Definition of management and management theories

The definition of administration is found through the analysis of the functions that make it up as a process, these being those of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the resources available to it in order to achieve certain economic or social objectives.

Administrative theories are proposals that collect the ideas of an author (researcher), or a group of authors, about how the administration should work, in such a way that it reaches greater effectiveness in achieving the goals it pursues.

In order to understand administration, one 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 administration is a major event in social history and in few cases, if any, has a fundamentally new institution, or some new ruling group, emerged as rapidly as administration since the early twentieth century. Rarely in the history of mankind has an institution proved itself indispensable so quickly.
The administration, which is the specific body in charge of making resources productive, takes on the responsibility of organizing economic development, reflects the essential spirit of the modern era, and is actually indispensable, and this explains why a Once created, it grew so quickly.

Administration definitions by different authors

Clushkov : “ It is a device that organizes and carries out 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 to efficiently plan and regulate the operations of a company, to achieve a given purpose .”
D. Mooney : ” Management is the art and 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 the organization as: “the technique of relating specific duties or functions in a coordinated whole”.
Peterson and Plowman : ” A technique by which the purposes and objectives of a particular human group are determined, clarified, and realized .”
Koontz and O’Donnell , consider the Administration as: “ the management 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 efforts of others ”.
Tannenbaum : “ The use of authority to organize, direct and control responsible subordinates (and consequently, the groups they command), so that all the services that are provided are properly coordinated in order to achieve the end of the company ”.
Henry Fayol (considered by many to be the true father of modern administration ), says that ” managing is anticipating, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling “.
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 systematic set of rules to achieve maximum efficiency in the ways of structuring and managing a social organism .”

Each of the above definitions, if analyzed in detail, will lead us into the true nature of management and its distinctive properties . As such, the definitions are valid for all kinds of administration (Private, Public, Mixed, etc.) and for all types of organization (industrial, commercial or services).

Administration Definition

Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which, working in groups, individuals efficiently accomplish specific goals.

This basic definition should be expanded:

When they perform as administrators, individuals must exercise the administrative functions of: planning, organization, direction and control .
Management applies to all kinds of organizations.
It applies to managers at all organizational levels.
The intention of all managers is the same: to generate a surplus.
Management pursues productivity , which implies effectiveness and efficiency.

They all run organizations, which we’ll define as a group of people working together to generate a surplus. In business organizations, this surplus is profits. In non-profit organizations, such as philanthropic organizations, the surplus may be represented by the satisfaction of needs.

In the following video, from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, a definition of administration is proposed, in addition to the concepts of organization and administration process.
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: Requires clear concepts, mental images of anything formed by generalizations from particularities. These terms must be exact, relevant to what is being analyzed and reported for both the scientist and the practitioner. The scientific method includes the determination of facts through information. After classifying and analyzing them, scientists look for causal relationships. When these generalizations or hypotheses are checked for accuracy and appear to be true, that they reflect or explain reality, they are called principles. It has value in predicting what will happen in similar circumstances in the future.

Systemic approach:

System: Ordered set of interdependent elements that interact with each other in pursuit of an objective.
Open Systems: Dynamic systems that interact and respond to their environment. Ex: the man
Closed systems: These are systems that are not influenced or interact with the environment. Ex: the clock.

Administrator functions

When studying what an administrator does , it is very useful to understand the functions of administration , administrative process : planning, organization, direction and control; around which the knowledge underlying these functions can be grouped. That is why the principles, concepts, theories and techniques of administration are organized into these four functions.

planning

It includes the selection of missions or purposes and the resources to use. The tool provided by the administration is the business plan . It requires decision making, that is, choosing between various future courses of action. Thus plans provide a rational approach to preselected goals. In addition, it implies administrative innovation and allows us to bridge the gap that separates us from the place where we want to go. It makes it possible for things to happen that otherwise would not have happened. Planning is a process that requires an intellectual effort; it requires a consistent determination of courses of action and that decisions are based on purpose, knowledge and considered estimates.

Importance of planning

Promotes the development of the company.
Minimize risks.
Maximizes the use of resources and time.

