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Unit 1: Introduction to Management

A debate is very often raised as to whether or not there is a difference between ‘management’ Notes
and ‘administration’. Conflicting views by various authors have led to some confusion over the
use of these terms. American authors like Ordway Tead, Shulze, Oliver Sheldon and William
Spriegel considered administration as a broader activity and management as a narrower activity.
But British authors like Bench and Kimball and Kimball considered management wider than
administration. The latest view is that there is no distinction between the two terms. Thus, the
debate over the use of the terms management and administration has given rise to three
viewpoints:
1. Administration is a higher level function concerned with the determination of policies
whereas management with the implementation of policies.
2. Management is a generic term and includes administration.
3. There is no distinction between management and administration and both the terms are
used interchangeably.
1. Administration is a Higher-Level Function: The first viewpoint considers administration
as a determinative function and management as an executive function. William Newman,
William R. Spriegel, Oliver Sheldon and Ordway Tead believe that administration involves
the overall setting of major objectives, determination of policies, identifying of general
purpose, laying down broad programmes, major projects and so forth. Management,
according to them, refers essentially to the executive function, i.e., the active direction of
human efforts with a view to getting things done. Thus, it could be said that administration,
by and large, is more determinative, whereas management, by and large, is essentially
executive.
2. Management is a Generic Term: The second viewpoint regards management as a generic
term including administration. According to Brech, “Management is a social process
entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the
operation of an enterprise in fulfillment of a given purpose. Administration is that part of
management which is concerned with the installation and carrying out of the procedures
by which the programme is laid down and communicated and the progress of activities is
regulated and checked against plans”. Thus, Brech conceived administration as a part of
management. Kimball and Kimball also subscribed to this view. According to these
management scientists, ‘management’ is put at the same pedestal at which Spriegel, Oliver,
Sheldon, Shulze and Ordway Tead have put ‘Administration’. Thus, the first and the second
viewpoints are exactly opposite to one another.
3. Management and Administration are Synonymous Terms: The modern viewpoint is that
there is no distinction between the terms ‘management’ and ‘administration’. Usage also
provides no distinction between these terms. The term ‘management’ is used for higher
executive functions like determination of policies, planning, organising, directing and
controlling in the business circles while the term ‘administration’ is used for the same set
of functions in the Government circles. So there is no difference between these two terms
and they are often used interchangeably.

Task Give an event when you took an administrative role? If yes, what features of
management you found in administration?
The distinction between management and administration may be of academic interest, but in
practical life this distinction seems superfluous. Even if we accept the distinction made by
Sheldon or Tead, it will be very difficult to demarcate between the so-called administrative and
managerial functions because the same set of persons perform these functions.

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