This basic definition should be expanded.
- When serving as administrators, individuals must exercise the administrative functions of: planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. Administration applies to all types of organizations. It applies to administrators at all organizational levels. The intention of all administrators is the same: generating a surplus. Management pursues productivity, which implies effectiveness and efficiency.
They all manage organizations, which we will define as a group of people who work together to generate a surplus. In commercial organizations, this surplus is profits. In nonprofits, such as philanthropies, the surplus may be represented by meeting needs.
When studying administration, it is very useful to divide it into five functions: planning, organization, direction and control; around which the knowledge at the base of these functions can be grouped. That is why the principles, concepts, theories and techniques of administration are organized in these five functions.
Science: It is an organized knowledge. The essential characteristic of any science is the application of the scientific method to the development of knowledge.
Scientific approach: It requires clear concepts, mental images of anything formed by generalizations from particularities. These terms must be exact, relevant to those being analyzed and reported to both the scientist and the practitioner. The scientific method includes determining facts through information. After classifying and analyzing them, scientists look for causal relationships. When the accuracy of these generalizations or hypotheses are verified and appear to be true, reflecting or explaining reality, they are called principles. It has the courage to predict what will happen in future similar circumstances.
Systematic approach:
- System: An ordered set of interdependent elements that interact with each other in a target's post. Open systems: Dynamic systems that interact and respond to their environment. Eg: man Closed systems: These are systems that are not influenced or interact with the environment. Eg: the clock.
The company is an open system.
Three-dimensional approach of the company:
Plan
1-) Strategic Goal
objective
2-) HR Tactic
or RRTT
RRFF management
Transform
3-) Extract Operation
Produce
Administrator functions:
Planning: Includes the selection of missions or purposes and the resources to use. The tool that provides the adm. is the business plan. It requires decision making, that is, choosing between various future courses of action. Thus the plans provide a rational approach to pre-selected objectives. It also involves administrative innovation and allows us to bridge the gap that separates us from where we want to go. It makes it possible for things to happen that would not have happened otherwise. Planning is a process that requires an intellectual effort; it requires a consistent determination of courses of action and that decisions be based on considered purposes, knowledge and estimates.
Importance of planning:
- It fosters the development of the company. It reduces risks to the maximum. It maximizes the use of resources and time.
"Planning is the function of the administrator, although the character and breadth of planning vary with his authority and with the nature of the policies and plans outlined by his superior."
Recognition of the influence of planning goes a long way toward clarifying attempts by some management scholars to distinguish between formulating policy (setting guidelines for thinking about decision-making) and management, or between the director and the administrator or the supervisor. An administrator, because of her delegation of authority or position in the organization, can improve the established planning or make it basic and applicable to a greater proportion of the company than the planning of another. However, all administrators, from the directors to the bosses or supervisors, plan what corresponds to them. The following diagram shows us more clearly this division.
Elements of planning:
-) Purposes. The fundamental aspirations or purposes of a qualitative type that a social group pursues permanently or semi-permanently.
-) The investigation. Applied to planning, research consists of determining all the factors that influence the achievement of the purposes, as well as the optimal means to achieve them.
-) The objectives. They represent the results that the company wants to obtain, they are goals to achieve, established quantitatively and determined to be carried out after a specific time.
-) The strategies. General or alternative courses of action that show the direction and use of resources and efforts to achieve the objectives in the most advantageous conditions.
-) Policies. They are guides to guide action; they are criteria, general guidelines to be observed in decision-making, about recurring problems within an organization.
-) Programs. They are diagrams where it is established, the sequence of activities that must be carried out to achieve objectives and the time required to carry out each of its parts and all those events involved in its achievement.
-) Budgets. It is an ordered and systematic plan expressed in monetary value or units of measurement that includes the ex. Economic and their respective subperiods and covers all the operations of the organizations.
-) Procedures. They establish the chronological order and the sequence of activities that must be followed in carrying out repetitive work.
Budget types:
· Sales budget
· Shopping budget
· Production budget
· General economic budget
· Financial budget
· Cash flow budget
Budget Control:
It consists of the comparison of the budgetary figures with the real ones. The comparisons in the budget are made with:
- The original annual budget The adjusted budget made in pre-determined periods The adjusted budget made in non-pre-established periods
Comparisons make it possible to establish whether or not deviations or variations are under control or subject to management's own decisions.
The SWOT analysis is a tool that allows us to create a picture of the current situation of the company or organization, thus allowing us to obtain an accurate diagnosis that allows us to make decisions based on the objectives and policies formulated.
The term SWOT is an acronym made up of the first letters of the words Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Threats (in English SWOT: Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Among these four variables, both strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization, making it possible to act directly on them. On the other hand, the opportunities and threats are external, making it generally very difficult to modify them.
Strengths: these are the special capabilities that the company has, and for which it has a privileged position against the competition. Resources that are controlled, capacities and abilities that are possessed, activities that are developed positively, etc.