« Planning is the function of the administrator, although the character and extent 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 policymaking (setting guidelines for thinking about decision making) and management, or between manager and manager . or the overseer . A manager, because of his delegation of authority or position in the organization, can improve established planning or make it basic and applicable to a greater proportion of the company than someone else’s planning. However, all administrators from directors to bosses or supervisors plan what corresponds to them. The following diagram shows this division more clearly.

planning elements

Purposes. The fundamental aspirations or goals of a qualitative nature pursued permanently or semi-permanently by a social group.
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 wishes to obtain, they are ends to be achieved, 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 observe in decision making, on problems that are repeated within an organization.
Programs. They are schemes 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 orderly and systematic plan expressed in monetary value or units of measure that includes the ex. Economic and its respective subperiods and covers all the operations of the organizations.

budget types

sales budget
Shopping budget
production budget
General economic budget
Financial budget
Cash flow budget
Budget Control

It consists of comparing the budget figures with the real ones. Comparisons in the budget are made with:

The original annual budget
The adjusted budget made in predetermined periods
The adjusted budget made in non-pre-established periods

The comparisons make it possible to establish whether or not the deviations or variations are under control or are subject to the management’s own decisions.

Procedures. They establish the chronological order and the sequence of activities that must be followed in carrying out repetitive work.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis is a tool that allows to form a picture of the current situation of the company or organization, thus allowing to obtain an accurate diagnosis that allows, based on it, to make decisions in accordance with the formulated objectives and policies.

The term SWOT is an acronym made up of the first letters of the words Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Among these four variables, both strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization, so it is possible to act directly on them. On the other hand, opportunities and threats are external, so it is generally very difficult to modify them.

Strengths : 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 competitive advantages to be obtained.
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.

The SWOT Analysis is a very simple and clear concept, but behind its simplicity lie fundamental concepts of the Administration. I will try to break down the SWOT to expose its fundamental parts.

We have one goal: 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 set of data (the universe to be analyzed), a process (SWOT analysis), and a product, which is the information for decision making (the SWOT report that results from the SWOT analysis). I contend that almost anyone can do a SWOT analysis. I say almost because that person must have the ability to distinguish in a system:

The relevant from 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 will help us analyze our company as long as we can answer three questions: Is what I am analyzing relevant? is it inside or outside of the company? Is it good or bad for my company?

These three questions are nothing more than the three threads that are seen in the central process of the drawing above. Let’s 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 walks of life it is essential to distinguish what is relevant from what is irrelevant. In SWOT this filter reduces our universe of analysis by reducing our need for processing (which is no small thing).

Examples: the bathroom cleaning system of a petrochemical company, or the color of the monitors, or whether the paper used is letter or A4 is doubtfully a comparative advantage. It sounds silly, but it’s amazing how many times we human beings have a hard time distinguishing what’s main from what’s secondary, whether it’s in an argument, a decision, or whatever.

Of course, the relevance of something depends on where we are standing, and this concept of relativity is important. Bathroom hygiene can be key in a Hospital or a 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 sidelined in many “New Economy” ventures… but that can cost an army in battle its life. That is why whoever does a SWOT analysis must know the business (no more and no less than knowing what he is talking about).
Whoever invented the SWOT Analysis chose a word for each intersection: thus the intersection of “good” and “outside” is an opportunity, while the “positive” issues from 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 seems. It is easy to say that, from the point of view of Ferrari, M. Schumacher is an (internal) strength, and that if M. Hakkinen loses his 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 my company… and yet they are Strengths. The key is to adopt a vision of systems 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. Recalling an old definition of limit: what affects me and I control, is internal to the system. What affects me, but is out of my control, is the (external) environment.

We are only left with the positive/negative dimension, which apparently should not offer any difficulty, but care must be taken. The competitive business environment is full of maneuvering, deception, etc. In WWII, the Axis was happy that the Allied landing was at Calais, because they had a lot of fortresses in that case. But D-Day was in Normandy and that is 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 young and shrewd employee can become a serious Weakness if he leaves (and worse if he leaves with the competition). And the Weakness of having an employee close to retirement who is having a hard time adapting to new technologies can be revealed as a Strength too late… when he retires and we realize that we depended 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: Teaming up with our longtime competition to take on a heavier foe; move an unstructured and extroverted employee from an organizational task that he does poorly, to the line of fire of customer service. The possibilities are many.

