The word administration comes from the Latin (ad, direction towards, tendency; minister, comparative of inferiority, and the suffix ter, which indicates subordination or obedience, that is, who performs a function under the command of another, who provides a service to other) and means subordination and service.
D e f i n ic ion by authors
According to Wilburg Jiménez Castro, in his book "Introduction to administrative theory" he defines it as "Social science made up of principles, techniques and practices and whose application to human groups allows the establishment of rational systems of cooperative effort, through which it is possible to achieve common purposes that individually it is not feasible to achieve ».
According to Idalberto Chiavenato, the administration is: "the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the use of resources to achieve organizational objectives."
Koontz and Odonnell consider the administration as "the direction of a social organism and its effective way to achieve its objectives based on the ability to lead its members."
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The beginning of administrative thought, like most things of vital importance to the individual, dates back to the appearance of the human species. At any time in history there has been a need to coordinate, make decisions, and execute.
The nomadic man in his tireless eagerness to survive and adapt, used his ingenuity and intelligence to develop all kinds of techniques ranging from how to marry their prey, collecting plants and how to choose their habitat, to how to understand, assimilate and face what is called life.
Once adapted to the environment and its conditions, the man realized that he could not spend all his time from one place to another and begins to develop a sedentary lifestyle, beginning to stay for long periods in the same place, which implied another type of conceive and use administrative thinking to solve their physiological needs, in which they had, mainly, to learn to sow and harvest, thus emerging agriculture and irrigation systems, as well as the domestication of animals.
In this way, the corporeal force begins to be replaced by ingenuity to satisfy the needs concerning settlement in a place, moving from the mechanical and impulsive man to the rational one.
The period in which the changes were not very noticeable - but constant - in the way in which human needs were resolved, was extensive and prolonged, but with the passing of the years and with the increase in population, the requirements were revolutionized along with the administration that went from managing food, its resources and time, to the way of increasing and making them fruitful through barter, exchanges and later the emergence of the concept of money.
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However, the history of management in organizations has its origin in a more recent era. The day has come when minds with another type of vision and not satisfied with satisfying their own needs create the term of greatest study and source of income and mode of organization in the 21st century, the company.
T allere s craft
Initially, they were known as artisan workshops, which ranged from sedentary lifestyle until the year 1780, the administration was developed empirically, that is, based on experience and observation of the facts. The productive regime is based on the workshops of the artisans and on the intensive and unskilled labor employed in agriculture. Small workshops and farms that use the work of slaves and use rudimentary tools predominate.
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It begins in the Industrial Revolution from 1776), after the invention of the steam engine by James Watt (1736-1819) and its subsequent application in production, it gives rise to a new conception of work that completely modified the structure social and commercial of the time, and in almost a century it caused deep and rapid political, social and economic changes, much greater than all the changes that occurred in the previous millennium.
This period, known as the Industrial Revolution, began in England and spread rapidly throughout the civilized world of the time. The Industrial Revolution replaced the primitive artisan workshop with industrialization and paved the way for the rise of modern companies and the challenges of managing them.
During this Revolution (1780 to 1860) there was a transition from handicrafts to industrialization, mechanization of workshops and agriculture. The two representative elements are coal (the new basic source of energy) and iron (the basic material), which acquire enormous importance in the development of the countries.
In this stage an increasing mechanization of the workshops occurs (with the emergence of the spinning machine in 1767, the hydraulic loom in 1769 and the mechanical loom in 1785). At that moment the factory system was born: mechanized workshops slowly turned into factories equipped with huge and heavy machines that replaced human muscular activity.
Transport took a vigorous boost with steam navigation (1807), the invention of the steam locomotive, and the emergence of the first large railways (from 1823). Communications progressed after the invention of the electric telegraph (1835) and the postal stamp (1840).
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Corresponding to the Second Industrial Revolution (between 1860 and 1914), the two main components are steel (the new basic material whose manufacturing process developed from 1856) and electricity. Iron is replaced by steel as an industrial material, and steam by electricity and oil derivatives as the main sources of energy; The machinery is developed with the appearance of the explosion motor and the electric motor (1873).