Opportunities: are those factors that are positive, favorable, exploitable, that must be discovered in the environment in which the company operates, and that allow obtaining competitive advantages.
Weaknesses: are those factors that cause an unfavorable position against the competition. resources that are lacking, skills that are not possessed, activities that are not developed positively, etc.
Threats: are those situations that come from the environment and that can even threaten the permanence of the organization.
Analysis
SWOT Analysis is a very simple and clear concept, but behind its simplicity lie fundamental concepts of Administration. I will try to scrap the SWOT to expose its key parts.
We have one objective: to convert the data of the universe (as we perceive it) into information, processed and ready for decision making (strategic in this case). In terms of systems, we have an initial data set (universe to be analyzed), a process (SWOT analysis) and a product, which is the information for decision-making (the SWOT report resulting from the SWOT analysis).
I argue that almost anyone can do a SWOT analysis. I say almost because that person has to have the ability to distinguish in a system:
- The relevant of the irrelevant The external of the internal The good of the bad
It seems easy, right?
Let's put it in other words: the SWOT is going to help us analyze our company as long as we can answer three questions: What I am analyzing is relevant? is it inside or outside of the company? Is it good or bad for my company?
These three questions are nothing other than the three threads seen in the central process of the drawing above. Let us go on to explain:
Relevance is the first process and works as a filter: not everything deserves to be elevated to a component of strategic analysis. It is common sense since in all areas of life it is essential to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant. In SWOT this filter reduces our analysis universe reducing our need for processing (which is not a small thing).
Examples: dubiously a comparative advantage is the petrochemicals bathroom cleaning system, or the color of the monitors, or if the paper used is letter or A4. It seems silly, but it is incredible the number of times that humans find it difficult to distinguish the main from the accessory, whether in a discussion, a decision or wherever.
Of course, the relevance of something depends on where we stand, and this concept of relativity is important. Toilet hygiene can be key in a Hospital or Hotel. The order in which the steps are taken when making a sale is not as important as the steps firefighters take to put out a fire. Discipline and formal authority are neglected in many "New Economy" ventures… but for an army in battle that can cost you your life. That is why whoever does a SWOT analysis should know the business (neither more nor less than knowing what he is talking about).
Filtering the data we can only classify them. Applying common sense, we can build an array with two dimensions (inside / outside, good / bad):
| Positive | Negative | |
| Exterior | Opportunities | Threats |
| Inside | Strengths | Weaknesses |
Whoever invented the SWOT Analysis chose a word for each intersection: thus the intersection of "good" and "outside" is an opportunity, while the "positive" questions of the "inside" of our company are a strength, and so on.
Distinguishing between inside and outside the company is sometimes not as easy as it sounds. It is easy to say that from the Ferrari's point of view, M. Schumager is a strength (internal), and that if M. Hakkinen is left without a job in his team, it will be an (external) Opportunity for Ferrari. But control of a scarce resource (oil) or an exclusive supplier is physically outside of my company… and yet they are Strengths. The key is to adopt a systems vision and know how to distinguish its limits. For this it is necessary to take into account, not the physical disposition of the factors, but the control that I have over them. Remembering an old definition of limit: what affects and controls me is internal to the system. What affects me but is beyond my control, is (external) environment.
We are only left with the positive / negative dimension, which apparently should not be difficult, but we must be careful. The competitive business environment is full of maneuvers, deception, etc. In World War II, the Axis was happy that the Allied landing was in Calais, because it had many fortresses in that case. But D-Day was in Normandy and that's why today the world is what it is.
Circumstances can change from one day to the next also within the company: the Strength of having that shrewd young employee can become serious Weakness if he leaves (and worse if he leaves with the competition). And the Weakness of having an employee who is close to retirement and who has trouble adapting to new technologies can reveal itself as a Fortress too late… when he retires and we realize that we were depending on him because he was the only one who knew "where everything was" and "how things are done."
The sagacity of the entrepreneur must turn Threats into Opportunities and Weaknesses into Strengths. Examples: Partnering with our lifelong competition to face a heavier enemy; move an unstructured and extroverted employee from an organizational task that does wrong, to the front line of attention to the public. The possibilities are many.
And those are the three steps necessary to analyze the current situation of the organization through SWOT Analysis.
Organization:
it is the part of management that involves establishing an intentional structure of the roles that individuals must play in a company. The structure is intentional in the sense that it must guarantee the assignment of all the tasks necessary for the fulfillment of the goals, an assignment that must be made to the people best qualified to carry out those tasks.
The purpose of an organizational structure is to contribute to the creation of a favorable environment for human performance. It is then an administrative instrument, and not an end in itself. Although the tasks to be performed must be defined in the structure, the roles must be designed taking into account the capacities and motivations of the available personnel.
In this sense, the organization consists of:
1) The identification and classification of the required activities.
