The following article contains a reflection of how the administration has evolved over the years and the different theories that exist about it and its main approaches
Administration is extremely important as it trains personnel in any area of the company to make decisions related to the processes that are carried out and achieve business success.
Administration is a discipline that had its beginnings from ancient times when man needed to hunt and gather his food to cover his basic needs and thus be able to survive.
However, in 1769 the antecedents of the theory of modern administration were given with the construction of the steam engine by James Watt and also with the construction of the spinning machine whose inventor was named Jaime Hergreaves.
The industrial revolution undoubtedly led to a rapid growth of organizations and also represented a disorder in them because, as companies expanded faster and faster, they were more difficult to organize and since they needed to increase their productivity they had to seek the efficiency of their workers.
In the twentieth century, administration was consolidated as Taylor's scientific administration emerged and later many authors dedicated themselves to studying this discipline.
EVOLUTION OF THE ADMINISTRATION: A REFLECTION THROUGH THE YEARS.
Administration is a science that over the years has been used in companies and organizations to make the technical, physical, economic and human resources of a company be used efficiently and thus achieve the established goals short, medium and long term.
The administration is very important since it trains the personnel of any area of the company to make decisions related to the processes that are carried out and achieve business success in this way.
However, it is worth mentioning that administration is a discipline that had its beginnings from ancient times when man needed to hunt and gather food to cover his basic needs and thus be able to survive. To achieve this, the first forms of administration between groups arose, since while some hunted, others collected food, some more made the tools for hunting, women made meals and took care of children and animals and in this way they gave themselves the first manifestations of the division of labor. The administration from those remote times was conceived as the only way in which man would achieve his goal,that in that case it was to survive and in that way groups were formed that worked for a common good, thus achieving the first forms of administration that we know today.
Later with the appearance of the state science, literature, religion, politics, writing and urban planning emerged. In Mesopotamia and Egypt there was the apogee of social classes and the payment of taxes in kind with the control of work were the ways in which these civilizations performed, which represented a more complex form of administration than in ancient times. The Greco-Latin era gave rise to the emergence of slavery where long hours of work were required of workers and corporal punishment was given if these were not carried out in an optimal way, slaves were treated in the most inhumane way possible and this caused it to be seen Production affected as discontent was evident and years later was the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire.
During the time of feudalism, relations were characterized by the prevalence of serfdom, this was controlled by the feudal lord, at the end of this time the serfs became independent workers, originating artisan workshops and gave rise to the creation of trades and with this creating command structures. In addition, with the emergence of trade, the family economy was transformed into a city economy.
During this time, guilds appeared that monitored the hours of work in the organizations in addition to regulating wages and other working conditions, in this way what today are known as unions emerged. Munch, L; García J (1983).
Other contributions to administrative theory was made by the philosophers of the times of Socrates, who at the same time established that administration is a personal quality independent of knowledge and experience. However Socrates was not the only philosophical member who made contributions to the administration, also some others such as Descartes, Plato and Aristotle did.
The Catholic Church and its organization served as a model for administrators, while military organizations provided the first examples of command scales, hierarchical levels, and decision-making.
However, in 1769 the antecedents of the theory of modern administration were given with the construction of the steam engine by James Watt and also with the construction of the spinning machine whose inventor was named Jaime Hergreaves.
These inventions triggered the industrial revolution with which there were many changes in the industry of that time, in the form and quantity of production.
Among others, the most relevant contributions that were developed at that time through the industrial revolution were the following:
Robert Owen introduces the term "vital machines" in the year 1810 to refer to the workers of a company, establishing with this that they represented the best investment of the administration and that if the needs of the workers were met this would represent recovering the costs that these generated easily as staff would be more productive.
On the other hand, in 1832 Charles Babbage established that applying scientific principles to processes would increase production and simultaneously reduce costs. Babbage focused on the division of labor by trades using specialized personnel for complete jobs.
The industrial revolution undoubtedly led to a rapid growth of organizations and also represented a disorder in them because, as companies expanded faster and faster, they were more difficult to organize and since they needed to increase their productivity they had to seek the efficiency of their workers.
The problems that arose with the growth of companies led to the search for scientific management approaches that would end the empiricism with which they had been managed.
In the twentieth century, administration was consolidated as Taylor's scientific administration emerged and later many authors dedicated themselves to studying this discipline.
At present the administration is applied in any organized activity from the simplest to the most complex and is necessary for the proper functioning of societies.
The administration is made up of an objective since it always has ends or results, in addition, the administration seeks to optimize results by taking advantage of all the resources it has, translating these aspects into efficiency.
Administration exists when it is necessary to achieve results using the mutual collaboration of people, to manage it is of utmost importance to coordinate and analyze the different elements that are available to achieve a benefit for all members of a social group. Munch, L; García J (1983).
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORIES
During the beginning of the 20th century, the work of two pioneering engineers in administration emerged: Frederick Winslow Taylor (USA), creator of the scientific theory of administration and Henry Fayol (France), creator of classical theory, as well as another theory that stood out in that time was the one proposed by the sociologist Max Webber (Germany) that was called the theory of the Bureaucracy.