Science and technological advances exercise increasing dominance in the nascent industry. Radical transformations take place in the means of transport (with the emergence of the automobile in 1880 and the airplane in 1906) and in communications (invention of the wireless telegraph, the telephone in 1876, and the cinematograph) and the world becomes more and more little.
Industrial capitalism is displaced by financial capitalism, large banks and financial institutions appear, along with the extraordinary expansion of markets. Successful companies grow excessively, undergo bureaucratization due to their size, and take a mechanistic approach to their functions.
It is the stage between the two world wars (between 1914 and 1945), in which organization and advanced technology are used for war purposes. In this stage the great economic depression of 1929 and the world crisis that originated occur. During this period, companies reach enormous sizes and carry out international and multinational operations.
Technical-scientific applications predominate and emphasis is placed on petrochemical matters. Transport is intensifying: deep-sea navigation, land and highway, improvement of the car and the airplane. Communications expand and gain speed with radio and television. The world becomes even smaller and more complex.
Mod er n i d a d
This stage began in 1945 and marks a clear separation between the underdeveloped (non-industrialized) countries and the developing countries. The technological advance is surprising and is applied more quickly to commercial purposes through more sophisticated products and services. New basic synthetic materials are manufactured (plastics, aluminum, synthetic textile fibers, concrete, etc.) and new energy sources (nuclear, solar) are used; however, oil and electricity remain dominant.
New technologies appear (the integrated circuit, the transistor, the silicon) that allow to develop the new wonders of the time (color television, high-fidelity sound, the computer, the electronic calculator, telephone communication, satellite television).
These inventions are the consequence of a bigger invention: they are invented, created, projected and built inside companies. Research and technological development are carried out in companies and are oriented towards commercial uses.
It is the time when companies of all sizes emerge (among which are micro-companies). Automation and computing appear in many of these companies, increasing their resources and potential and increasingly distancing them from those that have not entered this modernization. The environment is complicated by retraction, resource shortages, inflation, interest rates, and rising costs.
Finally, globalization, after 1980 and full of challenges, difficulties, threats, pressures, contingencies, restrictions and all kinds of adversities for companies. It is characterized by a complex and variable external environment that companies cannot adequately decipher and interpret.
Companies face acute competition, difficulties in understanding market fractions and the actions of competitors. Managing and executing tasks as usual has not provided adequate results. This stage is marked by the Third Industrial Revolution: the computer revolution, in which the human brain is replaced in addition to the machine, the human brain is also replaced by the electronic machine.
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I ndu s t Riali z aci or n classic
It covers the period from 1900 to 1950, its predominant organizational structure is bureaucratic, pyramidal, centralized, rigid and inflexible, and its emphasis falls on tasks. It belongs to the organizational culture of theory X in that decision-making is totally focused on the top of the organization that monopolizes decisions, the communication system is very precarious because it is only vertical, descending and orderly.
Interpersonal relationships are established in contracts that cause mistrust. Informal organization is prohibited and considered harmful and the posts isolate people, the reward system is focused on sanctions and disciplinary measures, there is strict obedience to internal regulations with rare material rewards.
It is oriented to the past to traditions and values, it maintains the emphasis of the status quo (the state in which something is, at a certain moment), it centers value on experience. Its organizational environment is static, predictable with few changes and gradual, as well as few environmental challenges.
The way to treat people is to be seen as inert and static factors of production, subject to rigid rules and regulations that control them. Their vision of people was as providers of labor and they were denominated as industrial relations.
It covers the period from 1950 to 1990. Its predominant organizational structure was matrix and mixed, with an emphasis on departmentalization by products, services, or other strategic business units. The decision-making process is centered at the top, but allows a small delegation of simple and routine decisions.
The communication system is facilitated both vertically in an upward and downward direction and horizontally, interpersonal relationships are established by placing in people a relative trust, in which the company encourages informal organization, teamwork or sporadic groups..
Their reward system is focused on material rewards (especially wages) with occasional social rewards and rare sanctions or punishments. Their organizational culture was one of transition, oriented to the present and current with an emphasis on adaptation to the environment. Its organizational environment is the intensification of the changes that occur more quickly.
People are treated as organizational resources that need to be managed. The vision of people is to be resources of the organization and its name is human resources management.