2) The grouping of the activities necessary to fulfill the objectives.
3) The assignment of each group of activities to an administrator with the necessary authority to supervise it.
4) The stipulation of horizontal coordination (at the same or similar organizational level) and vertical (between general offices, a division and a department, for example) in the organizational structure.
An organizational structure must be designed to determine who will perform which tasks and who will be responsible for what results; to remove performance obstacles resulting from confusion and uncertainty regarding the allocation of activities, and to build decision-making and communication networks that respond to and support business objectives.
For most administrators, the term Organization implies an intentional and formalized structure of functions or positions.
Intentional structure of functions means that the functions that people are asked to fulfill must be intentionally designed to guarantee the performance of the required activities and the adequate correspondence between them so that individuals can work smoothly, effectively and efficiently in groups.
Formal and informal organization Formal organization
Formal organization is generally understood as the intentional structure of functions in a formally organized company. But describing an organization as "formal" does not mean that it contains anything inherently inflexible or unduly limiting.
The formal organization must be flexible. It must lead to discretion, the advantageous use of creative talent, and the recognition of individual tastes and abilities in more formal organizations. However, in a group situation individual efforts should be channeled towards group and organizational goals.
Informal organization
Chester Barnard described informal organization as the set of personal activities without a conscious common purpose, although favorable to common results. More recently, Keith Davis described informal organization as a network of personal and social relationships not established or required by formal organization, but which arises spontaneously from the association of people with one another.
In this way they are informal organizations (relationships that do not appear in an organization chart)
Recognition of the importance of informal organization and the natural network of relationships
One of the best known and most important examples of informal organizations is the natural network of relationships.
The natural network of relationships
There tends to be informal organizations when members of a formal organization acquire such knowledge from each other that they share information related in one way or another to the company.
The natural network of relationships is fed, of course, with information to which the group as a whole does not have free access, either because it is considered confidential, because the formal lines of communication are inadequate to disseminate it or because it is the type of information (which corresponds to most of the rumors) that would never be formally disclosed.
Since all forms of informal organization meet essential human communication needs, natural networks of relationships are inevitable, but also valuable.
Benefits
The informal organization gives a certain cohesion to the formal organization and makes communication faster. Create a sense of belonging, status, self-respect, and satisfaction in the members of a formal organization.
Many managers deliberately use informal organizations as channels of communication and avenues to influence employee morale.
Organizational levels and administration section
If there are organizational levels it is because there is a limit to the number of people that an administrator can effectively supervise, a limit that, however, varies according to each situation.
A broad stretch of administration is associated with a reduced number of organizational levels; a narrow stretch with many levels.
Advantages of organization planning
Organizational structure planning helps determine future staffing needs and required training programs. By ignoring the administrative staff that will be needed and the expertise that will be required, a company will not be able to recruit and train smartly.
Furthermore, organization planning can reveal weaknesses. The duplication of efforts, the confusion regarding the lines of authority, the excessive prolongation of the lines of communication, the excess of paperwork and the obsolescence of certain practices are more clearly perceived when the real organizational structure is compared with the desirable one. .
Definition of organizational culture
Culture is the general pattern of behavior, beliefs, and values that its members share. It can be inferred from what people say, do, and think in the context of an organization. It involves the acquisition and transmission of knowledge, beliefs and behavior patterns over time, which means that it is stable and does not change rapidly.
Organization with narrow sections
- Advantage:
1- Close supervision.
2- Strict control.
3- Quick communication between subordinates and superiors.
- Disadvantages:
1- Superiors tend to get excessively involved in the work of subordinates.
2- Many administrative levels.
3- High costs due to the numerous levels.
4- Excessive distance between the lowest level and the highest.
Organization with wide sections
- Advantage:
1- The superiors are forced to delegate.
2- Clear policies must be established.
3- The subordinates must be carefully selected.
- Disadvantages:
1- Tendency of superiors overloaded with work to become bottlenecks in decisions.
2- Risk of loss of control for the superior.
3- Exceptional quality managers are required.
Organization with balanced sections
The organization with balanced sections occurs when it is adequate to the effectiveness of the company.
Elements of the structure:
1) The operational nucleus: it includes those members, the operators, who carry out the basic work directly related to the production of goods and services.
2) The middle line: it goes from the senior managers, to the contact supervisors (plant foremen). In direct supervision, the middle line manager would perform the following tasks: collect feedback from his own unit and send some of it to the managers above him; intervene in the decision stream; Faced with problems or proposals for change, he will take care of what is his responsibility and the rest will take him to the next level.
3) The strategic summit: it is made up of those persons in charge of the general responsibility of the organization (general director and high-level managers). The summit is charged with ensuring that the organization fulfills its mission effectively. Here, managers perform direct supervision, manage the organization's border conditions (relationships with its environment), and formulate strategies. Among them, coordination occurs through mutual adjustment.