Taylor's Scientific Management
It was based on a rational model where it was sought to solve the problems that could arise in an organization through paying special attention to the design of the work, the scientific selection and also the development of the workers, but its main flaw was that it considered the worker as interested only in money, ignoring their needs and problems, which resulted in companies exploiting their employees by only having them to produce at all costs and not meeting their needs.
The main characteristic of Taylor's scientific management was that he focuses on increasing the production of the company and for this purpose he developed the times and movements where he established that things had to be carried out following a certain structure of decomposing the tasks into specific movements and set standard times for them to be carried out.
Taylor designed simple positions and established the relationship of one position with another within the company. This was called division of labor and triggered the specialization of the worker.
According to Taylor, the worker should receive remuneration according to his production and for this he created the differential rate system. (Soto, 1998)
In addition, scientific management established that efficiency was not only a matter of remuneration and work methods, but also that emphasis should be placed on reducing employee fatigue.
Taylor developed 4 principles that involved saving materials and obtaining the best performance from labor:
Planning: planning the method of doing things and leaving the assumptions and empiricism.
Preparation: selecting the workforce intelligently obtaining the best representatives, also training and teaching them the best ways to carry out the activities with the established method, selecting the tools and materials necessary to obtain the best results.
Control: verify that the processes are being carried out according to the established plan and in the agreed time.
Execution: assigning responsibilities for the optimal performance of the established activities and for this to be in an orderly manner.
Classical administration theory
This theory seeks to achieve the efficiency of the company through its organization, it focuses on the interaction of the different departments that exist in a company and its operation.
However, this theory conceives the company as a closed system where the outside is not taken into account nor is it considered to affect the company in the least.
Henry Fayol established that management is a skill and that it should be taught to senior management, also divided the operations and activities carried out in a company mainly:
Commercial, financial, security, accounting and management techniques.
Bureaucracy Theory
Webber in his theory of bureaucracy affirms that this is the only way to achieve organizational efficiency and control staff, this proposal arises from modern needs and responds to the challenge of running a complex and large company. (Idarraga, 2006)
His main emphasis was on the need to have a well-defined structure where the importance of authority rules and guidelines lay.
"The bureaucratic model turns out to be a normative model that emphasizes the organizational structure and whose functions are of specialization, structuring, prediction, stability, rationality and democracy"
Medina et al, (2002).
Theory of human relations
Mary Parker Follet and Chester Barnard, based on the original structure of the classical school, proposed new aspects of it and are considered the forerunners of humanist theories.
Parker, directed her approach towards human behavior since she considered that there should be no rivalry between managers and employees, but instead they should work together to achieve mutual objectives that would benefit both employees and management, also emphasizing that the scientific model of management could be used to solve problems between people.
Barnard for his part considered that organizations must be effective and efficient, this means that on the one hand they must achieve their established goals and on the other help people to meet their needs in his proposal Bernard affirms that for a company to be efficient it must balance your goals with those of your employees and for this the latter should accept the authority that management represents.
The employee was seen as a decisive factor in the organization and the organization was established as a cooperative enterprise with individuals working together as a group. With this statement Bernard left the current of administration behind and ushered in administrative thinking today.
Organizational development theory
This theory arose from the works of American scientists in 1962, these focused on the planned development of organizations and were responsible for emphasizing the relationship between the company, employees and the environment.
Today companies interact in a macrosystem where the environment plays a very important role and affects both the company and the individual, currently companies need new classes of employees with greater social awareness who know how to handle environmental transformations where they interact.
Organizational development refers to a planned process of organizational change focusing on the culture and processes within the company where it is sought that it is capable of self-renewal, that at the same time is able to solve its problems more effectively and that it is prepared to face the new challenges of the environment.
Organizational development aims to develop leadership in management since managers must be interested in everything that happens within their company, for better decision-making and be prepared for changes in the structures and processes of the organization.
Organizational development seeks the development of individuals within a company and one of the only limitations that this has is resistance to change since as long as you do not want to change methods, processes, and customs, organizational development cannot take place. important. Medina et al, (2002).
Conclusion:
Administration and administrative theories are elements that move and evolve over the years according to the needs of the environment where they are necessary, the constant change in the external and internal aspects of an organization forces to generate changes in the ways of managing the These days, attention to the worker prevails, viewing them as the key element to achieve the objectives of an organization and that is why companies are more interested in having adequate and quality personnel in their facilities and in maintaining excellent communication with these.Administrative theories are examples of how over the years the concept of personnel has evolved from being production elements to being the most precious resource of today's organizations capable of determining their success or failure.
Bibliographic references
- Medina Macías A; Ávila Vidal A. (2002) EVOLUTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY. A VISION FROM ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. Faculty of Psychology, University of Havana. Cuban journal of psychology Vo.19, No.3. Munch Galindo L & García Martínez J. (1983), FUNDAMENTALS OF ADMINISTRATION, first editorial reprint Trillas. Marín Idarraga, DA (2006). THE HUMAN SUBJECT IN ADMINISTRATION: A CRITICAL LOOK. Administration Notebooks, 135-156, Contreras Soto, R. (2010). REFLECTIONS AROUND SCIENTIFIC CONSTRUCTION IN THE FIELD OF STUDIES OF ORGANIZATIONS, MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION IN MEXICO. Observatory of the Latin American economy.