Er a of information
The post-1990 period is called the information age, where the organizational structure is fluid and flexible, fully decentralized with an emphasis on multi-functional team networks. The adoption of organizational culture is that of theory Y, oriented to the future, with an emphasis on change and innovation, valuing knowledge and creativity.
The decision-making process is fully delegated and decentralized, the leadership defines policies and controls the results, the communication system is vital for the success of the company, the information is fully shared, interpersonal relationships are those of teamwork, the formation of informal groups is important, there is mutual, participatory trust and group commitment.
The rewards system is focused on social rewards, material and salary rewards are frequent and there are rare sanctions and when they are presented they are decided by the groups.
The organizational environment is changeable, unpredictable, and turbulent. The way of treating people is like that of proactive human beings, endowed with intelligence and abilities that must be motivated and driven. People's vision is that of providers of knowledge and competencies and its name is that of human talent management.
Thus, managing is a process that consists of creating opportunities, unlocking potential, removing obstacles, promoting growth, providing guidance. It consists of administration by objectives instead of administration by controls.
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Today, X and Y theories are considered antagonistic endpoints. Between theory X (autocratic, tax and authoritarian) and theory Y (democratic, consultative and participatory) there are continuous and successive degrees.
The Z theory proposed by Ouchi, arises from Japanese companies in which the decision-making process is participatory and consultative (the whole team intervenes to reach a consensus), the result of a long tradition of participation and commitment of its members in the organization. In this way, greater productivity does not come from more arduous work, but from a cooperative vision associated with trust.
In portraying the cultural picture of Japan (values, styles and customs), Ouchi shows that productivity is much more a matter of people management than of technology, of human management founded on adequate organizational philosophy and culture than of traditional perspectives founded on organization.
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Management theory, which studies the management of organizations in general and companies in particular, is a theory that is expanding and expanding. It began as a theory initially dedicated to studying some aspects and variables of the organization and was oriented only towards the most concrete and immediate problems from the point of view of its application: then, it gradually expanded and expanded its study objective.
In addition, the expansion and expansion was not uniform, but changed enormously with the schools and administrative theories and with the aspects and variables that each of them considered pertinent to support conclusions or solve important problems that they faced at that time.
The history of AT is recent and begins in the early 20th century. It can be summarized into five different stages that are assumed, each of which highlights an important aspect of management.
É nf well it s on tasks
Characteristic approach of the school of scientific administration. Scientific administration is the name it received due to the attempt to apply the methods of science to the problems of administration to achieve great industrial efficiency.
The main scientific methods applicable to management problems are observation and measurement. The school of scientific administration was started at the beginning of the 20th century by the American engineer Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915), considered the founder of modern theory, and it originated a real revolution in administrative thought and in the industrial world of his time..
His original concern was to try to eliminate the specter of waste and loss and to raise productivity levels by applying industrial engineering methods and techniques. Scientific administration represents a first theoretical approach to the studies of business administration and was initially placed on the plane of individual work of each worker, based on his previous personal experience to define how he would relate his tasks, in which each worker had his personal work scheme causing disparity between companies, making it difficult to supervise, control and standardize work utensils and tools.
It was based on the rational organization of the work of the worker who tried to discover the method (the best way) that would make him an efficient worker. It is based on the four principles of Taylor's scientific administration:
- Planning: replacing individual and empirical criteria at work with methods based on scientific procedures, through method planning. Preparation: select workers according to their skills, train them to produce more and better, according to the planned method. Machines, production equipment, physical distribution and the provision of tools and materials, etc. must also be prepared. Control: control the work to certify that it is carried out according to the established norms and according to the planned plan. Execution: distribute different roles and responsibilities so that the execution of work is more disciplined.
The technique to arrive at the rational method was the study of times and movements (motion time study) and subdivide the most complex activities into simpler activities to facilitate their standardization.
The main objectives of the study of times and movements are:
- Subdivision of tasks to make movements simpler and faster. Development of more efficient movement standards. Standards for tasks to determine pay scales and criteria for evaluating workers. Detailed description of the task to assist in recruitment and selection processes, orientation and training of workers.
Some of the elementary movements are: search, choose, paste, transport, separate, use, inspect, secure, join, locate, etc.