4) The technostructure: here are the analysts. It is effective only when I can use your analytical models to make the work of others more effective. It is made up of analysts in charge of adaptation (changing the organization to adapt it to environmental change), and analysts in charge of control (stabilizing and standardizing activity patterns in the organization). In a highly developed organization, the technostructure can perform at all levels of the hierarchy. It could be said that the more standardization an organization uses, the more it trusts its technostructure.
5) The support staff: it is a unit that exists to support the organization. It differs from the technostructure in that it is not concerned with standardization nor is it a counselor (even though it may act as such). Examples of support staff are: public relations, post office, cafeteria, etc. The question may be asked why large organizations supply their own support services, rather than purchasing them from external providers. And the answer is that in this way they can exercise close control over them, as well as reduce the uncertainty of having to buy them on the open market. Support units can be found at various levels of the hierarchy (depends on service recipients). For example, him
Legal Council is located near the address as it directly serves the strategic summit.
Features to consider when structuring the organization:
1) Specific character: the structure must be tailored to the organization in question, based on its specific characteristics.
2) Dynamic character: all good organization develops permanently, changes. That is why the structure must be flexible, so that it can withstand the changes that will occur in the future, and thus allow for a harmonious and solid growth of the organization.
3) Human character: when designing the structure of an organization, the skills of the people who comprise it or who will integrate it in the future must be taken into account. It is not good to first outline the organization chart and only later to determine who will occupy each position in it. If he did so, he would be falling into formal and rigid organizations, made up of "rectangular beings".
4) The rise in the organization: the dynamic and human characters lead to a typical organizational problem: that of the rise of people from one hierarchical level to another. A man may be prepared to carry out his current position, but not the immediate superior. For example, if an excellent clinical doctor is promoted to hospital director, it is highly likely that he is a poor administrator (the requirements that will be made of him will change significantly). Man always seeks to ascend, without realizing that in this way he will reach a terrain that he does not dominate. There it will fail, and henceforth it will no longer ascend.
5) Orientation towards organizational objectives: for the actions of the organization to be effective, the organizational objectives must prevail over the departmental ones.
6) Assignment of responsibilities: for there to be responsibility, the corresponding authority must exist. Responsibility is not delegated, but is assigned as inherent to the position.
7) Unity of command: no employee can respond to more than one superior; consequently, he will receive all instructions through a single superior.
8) Scope of control and segmentation of the organizational structure: to save executives, increase communication speed, avoid distortions in the transmission of orders, etc., communication lines should be kept as short as possible, thus reducing the number of levels of authority in the structure. This, as long as the number of subordinates does not increase that exceeds the effective scope of control. In this case, it would be useful to add levels of authority.
9) Coordination: “synchronization and unification of the actions of a group”. It is sought that the action as a whole, achieves better results than those that we would obtain by adding together those achieved by each of the parties independently.
10) Linking planning and control processes with the organizational structure: according to the structure, the type of control and planning to be used will be established. But in certain cases, it is the structure that can be conditioned by virtue of the planning and control used.
11) Complexity of the organization: the organization should not be allowed to become so complicated that it hinders the performance of the work. The structure must allow a smooth and efficient development of management.
12) Paralinear structures: committees, assistants, etc. They are highly disputed. To be efficient, for example, the committees must be made up of few people, there must be a good coordinator, the agenda to be discussed must be known in advance, the meetings must be as short as possible, etc. Even so, experience shows that they are almost always inefficient.
13) The organizational structure and the informal organization: when defining the organizational structure, the informal organization, with its groups, leaders, conflicts, etc. must be taken into account. There must be a constant adjustment between the two.
Delegation: It is the transfer of the accomplishment of a determined task in a subordinate. According to Harold Koontz, the delegation of authority is to empower a subordinate to make decisions.
The delegation of authority process is the determination of the expected results of a subordinate, assignment of tasks, delegation of authority for the performance of these tasks and attribution of responsibility for the achievement of such tasks.
Centralization: It occurs when there is little delegation, so that few people concentrate most of the organization's tasks.
This usually occurs in small family-type companies, where usually one or a few people are responsible for making most of the business decisions.
According to Fayol, without using the term centralization of authority, it refers to the degree to which authority is concentrated or dispersed. The individual circumstances will determine the degree that “will give the best labor production”.
Decentralization: It is the delegation of decisions. Determine the vertical structure of the organization.
Typically decentralized functions: sale, production, purchasing, preparation of the annual budget, development of new products, etc.
Typically centralized functions: setting of organizational objectives, control, strategic decisions, investment decisions, external relations, etc.
Departmentalization: It is the delegation of operational activities. Determine the horizontal structure of the organization. It is linked to specialization. To departmentalize, it is necessary to take into account the degree of interdependence between the sectors that have been defined, and the coordination that is required between them.
Types of departmentalization:
- By functions: marketing, production, finance, etc.
- By processes: stamping, welding, painting, assembly, etc.