And those are the three necessary steps to analyze the current situation of the organization through the SWOT Analysis.

Organization

it is the part of the administration that supposes the establishment of an intentional structure of the papers that the individuals will have to carry out in a company. The structure is intentional in the sense that it must guarantee the assignment of all the tasks necessary to fulfill 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 the 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:

The identification and classification of the required activities.
The grouping of the activities necessary for the fulfillment of the objectives.
The assignment of each group of activities to an administrator with the necessary authority to supervise it.
The stipulation of horizontal coordination (at the same or similar organizational level) and vertical
coordination (between the general offices, a division and a department, for example) in the organizational structure.

An organizational structure must be designed to determine who will perform what tasks and who will be responsible for what results; to remove barriers to performance that result from confusion and uncertainty about activity assignments; and to build decision-making and communication networks that are responsive to and supportive of business objectives.

For most managers, the term organization implies an intentional and formalized structure of functions or positions.

Intentional role structure means that the roles that people are asked to perform must be intentionally designed to ensure that the required activities are performed and that they are matched appropriately so that individuals can work smoothly, effectively, and efficiently in groups.

formal organization

By formal organization is meant, in general, 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 give rise 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 must be channeled toward group and organizational goals.

informal organization

Chester Barnard described the informal organization as the set of personal activities without a conscious common purpose, although favorable to common results. More recently, Keith Davis described the informal organization as a network of personal and social relationships not established or required by the formal organization, but arising spontaneously from people associating 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 web of relationships

Informal organizations tend to be when members of a formal organization become so familiar with each other that they share information related in one way or another to the business.

The natural network of relationships is naturally fed by 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 kind of information (to which most of the rumors correspond) that would never be made known in a formal way.

Since all forms of informal organization satisfy 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. It creates in the members of a formal organization a sense of belonging, status, self-respect, and satisfaction.

Many managers make deliberate use of informal organizations as communication channels and avenues for influencing employee morale.

Organizational levels and section of administration

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 management span 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. If you don’t know what administrative staff will be needed and what experience will be required, a company will not be able to recruit staff and train them intelligently.

Additionally, organizational planning can reveal weaknesses. The duplication of efforts, the confusion regarding the lines of authority, the excessive extension of the lines of communication, the excesses of paperwork and the obsolescence of certain practices are perceived more clearly when the actual 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 implies the acquisition and transmission of knowledge, beliefs and behavior patterns over time, which means that it is stable and does not change quickly.

Organization with narrow sections

Advantage

Close supervision.
Strict control.
Quick communication between subordinates and superiors.

Disadvantages:

Superiors tend to become overly involved in the work of subordinates.
Many administrative levels.
High costs due to numerous levels.
Excessive distance between the lowest level and the highest level.

Organization with wide sections

Advantage:

Superiors are forced to delegate.
Clear policies must be established.
Subordinates must be carefully selected.

Disadvantages:

Tendency for overworked superiors to become decision bottlenecks.
Risk of loss of control for the superior.
Managers of exceptional quality are required.

Organization with sections in balance

The organization with sections in balance occurs when it is appropriate to the effectiveness of the company.

structure elements

The operating core : encompasses those members, the operators, who do the basic work directly related to the production of goods and services.
The middle line : runs from top managers to 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 managers above him; intervene in the stream of decisions; in the face of problems or proposals for change, he will deal with what concerns him and the rest will be raised to a higher level.
The strategic summit : it is made up of those people 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 boundary conditions (relationships with its environment), and formulate strategies. Between them, coordination occurs through mutual adjustment. Legal Council is located close to the directorate, since it directly serves the strategic summit.
The technostructure : here are the analysts. It is effective only when I can use its 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 by analysts in charge of control (stabilizing and standardizing activity schemes in the organization). In a highly developed organization, the technostructure can function at all levels of the hierarchy. It could be said that the more standardization an organization uses, the more it trusts its technostructure.

The support staff : is a unit that exists to provide support to the organization. It differs from the technostructure in that it does not deal with standardization nor is it an advisor (although it can act as such). Examples of support staff are: public relations, post office, cafeteria, etc. One wonders why large organizations provide their own support services, instead of purchasing them from external providers. And the answer is that in this way they can exercise tight 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 (depending on the recipients of the service).