Once the best way to do the task is discovered, it becomes the method and the next step is to establish the standard time in which a worker carries out the activity. The individual production that reached 100% efficiency was remunerated according to the number of pieces produced (wage and material interests).
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The micro focus on the task of each worker extends to the organizational structure of the entire company, managing refers above all to panning and organizing the structure of organs and positions that make up the company, directing and controlling its activities.
The approaches are that of Fayol's classical theory, bureaucracy theory, and structuralist theory.
Classical theory
The anatomical and structural approach of the company proposed by Henri Fayol, with a synthetic, global and universal vision, aims at the synthesis of the different organs, their relationships and their functions within the whole. For Fayol, companies have six basic functions: technical functions (related to the product and service), commercial function (purchase, sale and exchange), financial function (search and management of capital), security (protection of goods and people), accounting (inventories, records, costs, statistics, etc.) and administrative function (integration of the other five functions).
For the administrative function, Fayol coins the elements of the administration: Foresee (future and action programs), Organize (constitute the double material and social organism), Command (direct personnel), Coordinate (collective efforts) Control (verify that everything happens according to established procedures).
Fayol drew up a list of the 14 principles, among which are:
- Division of labor: specialization of each of the organs that make up the company. Authority and responsibility: Both must be balanced. Unit of command: receive orders from a single superior. Principle of hierarchy: any level must be subordinated by a higher hierarchical scale..Departmentalization: division of labor into bodies for the specialization and homogeneity of people in the same process. Coordination: orderly distribution of the company's activities to obtain units of action for the same purpose.
This theory is characterized by an approach to determine how the administrator should conduct himself in all situations of the administrative process and what are the managerial principles that he must follow to obtain maximum efficiency.
Bureaucracy theory
It is the second approach to Max Weber's organizational structure, in which the term bureaucracy has the technical meaning that identifies certain characteristics of the organization oriented towards rationality and efficiency. The "ideal" type of bureaucracy has seven dimensions:
- Formal Employee professionalization: bureaucracy employees are professionals thanks to the division of labor, they are salaried according to their functions, they pursue careers and they do not own the means of production.
In other words, bureaucracy means a type of human organization where rationality reaches its highest degree. Rationality means adequacy of the means to achieve certain ends. Bureaucracy is the attempt to standardize human performance to achieve an organizational objective: to maximize the efficiency of the organization.
The causes of dysfunctions lie in the fact that the bureaucracy does not take into account the variability of the human being. Despite all the limitations and disadvantages, large multinational companies adopt the model as a basic form of organization.
Structuralist theory
Developed from studies on limitation and rigidity of the bureaucratic model, where the organization is conceived as a static distribution of parts whose operation is planned in advance. Structuralists introduced the concept of an open system. It was proven that innovation and change are a source of conflict in companies and that conflict is an important sign of vitality, conflict management becomes an essential element with multiple applications.
É nf well it s in people.
It is the phase of dealing especially with people, try to highlight them and leave the structure and tasks in the background. This approach is called humanistic and is divided into two schools or theories:
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It is the most democratic and liberal approach to AT. This school ignored all the concepts developed by classical theory such as formal organization, authority, hierarchy, departmentalization, etc., to replace them with concepts developed by psychology such as: motivation, incentives, group dynamics, communication, leadership, etc.
The technical administrator of classical theory gave way to the humanistic and sociological administrator of the organization. The salary incentive plans went from homo econicus to homo social, since psychological needs are more important than those of earning money.
This current was discredited by trying to hide two different logics: that of the employer - who tries to maximize his earnings - and that of the worker - who tries to maximize his salary - however, in this school there is still the premise that man is an instrument at the service of the organization and not vice versa.
The concept of human relations has been used to covertly manipulate individuals, rather than a healthy and correct administrative philosophy. In another sense it represents a healthy reaction against the emphasis on rigid hierarchical control and scheduled work, stimulating spontaneity in workers. Humanists agree that large organizations tend to curb individual growth and self-development, leading to apathy, waste of human capabilities, and activities such as strikes, job cuts, and destructive competition.