- By products: companies that manufacture different products (coffee, milk, chocolate, etc.)
- By geographic area: Bs.As. plant, Tucumán plant, Santa Fe plant, etc.
- By type of customers or distribution channel: wholesalers, retailers, etc.
- By time: morning shift, night shift, etc.
Forces exerted by each part of the organization:
- The strategic summit: towards centralization (more control over decisions); coordinate by direct supervision. This is how the “simple structure” configuration arises.
- The technostructure: towards standardization (preferably of work processes), and mainly the design of standards. Thus, when these conditions exist, the configuration "bureaucratic machine" emerges.
- The operational core: minimize the influence of administrators, coordinate by standardizing skills. In this way, horizontal and vertical decentralization is promoted. The configuration "professional bureaucracy" emerges.
- The middle line: subtract down part of the power exercised by the summit, and subtract up part of the power exercised by the operating nucleus; coordinate by product standardization. This is how the “divisionalized structure” configuration emerges.
- The support staff: gains the greatest influence in the organization when asked to collaborate in decision-making; coordinate by mutual adjustment. Thus, when conditions favor this tendency to collaborate, the “adhocracy” configuration emerges.
Five trends in the organization.
The five structural configurations:
Simple structure (the "non-structure")
- Structure without sophistication.
- There is no technostructure or it is very limited in its dimensions.
- Reduced support staff. It's about not depending on him.
- Loose division of labor.
- Small managerial hierarchy.
- Regulatory, planning, etc. elements are used to a minimum. (formal elements). It is an organic structure.
- Coordination is achieved by direct supervision.
- The most important part is the strategic apex (usually a person). Centralizes power and decisions.
- Contingent factors: young, small, syst. unsophisticated technology, dynamic and simple context, organization that is not fashionable.
The Simple Structure. Bureaucratic machine:
- Very specialized routine operational tasks.
- Very formalized procedures in the operating nucleus.
- The norms, rules, procedures, and formal communications proliferate.
- Large units in the operating core.
- The summit does not centralize decision making.
- Elaborated administrative structure, with a clear distinction between staff and line functions.
- Coordination through standardization of work processes (for which the technostructure is essential).
- Being a structure that generates many conflicts, there is an obsession with control. It is about eliminating uncertainties as much as possible so that the organization runs smoothly.
- Contingent factors: old, large, non-automated technological system, simple and stable context, organization that is not in fashion.
Manuals:
The manuals are primarily communication tools. Those organizations that do not use them usually channel their rules and instructions through isolated communications that, as soon as they fulfill the objective of information, fail to integrate into an organic body and, therefore, it is difficult to locate them and establish whether they are in force.
Generally, the use of manuals is widespread in large companies, since in the small company the personality of the entrepreneur and the lack of trained personnel make it difficult to apply organizational techniques.
The need for manuals becomes evident when the size and complexity of the organization require standardization, since in family or small companies the modality of teamwork and mutual adaptation are applied as a means of coordination.
Advantage:
- a) It has a unifying function, since they are a compendium of the functions and procedures that are developed in an organization. b) Management and decision-making are not subject to improvisations or personal criteria, but are governed by rules that maintain Continuity. c) They are a communication instrument that informs about company practices to improve the understanding of its global needs. d) They serve as a consultation and to resolve problems of jurisdiction or level of authority, thus avoiding conflicts. e) They are useful for the training and education of personnel and enable an objective evaluation of their performance.
Limitations:
- a) They do not consider the informal aspects of the organization. b) Its preparation and updating may require significant effort and cost. c) A defective or poorly maintained wording may hinder its use and, consequently, the development of operations. d) In If they are very detailed, they limit discretion, and therefore limit individual initiative.
Different types of manuals:
* Of Norms: main definitions of norms and policies.
* Organization: contains the graphics of the organization and specify the structure in detail.
* Of Procedures: they present the specific systems and techniques for carrying out the tasks.
The three categories mentioned are not always clearly defined in practice.
What the manual must include is: content, objective of the manual, objectives and policies of the organization, hierarchy, authority, control, missions and functions, attributions, delegation, replacement, information, relationships, responsibility, organization chart, and authorization regimes.
Organization chart:
The organization chart is the graphic representation that shows certain aspects of the organization, since it only indicates the way in which the different departments are related by means of lines of authority.
The job description complements the lack of information, since it allows the content and relationships of the different positions defined in the organization chart to be specified. It is a written description of the authority relations and the main duties of the position and its requirements, etc.
Elements to represent:
- Position or position: represents the set of activities grouped according to some departmental criteria and assigned to an organic unit or person. It is graphically represented by a rectangle, where the name of the department and / or name and hierarchy of the boss is placed. non-linear, "staff" or advisory bodies are represented outside the hierarchical pyramid. Relationships between positions: shows the relationship of hierarchical authority through continuous lines that join the different positions, and functional authority or "staff" through a line broken line.
