Advocates of the school of administrative process consider administration as an activity composed of certain sub-activities that constitute the single administrative process. This administrative process formed by 4 fundamental functions, planning, organization, execution and control. They constitute the process of administration. A summary expression of these fundamental functions of the administration is:
- THE PLANNING to determine the objectives in the courses of action to be followed. THE ORGANIZATION distribute work among members of the group and to establish and recognize the necessary relationships. THE EXECUTION by group members to carry out the prescribed tasks with will and enthusiasm. CONTROL of the activities so that they conform to the plans.
PLANNING
For a manager and for a group of employees it is important to decide or be identified with the objectives to be achieved. The next step is to reach them. This creates questions that work needs to be done? When and how will it be done? What will be the necessary components of the work, the contributions and how to achieve them. In essence, a plan or a pattern is formulated integrating predetermining of future activities, this requires the faculty of foreseeing, of visualizing, of the purpose of looking ahead.
IMPORTANT PLANNING ACTIVITIES
Clarify, amplify and determine objectives.
- Forecasting Establishing the conditions and assumptions under which the work will be done Selecting and declaring tasks to achieve the objectives Establishing an overall plan of achievement emphasizing creativity in finding new and better means of performing the work Establishing policies, procedures and performance methods Anticipate potential future problems Modify plans in light of control results
ORGANIZATION
After the direction and format of the future actions have already been determined, the next step to carry out the work will be to distribute or point out the necessary work activities among the group members and indicate the participation of each member of the group. This distribution of work is guided by consideration of such things as the nature of the component activities, the people in the group, and the physical facilities available.
These component activities are grouped and assigned so that a minimum of expenses or a maximum of employee satisfaction is achieved or that some similar objective is achieved, if the group is deficient in either the number or the quality of the administrative members. such members will be sought. Each of the members assigned to a component activity faces their own relationship with the group and that of the group with other groups in the company.
IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Subdivide work into operational units (dept.) Group operational obligations into positions (reg. X dept. Positions) Bring operational positions into manageable and related units Clarify job requirements Select and place individuals in the appropriate position. Use and agree on the appropriate authority for each member of the administration. Provide personal facilities and other resources. Adjust the organization in light of the control results.
EXECUTION
- To physically carry out the activities that result from the planning and organization steps, it is necessary for the manager to take measures that initiate and continue the actions required for the group members to carry out the task. Among the common measures used by the manager to put the group into action are directing, developing managers, instructing, helping members to improve themselves as well as their work through their own creativity, and compensation for this is called execution.
IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES OF THE EXECUTION
- Put the philosophy of participation into practice by all affected by the decision Lead and challenge others to do their best Motivate members Communicate effectively Develop members to realize their full potential Reward with recognition and good pay for a job well done Meeting the needs of employees through on-the-job efforts Review performance efforts in light of control results
CONTROL
Managers have always found it convenient to check or monitor what I am doing to ensure that the work of others is progressing satisfactorily toward the predetermined goal. Establishing a good plan, distributing the component activities required for that plan, and the successful execution of each member does not ensure that the enterprise will be a success. Discrepancies, misinterpretations and unexpected obstacles can occur and must be promptly communicated to the manager for corrective action.
IMPORTANT CONTROL ACTIVITIES
- Compare results with general plans Evaluate results against performance standards Identify effective means of measuring operations Communicate which means of measurement Transfer detailed data to show comparisons and variations Suggest actions corrective measures when necessary Inform responsible members of interpretations Adjust control in light of control results
INTERRELATION BETWEEN FUNCTIONS
In actual practice, the 4 fundamental functions of the administration are so intertwined and interrelated, the performance of one function does not completely cease (end) before the next one begins. And it is usually not executed in a particular sequence, but as the situation seems to demand. When establishing a new company the order of the functions will perhaps be as indicated in the process but in a going concern, the manager can take charge of the control at a given moment and then execute and then plan.
The sequence must be appropriate to the specific objective. Typically the manager has been involved in many objectives and will be at different stages in each. For the non-manager this can give the impression of deficiency or lack of order. Whereas in reality the manager may be acting with all purpose and force. In the long run, more emphasis is generally placed on certain functions rather than others, depending on the individual situation. Just as some functions need to be supported and executed before others can be put into action.
Effective execution requires that people have been assigned activities or have carried out theirs in accordance with the plans and general objectives, in the same way control cannot be exercised in a vacuum, there must be something to control.
In reality, planning is involved in the work of organizing, executing, and controlling. In the same way, the elements of organizing are used in planning, executing and controlling effectively. Each fundamental function of the administration… affects the others and they are all related to form the administrative process.
PLANNING
A common denominator for all successful individuals and organizations is that they set identifiable, realistic but challenging goals and then formulate plans to achieve them.
The essence of the admón. It is reaching a stated goal. If no end result or purpose is sought, there is no justification for administrative planning. Centuries ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca expressed "If a man does not know which port he is going to, no wind is favorable to him."