Theory of behavior in the organization
It arises with Herbert's book in which the author develops a theory in which the decision is stated to be more important than subsequent execution. From there, companies are conceived as decision systems and try to develop management styles capable of enhancing individual motivations and reducing conflicts between organizational and individual objectives.
In recent times, a highly vital movement has emerged called organizational development oriented towards planned change strategies through the development of diagnostic, intervention and change models that include structural and behavioral modifications.
É nf so s technology
With the arrival of information technology placed at the service of the company, its structure began to be shaped and its operation conditioned. Some authors even affirmed a "technological imperative", taking technology as an independent variable and the organizational structure that uses it as a dependent variable.
Situational theory was responsible for focusing on technology, caring for the environment, and defining a broader approach to organizational design.
É nf well it s in the environment
It is the phase in which facing the demands of the environment and obtaining maximum efficiency is essential in the administration.
It was found that studying the endogenous variables of the company was not enough, it was also necessary to study the exogenous variables that profoundly influence its structural and behavioral aspects. In this way, certain aspects and the operational processes used were better explained.
It emerged with the birth of situational theory, in which there is no "best way" to organize the company since they depend on the environmental characteristics that surround it. The emphasis on the environment marks the maximum extension of the object of study of the administration.
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The evolution of administrative theory allows to demonstrate the cumulative and gradual effect of the various theories and their different contributions and approaches, all theories are valid, even if they take into account only one of the five basic variables, since each one arises in response to the most important business problems of his time. The administrator must know them very well to have at their disposal a range of alternatives in each situation.
Currently they tend to combine in relation to the business line. For example, in the automotive industry the principles of scientific management are used on assembly lines, and the principles of classical and neoclassical theory in their organizational structure; their business organization as a whole can be explained by bureaucracy theory, their supervisors are trained according to the approach of human relations theory, while managers are concerned with applying the theory of organizational behavior.
The relationships of these companies with their community are studied from the point of view of structuralist and situational theory, and their interrelation with techno-moly is explained through situational theory.
The current state of AT is quite complex, as it approaches its object of study in several ways and groups a wide range of variables that must be taken into account. Administration is studied from the point of view of the interrelation and interdependence of the five main variables (task, structure, people, technology and environment). In a specialized subunit (departments), some of these variables may have a predominant role.
As management faces new challenges and situations, management theories require adapting or modifying their approaches entirely to make them useful and applicable.
Currently, the administrative task is uncertain and exciting, as it faces changes and transformations full of ambiguity and uncertainty, the administrator's attention is directed to events and groups located inside or outside the company, which provide contradictory information that makes it difficult to diagnose and understanding the problems to be solved or the demands of society, customers, suppliers, competitors, subordinates, etc., causing profound changes that go beyond the administrator's ability to closely accompany and understand them adequately.
Inflation demands increasing efficiency in business administration to obtain better results with the available resources and programs to reduce energy, raw materials and labor costs. Competition becomes more and more acute, as markets and businesses increase, the risks of business activity also grow. The result is an urgency to create products and services with investment in research and development.
Companies must face all these challenges, pressures and threats, since in the future they will be greater and the only weapon they have will be only intelligent and well-prepared administrators, who must know how to adapt and adapt the main business variables to each other. Power passed into the hands of the men of knowledge, and not of those with experience, knowledge has become the main capital, the cost center and the essential resource of the economy, because we are in the age of capital intellectual.
Bateman, T. Snell, S. (2009). Administration: leadership and collaboration in a competitive world.
(8th ed.). Mexico City: Mc Graw Hill.
Chiavenato, I. (2009). Human Resources Administration (9th ed.). Mexico City: Mc Graw Hill. Chiavenato, I. (2009). Human talent management (3rd ed.). Mexico City: Mc Graw Hill.
Koontz, H. Weihrich, H. Cannice, M. (2008). Administration: a global and business perspective. (14th ed.). Mexico City: Mc Graw Hill.
A g r a d eci m ie n t o
Sincere gratitude to the Orizaba Technological Institute, for becoming and continuing to prevail as the parent home of our professional training. To the Division of Graduate Studies and Research (DEPI), for encouraging us to search for a better future. To the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) for the support and backing it provides us. Finally and especially, to Dr. Fernando Aguirre y Hernández, pioneer in the construction of a different vision and results.
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