Purposes:
Þ As a means of information:
* locate the position of each participant and their relationship with the rest, * facilitate the training of those who join the organization, * show the positions, sectors and departments and the collective bodies, * define the levels of the formal hierarchy, * identify linear authority and advisory relationships, * specify geographic divisions, by products or markets.
Þ As a means of analysis:
* provide an overview of the organization, * they allow the current structure to be surveyed and new structures to be projected, * facilitate the comparison of different structures, * reveal structural weaknesses.
Sociogram: through this the social interactions of the group are graphed.
Management: The administrative function of management is the process of influencing people to contribute to the fulfillment of organizational and group goals. As will be revealed in the presentations on this function, the behavioral sciences make their greatest contribution to administration precisely in this area.
Although emphasis is placed on the tasks of managers regarding the design of an internal environment that allows the high performance of organizations, it should not be ignored that managers are forced to operate also in the external environment of companies. It is evident that managers cannot carry out their tasks correctly if they do not understand and are sensitive to the many elements of the external environment (economic, technological, social, political and ethical factors) that affect their areas of operation. In addition, many organizations currently operate in different countries.
Through the role of management, managers help people realize that they can meet their needs and use their potential while contributing to the fulfillment of the company's purposes. Therefore managers must know the roles that people take, as well as their personality and individuality.
Administrators take responsibility for taking actions that allow individuals to enhance their best contributions to meeting group goals.
Hierarchy Of Needs - Maslow
Maslow conceived of human needs in the form of a hierarchy, which goes from the bottom up.
The needs in ascending order of importance are:
- Physiological needs: basic needs for the sustenance of human life, such as food, water, heat, shelter and sleep. As long as they are not satisfied, the others will not motivate individuals. Security needs: needs to get rid of physical risks and fear of losing work, property, food or shelter. Needs of association or acceptance: as social beings Individuals have the need for belonging, to be accepted by others. Estimation needs: once individuals satisfy their needs for belonging, they tend to desire both their own estimation and that of others. This type of need produces satisfactions such as power, prestige, category and security in oneself. Need for self-realization: it is the desire to become what one is capable of being,to optimize one's potential.
Motivational Approach - Hygiene - Herzberg
Herzberg set out to formulate a two-factor theory of motivation. In a group you would find things like politics and administration, supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary, job security and personal life. These elements are, for Herzberg, unsatisfactory, not motivating. He named these maintenance, hygiene or work context factors. In the second group, it included certain satisfactors (motivators), related to the content of the work. Among them are achievement, recognition, interesting work, advancement and job growth.
The first group of factors do not motivate people; however, they must be present, otherwise dissatisfaction will arise. The factors of the second group are the true motivators, since they can produce feelings of satisfaction.
Comparison of Maslow and Herzberg's theories of motivation:
Theory X and Theory Y - Mc Gregor In two groups of assumptions, elaborated by Mc Gregor, a particular vision of the nature of human beings was expressed.
Theory X assumptions:
- Average humans possess an inherent disgust for work and will avoid it as much as possible.Given this human trait of disgust at work, most people should be forced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment in order to endeavor efforts. Necessary for the fulfillment of organizational objectives. Average human beings prefer to be addressed, want to avoid all responsibility, possess a relatively limited ambition, and above all, crave security.
Theory Y assumptions:
- Physical and mental effort at work is as natural as play or rest. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means to produce efforts aimed at the achievement of organizational objectives. People exercise self-direction and self-control in favor of the goals they commit to. The degree of commitment to goals is commensurate with the importance of the rewards associated with their achievement. Under the right conditions, human beings learn not only to Accept responsibilities, but also pursue them. The ability to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination and creativity in problem solving is widely distributed among the population. In the conditions of modern industrial life,the intellectual potentialities of human beings are only partially used.
It is evident that the two assumptions differ from each other. Theory X is pessimistic and rigid; According to her, control is fundamentally external (from superior to subordinate). In contrast, theory Y is optimistic, dynamic and flexible, emphasizing self-direction and the integration of individual needs with organizational demands.
These theories are different views of human beings. Managers must recognize people's capabilities and limitations, and adjust behavior as the situation demands.
Motivation: Motivation is a term applied to a series of similar impulses, desires, needs, and forces. To say that managers motivate their employees is to say that they do things with which they hope to satisfy those impulses and induce subordinates to act in a certain way. An individual's motivations can be extremely complex, and sometimes contradictory. A person may wish to obtain material goods and services, at the same time that they want self-esteem, status, a sense of fulfillment, etc.
Motivators
Motivators are things that induce an individual to achieve high performance. While motivations are a reflection of desires, motivators are the rewards or incentives that intensify the drive to satisfy those desires. They are the means by which it is possible to reconcile conflicting needs or highlight one need to prioritize it over another; obviously they influence the behavior of the individual. Administrators must be interested in motivators and use their inventiveness to use them, since people fulfill their desires in many different ways. They must make use of motivators that induce people to act effectively for the company.