You can certainly reason, every manager knows what he is trying to achieve. Of course, but from a practical point of view, targets tend to get lost in the traffic of admva activity. Their identities are obscured, activity is confused with achievement, and the emphasis on what to do completely obscures what has to be accomplished. A good manager should always be asking the question What am I trying to achieve? Why?
DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE OF THE OBJECTIVES
A management objective is the goal to be pursued, which prescribes a defined scope and suggests direction to a manager's planning efforts. This definition includes 4 concepts, from the manager's point of view they are:
GOAL is the target to be pursued and must be identified in clear and precise terms. A goal should not be confused with the general area of desired activities, doing so puts an emphasis on the means, not the focus.
SCOPE of the goal being pursued is included in the statement of the limits or restrictions to be observed.
Likewise, an objective connotes a definitive character. Purposes stated in vague or double meaning terms have little or no administrative value because they are subject to various interpretations and often the result is confusion and disturbance.
The direction is indicated by the objective. It shows the results to be sought and separates those results from the many possible goals that might otherwise be sought. This direction provides the foundation for the appropriate strategic plans that must be formulated to achieve the objectives.
Inappropriate and inappropriate objectives can slow down the success of management and stifle operations in any organization. A helpful suggestion for every manager is to periodically focus and reiterate the objectives sought and then determine if the action currently being followed is actually contributing to the achievement of those goals. Such a practice helps to minimize the difficulties that many members of the administration and their subordinates have in knowing what their current objectives are, identifying them both for themselves and for their associates, updating them and using them efficiently in their administrative work.
TYPES AND CLASSIFICATION OF OBJECTIVES
In every organization there are many objectives but some objectives common to all organizations include the following:
- Provide various products and services Be ahead of the competition Grow Increase profits, increase sales and lower costs Provide employee well-being and development Maintain satisfactory operations and organizational structure Be a socially responsible business citizen Develop the International Trade.
These categories, in turn, can suggest specific key areas for which sub-objectives are capable of being derived, evaluating the degree of their realization. For example, the managers of the General Electric company identify 8 areas, which are vital in the maintenance and progress of leadership, strength and competitive ability of their company. These key result areas are:
- Profitability (degree of utility) Market position Productivity Product leadership Staff development Employee activities Public responsibility Balance between short and long term plans
Setting goals for each of these areas, carrying them out, and evaluating the results achieved are important parts of the company's management efforts.
CLASSIFICATION OF TARGETS ACCORDING TO TIME
- Short-term goals: usually extended to a year or less. For example, the company's objective is to reach 3 million gross sales for the year 2003 and a personal objective of selling 3 new contracts in the month of March. Medium-term objectives: They generally cover periods of 1 to 5 years, for example grow to 8 regional offices from 2003 to 2008 Long-term objectives: extend beyond 5 years. For example, seek to settle in 10 foreign countries by 2016.
This division of goals is one of the oldest classifications and the most widely accepted.
CLASSIFICATION OF OBJECTIVES
- Primary Objectives: These are generally related to a company, not an individual. For example: providing goods and services for the market by making a profit by providing such goods and services, consumers are offered what they want and rewards can be given to participating company members Secondary objectives: Help to achieve objectives primary and identify the sights for efforts aimed at increasing efficiency and economy in the work performance of organizational members Individual Goals: As their name implies, these are the personal goals of individual members of an organization on a daily basis, weekly, monthly or yearly.Depending on the point of view taken, they are achieved by being subordinate to the primary or secondary objectives of the organization or by making such objectives realistically support the realization of individual objectives. The needs that an individual tries to satisfy working in an organization in the relationships between the incentive of an organization and individual contributions are interdependent.Social Objectives: they refer to the goals of an organization for society, including the commitment to support the compliance with requirements established by the community and various government agencies that refer to health, safety, labor practices, price regulation and environmental pollution. It also includes the objectives aimed at applying social improvement,physical and cultural community.
EFFECTIVE TARGETS IN WRITING
Writing an effective goal can be more difficult than just writing a few words that should be understood by everyone. Consider the next goal of a university.
"The basic objective of the university is to provide opportunities in higher education in the fields of liberal and applied arts, teaching, business and professional study"
and the following for a manufacturer:
“The aim of this trading company is to produce, by mass production methods, air conditioners in low cost units in select areas at highly competitive retail prices in order for the company to perform a reasonable return on the investment"
At first glance, both statements seem like reasonably good goals. But a closer study raises some doubts regarding its quality and suitability for administrative purposes.
provide opportunities, professional study
Produce, production methods, select areas, reasonable yield.
All this means that every objective I admire. This subject to a certain interpretation the test of clarity and understanding is what the receiver of the objective statement understands. Consequently, the objectives should be written as quantitatively as possible without being overly detailed so that the recipient is unable to use her creativity and personal initiative in achieving the objective.
OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT
An expression such as "do as much as you can" or "do the best you can" has admvous value. Minimal because its meaning differs for different people, it is preferable to use an expression that can be measured as "make 200 units by 5:00 pm today." This is final and facilitates mutual understanding of the objectives at all levels of the organization. Determining what should be measured and how it should be measured presents difficulties, especially in areas where the objectives are somewhat abstract such as employee loyalty, employee development or social responsibility, however such areas can be approximated and obtained. reasonably satisfactory results.Generally speaking, business managers are better able to measure their goals than managers in non-business organizations, such as hospitals, government agencies, and universities. For example, commercials have many sources of information that measure achievements in various factors throughout the organization. Typical are the measures of the physical and financial means to acquire and manage sufficient resources such as the ratios of rates of returns, turnover or the liabilities capital ratios.Typical are the measures of the physical and financial means to acquire and manage sufficient resources such as the ratios of rates of returns, turnover or the liabilities capital ratios.Typical are the measures of the physical and financial means to acquire and manage sufficient resources such as the ratios of rates of returns, turnover or the liabilities capital ratios.
Production measures that include machine utilization and labor productivity are common, as are marketing measures that refer to sales penetration and advertising effectiveness.
In contrast, a hospital administrator has difficulty measuring what the hospital provides (satisfactory care for the client), however the factors that contribute to hospital care are measurable, such as the cost of the room per day, number of service visits and patient days by disease type, although not as exact as would be desired, the approach can be used to give useful measures for the goals of hospital care.
HIERARCHY OF OBJECTIVES
For every company there is a hierarchy of objectives. This can encompass the objectives that refer to companies in general as those that relate to the wishes of customers as well as to the public and society in general.
However the hierarchy most commonly contains only the objectives within the company. At the top level of the organization and providing the objective for all organizational efforts are the main objective or objectives - subordinate, but definitely related to the main objectives are derived objectives including departmental objectives that fix the line of particular segments of the organizational units of the company. These departmental goals in turn have subordinate group goals that are subsequently divided into unit goals and ultimately individual goals. Fig. 63 shows the different levels of the objectives in diagrammatic form.
The realization of each subsidiary objective must contribute to the realization of its respective immediate superior objective, thus providing a fully integrated and harmonious pattern of objectives for all members of the company. For maximum effectiveness a goal must be meaningful and timely for the individual.
GUIDELINES FOR THE OBJECTIVES
The admve objectives. They must be instituted with great care, they have a better chance of being realized when the following guidelines are taken into account:
The objectives must be the result of the participation of those responsible for their realization. Those close to the situation probably know best what can be done. The people who help formulate goals have a strong commitment to achieving them. They also gain the feeling of belonging and importance. When objectives are imposed by top management when faced with a serious crisis, the reason for this must be explained and the subordinate must have an opportunity to help determine the stated objective.
All objectives in a company must support the overall objectives of the company. In other words, the objectives must be mutually congruent in an organization. For example, the sales department will not have a variety of products as its target while the production department will have two or three products as its target. The congruence of the objectives helps to achieve unity of effort.
The objectives must have a certain scope. Most people feel more satisfied and work much better when there is a reasonable challenge. People want to push themselves and enjoy a sense of accomplishment. The right goals can help in these efforts.
The objectives must be realistic. The goal not only needs to be reasonable to the person responsible for its achievement but also realistic in view of both the constraints of the internal and external environment in a given case. Be careful about trying to accomplish too much in too short a time. Usually a simply stated objective can be remembered, while a long and detailed description is soon forgotten.
The objectives must be contemporary as well as innovative. The successful manager keeps goals up to date, reviews them periodically, and makes revisions when it is felt to be advantageous to do so. In several cases, the decision will be to continue with the same objective, however in these times of rapid change, not catching up or the lack of innovation when setting objectives may be a possible danger sign for the administration.
The number of objectives established for each member of the admón. it must be limited. Many cause confusion and neglect and very few allow waste and deficiency. Four or five goals for each member of the admón.. is the maximum. If there are more objectives, they will have to be consolidated in some way. Too many objectives diminish the importance of those that are really important and unduly emphasize those of less status.
The objectives must be ranked according to their relative importance. This places the necessary emphasis on the main objectives and giving every member of the administration a value for each objective that interests them to help distribute efforts effectively. In this way all the admvo effort is improved. It is in human nature to improve the work on the most difficult objectives and to feel satisfaction doing the minor ones but setting priorities in the objectives and reviewing them periodically, this tendency can be combatted.
The objectives must be in balance with a given company, the various objectives must not point together to the excess of any condition.
MAIN TYPES OF ADMINISTRATIVE PLANNING
Managers deal with many different types of plans daily; some refer to a single activity or individual while others belong to an entire department. Or the entire company. We will study 6 types of common plans found by managers regularly.
- PolicyProceduresMethodStandardBudgetProgram
Politics. Policies reveal the manager's intentions for future periods and are determined in advance of the need for such intentions. These are general guidelines on its use. The policy defines the area in which decisions are to be made, but does not indicate the decision. The policies indicate the sanctioned general direction to be followed and the areas. Keeping within these predetermined limits, but with freedom to decide within the stipulated areas, the manager's work is carried out according to the general planning of the company. And it is defined as follows. "A policy is a general verbal or written guide that establishes the limits that provide the direction and the general limits within which the administrative action will take place."
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Next, Professor Luis Leyton, from CEIE Business School, presents a very complete vision of planning as the first component of the administrative process.
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