Characteristics to consider when structuring the organization:

Specific character : the structure must be designed to suit the organization in question, based on its specific characteristics.
Dynamic character : every good organization is constantly developing, it 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 a harmonious and solid growth of the organization.
Human character : when designing the structure of an organization, the skills of the people who comprise it or who will comprise it in the future must be taken into account. It is not good to outline the organization chart first and only then determine who will occupy each position on it. In doing so, it would be falling into formal and rigid organizations, made up of “rectangular beings”.
Promotion in the organization : dynamic and human characters lead to a typical organizational problem: the promotion of people from one hierarchical level to another. A man can be prepared to carry out his current position, but not the immediate superior. For example, if an excellent clinician becomes director of the hospital, it is highly likely that he will be 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 he will fail, and henceforth he will ascend no more.
Orientation towards organizational objectives : for the actions of the organization to be effective, the organizational objectives must prevail over the departmental ones.
Assignment of responsibilities : for there to be responsibility, there must be the corresponding authority. Responsibility is not delegated, but assigned as inherent to the position.
Unity of command : no employee can answer to more than one superior; consequently, he will receive all the instructions through a single superior.
Scope of control and segmentation of the organizational structure : to save executives, increase the speed of communication, 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 exceed the effective scope of control. In this case, it would be convenient to add levels of authority.
Coordination : “synchronization and unification of the actions of a group”. It is sought that the actions as a whole achieve better results than those we would obtain by adding those achieved by each of the parties independently.
Linking planning and control processes with the organizational structure : depending on 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.
Complexity of the organization : the organization must not be allowed to become so complicated that it hinders the accomplishment of the work. The structure must allow a fluid and efficient development of the management.
Paralinear structures : committees, assistants, etc. They are very controversial. 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.
The organizational structure and the informal organization : when defining the organizational structure, the informal organization must be taken into account, with its groups, leaders, conflicts, etc. There must be a constant adjustment between the two.

Delegation

It is the transfer of the performance of a given task to a subordinate. According to Harold Koontz, the delegation of authority is to invest a subordinate with authority to make decisions.

The process of delegation of authority is the determination of the expected results of a subordinate, assignment of tasks, delegation of authority to carry out these tasks and attribution of responsibility for the achievement of such tasks.

Centralization: Occurs when there is little delegation, in such a way that few people concentrate most of the organization’s tasks.

This tends to occur in small, family-type businesses, where usually one or a few people make 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. Individual circumstances will determine the grade that will “give the best work output.”

Decentralization: It is the delegation of decisions. Determines the vertical structure of the organization.

Typically decentralized functions: sales, production, purchases, preparation of the annual budget, development of new products, etc.
Typically centralized functions: organizational goal setting, control, strategic decisions, investment decisions, foreign relations, etc.

departmentalization

It is the delegation of operational activities. Determines 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: stamped, welded, painted, armed, etc.
By products: companies that manufacture different products (coffee, milk, chocolate, etc.)
By geographical 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 of the parts 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 design of standards. Thus, when these conditions are met, the “bureaucratic machine” configuration arises.

The operating core : minimize the influence of administrators, coordinate by standardizing skills. In this way, horizontal and vertical decentralization is encouraged. The “professional bureaucracy” configuration emerges.

The middle line : subtract downwards part of the power exerted by the summit, and subtract upwards part of the power exerted by the operating core; Coordinate for product standardization. This is how the “divisionalized structure” configuration arises.

The support staff : gains the most influence in the organization when they are asked to help make decisions; coordinate by mutual adjustment. Thus, when conditions favor this tendency to collaborate, the “adhocracy” configuration arises.

Five trends in the organization.

The five structural configurations:

Simple structure (the “no 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, unsophisticated technological system, dynamic and simple context, organization that is not fashionable.

The Simple Structure. bureaucratic machine:

Highly specialized routine operational tasks.
Highly formalized procedures in the operating core.
Formal norms, rules, procedures, and communications proliferate.
Large drives in the operating core.
The summit does not centralize decision-making.
Elaborate administrative structure, with a clear distinction between staff and line functions.
Coordination through standardization of work processes (for which the technostructure is fundamental).
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 in order.
Contingent factors: old, large, non-automated technological system, simple and stable context, organization that is not fashionable.

manuals

Manuals are fundamentally communication tools. Those organizations that do not use them usually channel their rules and instructions through isolated communications that, as soon as they meet the objective of information, fail to integrate into an organic body and, therefore, it is difficult to locate them and establish if they are in force.