Motivational Theory Of Expectation - Vroom
Vroom argued that people will be motivated to do certain things in order to achieve a goal if they are convinced of its value and if they see that their actions will effectively contribute to achieving it.
Vroom's theory postulates that people's motivation to do something will be determined by the value they place on the result of their effort multiplied by the certainty they have that their efforts will help achieve a goal. In other words, she maintains that motivation is the product of the value that an individual attributes to a goal and the possibility that she will see it accomplished.
Vroom's theory could be formulated:
Where strength is the intensity of motivation, valence is the intensity of the individual's preference for a result and expectation, the probability that a certain action will lead to the desired result.
The Administrative Grid: One of the best-known approaches to defining leadership styles is the Administrative Grid, created a few years ago by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. Based on the importance of managers putting an interest in both production and people. It has already been used as a means of identifying various combinations of leadership styles.
Leadership: Administrators must exercise all the functions that correspond to their role in order to combine human and material resources in the fulfillment of objectives.
The key to achieving this is the existence of clear functions and a certain degree of authority in support of the actions of the administrators.
The essence of leadership is followers. In other words, what makes a person a leader is the willingness of people to follow her. Furthermore, people tend to follow those who offer them means to satisfy their wants and needs.
Leadership and motivation are closely interrelated.
Definition of leadership: Harry Truman, said that leadership is the ability to get men (and women) to do what they do not like and that they like. On the other hand, leadership is taken as an influence, that is, the art or process of influencing people so that they strive voluntarily and enthusiastically in the fulfillment of group goals.
The zeal is passion, formality and intensity in the execution of the work; safety is the reflection of experience and technical capacity.
Components of Leadership: There is practically no group of people who, performing at almost the maximum level of their ability, lack an individual at the head particularly capable in the art of leadership. Everything indicates that this aptitude is made up of at least four important ingredients:
- Effective and responsible use of power. Capacity for understanding that human beings have different motivations at different times and situations. Capacity for inspiration. Acts in favor of developing an atmosphere conducive to responding to motivations, leader style and the environment it generates.
The first component of leadership is power. Considering the nature of power and the differences between power and authority:
Behavior and leadership styles: There are several theories about behavior and leadership styles. Now, we will deal with:
1) Leadership based on the use of authority, 2) The administrative grid, 3) Leadership as an implicator of a wide variety of styles, ranging from the maximum use to the minimum of power and influence.
4) Coaching where the team is more than the sum of the individuals.
Styles Based On The Use Of Authority.
Accordingly, they apply three basic styles and a new concept.
- The Autocratic leader, imposes and expects fulfillment, safe and leads through the ability to retain or grant prizes and punishments.
- The Democratic, or participatory, leader consults his subordinates regarding probable actions and decisions and encourages their participation.
- The liberal or “loose reins” leader makes very little use of his power, if used, since it grants his subordinates a high degree of independence in his operations. They rely heavily on their subordinates to set their goals and the means to achieve them, and conceive of their role as supporting the operations of their followers.
Transactional and transformational leadership : Transactional leaders identify what their subordinates need to accomplish their goals, clarify organizational roles and tasks. They work hard and try to lead the organization with all efficiency and effectiveness.
Transformational leaders articulate a vision and inspire their followers. They also have the ability to motivate, shape organizational culture, and create a favorable environment for organizational change.
Communication: From the administration's point of view, communication is the process by which members of an organization transmit information to each other and interpret its meaning. What communication does for the organization is similar to what the blood stream does for an organism. The blood stream supplies oxygen to all cells in the body; the communication system supplies information to all units (departments, people). Without the necessary information, the organization's individuals and departments malfunction, which can cause a kind of terminal inefficiency for them and the organization as a whole.
The research results confirm the general belief that truthful and relevant information improves decision-making and other kinds of activities for individuals and groups unless it arrives in overwhelming numbers.
Communication in organizations should give departments and employees the information and knowledge to enable them to do their jobs well and motivate them to do so.
All employees, including managers, require appropriate information for technical coordination and the motivational and attitudinal aspects of their work.
To a large extent, the productivity of managers depends on the efficiency with which the information processing of each type is achieved: the technical, the one related to coordination, motivational and attitudinal. Part of the organizational effectiveness will be based on the degree of adjustment between the pattern or network of organized communications and the characteristics of the task system.
In part this will also be due to the manager's interpersonal ability as a communicator.
Organizational Communication The effectiveness with which the group solves its problems, depends on the degree of adequacy between the communications network and the satisfaction of the needs of the information processing posed by the problem that must be solved.