Generally, the use of manuals is widespread in large companies, since in small companies 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 businesses the modality of teamwork and mutual adaptation is applied as a means of coordination.

Advantages :

They have a unifying function, since they are a compendium of the functions and procedures that are developed in an organization.
Management and decision-making are not subject to improvisation or personal criteria, but rather are governed by rules that maintain continuity.
they are a communication tool that informs about company practices to improve the understanding of its global needs.
They serve as a consultation and to resolve problems of jurisdiction or level of authority, thus avoiding conflicts.
They are useful for the training and qualification of personnel and allow an objective evaluation of their performance.

Limitations :

They do not consider the informal aspects of the organization.
Their construction and updating may require significant effort and cost.
A faulty or poorly maintained wording can hinder its use and, consequently, the development of operations.
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.
Of Organization: it contains the charts of the organization and they specify in detail the structure.
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, organizational 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 through lines of authority.

The description of positions complements the lack of information, since it allows specifying the content and relationships of the different positions defined in the organization chart. It is a written description of the authority relationships and the main duties of the position and its requirements, etc.

Items to represent:

Position or position: represents the set of activities grouped according to some departmentalization criterion and assigned to an organic unit or person. it is represented graphically by means of a rectangle, where the name of the department and/or name and hierarchy of the boss is placed. Non-linear, “staff” or advisory organizations are represented outside the hierarchical pyramid.
Relationships between positions: it shows the hierarchical authority relationship by means of continuous lines that join the different positions, and the functional authority or “staff” by means of a broken line.

Purposes:

As a means of information:

locate the position of each participant and their relationship with the rest,
facilitate the instruction of those who enter the organization,
show the positions, sectors and departments and the collective bodies,
define the levels of the formal hierarchy,
identify linear and advisory authority relationships,
specify geographical divisions, by products or markets.

As a means of analysis:

provide a global vision of the organization,
allow to relieve the current structure and project new structures,
facilitate the comparison of different structures,
reveal structural weaknesses.

Sociogram : through this the social interactions of the group are graphed.

Address

The administrative function of management is the process of influencing people so that they contribute to the fulfillment of organizational and group goals. As will be evident in the presentations on this function, the behavioral sciences make their greatest contribution to the administration precisely in this area.

Although emphasis is placed on the tasks of managers regarding the design of an internal environment that allows high performance of organizations, it should not be ignored that managers are also forced to operate in the external environment of companies. It is clear that managers cannot properly perform their tasks 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, today many organizations operate in different countries.

Through the role of management, managers help people to realize that they can meet their needs and use their potential while contributing to the fulfillment of the company’s purposes. Therefore, managers must be aware of the roles that people assume, as well as their personality and individuality.

Managers take responsibility for taking actions that enable 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, warmth, shelter and sleep. As long as they are not satisfied, the others will not motivate individuals.
Safety Needs: Needs to be free from physical risks and the fear of losing one’s job, property, food, or shelter.
Needs of association or acceptance: as social beings, individuals have the need to belong, to be accepted by others.
Esteem Needs: Once individuals satisfy their belonging needs, they tend to desire the esteem of themselves and others. This type of need produces satisfactions such as power, prestige, status and self-confidence.
Need for self-realization: it is the desire to become what one is capable of being, to optimize one’s own potential.

Motivational Approach – Hygiene – Herzberg

Herzberg set out to formulate a two-factor theory of motivation . In a group you would find things like policies and administration, supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relationships, salary, job security, and personal life. These elements are, for Herzberg, unsatisfactory, not motivating. He called these factors maintenance, hygiene, or work context. In the second group, he included certain satisfiers (motivators), related to the content of the job. These include 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

Theory X and Theory Y – McGregor

In two groups of assumptions, theories X and Y , elaborated by McGregor, a particular vision of the nature of human beings was expressed.

Assumptions of Theory X:

Average human beings have an inherent distaste for work and will avoid it as much as possible.
Given this human characteristic of distaste for work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment in order to make the necessary efforts to fulfill organizational objectives.
Average human beings prefer to be directed, want to avoid all responsibility, have relatively limited ambition, and above all else crave security.