Laboratory studies with groups indicate some general conclusions:
- Increases in uncertainty, complexity and interdependence of tasks are accompanied by a greater need to share or process information The way in which communication systems or networks are structured is a determining factor in the ability to share or process information The better it satisfies the communication system information processing needs, the more likely the task will be done well
Although communication between groups and individuals has always been considered of vital importance in management theory, and although it is a highly researched topic, the global organization has rarely been considered as an information processing or communication system and few studies they have focused on its structure and processes.
The communication process: The impersonal structure of communication systems does not in itself ensure organizational effectiveness. The fact of having a good design and adequate coordination mechanisms does not guarantee the elimination of difficulties that prevent communication up, down, and lateral in the organization.
Ultimately, people talk to each other. At least this is how the bulk of communication is done in companies. Studies devoted to managerial communication reveal that executives spend more time on oral communication than on written communication. Communication through the mail is often considered an unpleasant job, especially since the mail brings mainly old and unwanted information. Current, live, and relevant information is almost always found in conversation.
Although a well-designed structure can facilitate written or spoken communication among those who need it, the effectiveness with which it communicates depends on the communication process and structure.
Two Kinds Of Communication: There are two kinds of communication: effective and good. Effective communication occurs when the sender achieves the desired results from the receiver. In it his objective is to influence the receiver to get the influence he wants. Good communication takes place when the understanding of the receiver coincides with the meaning that the sender wants to transmit to it. In good communication, understanding is the goal that is reached.
Good communication is a necessary but not a sufficient condition of effective communication.
Effective communication is based in part on good communication; therefore, while managers sometimes want very much to achieve effective communication without much thought to good communication, careful study of what hinders communication and misunderstands can contribute to effective communication.
Barriers to Understanding
For the meaning that the sender wishes to transmit to reach the receiver's mind in its entirety, it must cross a path full of obstacles. That path includes barriers at the sender, in the course of transmission, and at the receiver. And in feedback, if you try, you face the same barriers.
Barriers At The Source
Lack of clarity.
Multiplicity of contrary sources.
Spam messages.
Transmission Barriers
Bad choice of channel.
Barriers At The Receiver
Inattention
Premature evaluation
Responses to insignificant factors
Prepare your own response instead of listening
Misinterpretation
Barriers to Feedback
There is not always feedback in communication. It is an additional step that may or may not be present in it. When not provided, communication occurs one-way; when the communication is supplied it is done in two directions.
One-way and two-way communication has been compared, and it has been shown that while the former is faster, it appears more orderly and often less threatening to issuers whose ambiguities and errors are exposed by feedback. The second is more accurate and promotes self-confidence on the part of the recipients. But the mere presence of feedback rarely guarantees effective communication. In feedback, the receiver becomes an emitter and is thereby subject to all the problems of an emitter. Furthermore, as has already been pointed out, what this new sender sends is subject to all transmission and reception problems.
Feedback Function In Control
Feedback is an essential phase of the control process. Without feedback on activities and results related to sales and service objectives, managers would be fulfilling their role, without the advantage of information regarding their progress in achieving goals. Thanks to performance feedback, it is possible to compare actual and projected results and attempt to make adjustments where required, for example: Business office managers can use their reports to see if defect patterns in contacts with Clients imply the need to further train service representatives or make changes to their leadership systems.
Conflict: Conflict and cooperation are integral elements of the life of organizations. Both are considered two closely related aspects of social activity. So much so that conflict resolution is much better understood as a phase of the conflict-cooperation scheme than as an end to conflict or a final conflict resolution. Administrative thinking has been concerned with the problem of obtaining cooperation and solving conflicts. Conflict is not accidental, it is inherent in business life and inherent in the use of power.
Integration of personnel: It is defined as filling and keeping the positions in the organizational structure covered. This includes identifying workforce requirements, maintaining an inventory of available people, and recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, promoting, evaluating, planning for careers, remunerating and training, or otherwise developing both candidates and currently performing the jobs to fulfill their tasks effectively and efficiently. It is clear that the integration of personnel has to be closely linked to the organization, that is, to the establishment of intentional role and position structures.
Control: The process of determining what is being carried out, in order to establish the necessary corrective measures and thus avoid deviations in the execution of the plans.
Since control implies the existence of goals and plans, no administrator can control without them. He cannot measure whether his subordinates are operating in the desired way unless he has a plan, be it in the short, medium, or long term. Generally, the clearer, more complete, and coordinated the plans and the longer the period they comprise, the more complete the control can be.
An administrator can review past plans to see where and how they went wrong, to find out what happened and why, and to take the necessary steps to prevent errors from happening again. However, the best control prevents deviations from happening, ahead of them.
Control elements:
-) Establishment of standards. It is the application of a unit of measurement, which will serve as a model, guide or standard based on which the control will be carried out.
-) Results measurement. The action of measuring execution and results can somehow modify the same unit of measurement.
-) Correction. The concrete and tangible utility of control is in corrective action to integrate deviations from standards.
-) Feedback. The establishment of corrective measures gives rise to feedback; This is where the closest relationship between planning and control is found.
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