Assumptions of Theory Y:

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 of producing efforts to achieve organizational objectives. People exercise self-direction and self-control in favor of the goals to which they are committed.
The degree of commitment to the objectives is in proportion to the importance of the rewards associated with their fulfillment.
Under the right conditions, human beings learn not only to accept responsibility, but also to seek it.
The ability to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination and creativity in problem solving is widely distributed in the population.
Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of human beings are only partially utilized.

It is evident that the two assumptions differ from each other. Theory X is pessimistic and rigid; according to it, 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 about 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 drives, desires, needs, and similar forces. To say that managers motivate their employees is to say that they do things that they hope will satisfy those impulses and induce subordinates to act in a certain way. An individual’s motivations can be highly complex, and sometimes contradictory. A person may want to obtain material goods and services, while also wanting self-esteem, status, a sense of accomplishment, etc.

Motivators

Motivators are things that induce an individual to achieve high performance. Whereas motivations reflect 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 give it priority over another; Obviously they influence the behavior of the individual. Managers must be interested in motivators and use their inventiveness to use them, since people satisfy their desires in many different ways. They must make use of motivators that induce people to perform effectively for the company.

Motivational Expectancy Theory – Vroom

Vroom argued that people will feel motivated to do certain things in favor of the fulfillment of a goal if they are convinced of the value of it and if they verify that their actions will effectively contribute to achieving it.

Vroom’s theory posits 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 a product of the value that an individual attributes to a goal and the possibility of seeing it fulfilled.

Vroom’s theory could be formulated:

Where strength is the intensity of motivation, valence is the intensity of the individual’s preference for an outcome, and expectancy is the probability that a certain action will lead to the desired outcome.

The administrative grid

One of the best known approaches for defining leadership styles is the administrative grid, created a few years ago by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. Based on the importance of administrators putting an interest in both production and people. It has already been used as a means of identifying various combinations of leadership styles.

Leadership

Managers 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 managers.

The essence of leadership is followers. In other words, what makes a person a leader is the willingness of people to follow him. In addition, people tend to follow those who offer them the 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 don’t like and what they like. On the other hand, leadership is taken as an influence, that is, the art or process of influencing people so that they make a voluntary and enthusiastic effort to fulfill group goals.

The zeal is passion, formality and intensity in the execution of the work; security is the reflection of experience and technical capacity.

Leadership Components

Virtually no group of people, performing at nearly the peak of their ability, lacks an individual at the helm who is particularly adept at the art of leadership. Everything indicates that this ability is made up of at least four important ingredients:

Effective and responsible use of power.
Ability to understand that human beings have different motivations at different times and situations.
Inspirational ability.
It acts in favor of the development of an atmosphere conducive to responding to the motivations, leadership style and environment that it generates.

The first component of leadership is power. Considering the nature of power and the differences between power and authority:

Leadership behavior and styles

There are several theories about leadership behavior and styles . Now, we will deal with:

Leadership based on the use of authority,
administrative grid,
Leadership as involving a wide variety of styles, ranging from maximum to minimum use of power and influence.
Coaching where the team is more than the sum of individuals.

Styles Based On The Use Of Authority.

According to this, they apply three basic styles and a new concept.

The Autocratic leader imposes and expects compliance, insurance and leads through the ability to withhold or give rewards and punishments.
The Democratic, or participative, leader consults his subordinates regarding likely actions and decisions and encourages their participation.
The liberal or “free rein” leader makes very little use of his power, if at all, since he grants his subordinates a high degree of independence in their operations. They are highly dependent on his subordinates for setting their goals and the means to achieve them, and see his role as supporting the operations of his followers.

Transactional and transformational leadership

Transactional leaders identify what their subordinates need to meet their objectives, clarify organizational roles and tasks. They work hard and try to run the organization with all efficiency and effectiveness.

Transformational leaders articulate a vision and inspire their followers. They also have the ability to motivate, shape the organizational culture and create a favorable environment for organizational change.

Communication

From the point of view of management, communication is the process by which members of an organization transmit information 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 the cells of the body; the communication system supplies information to all units (departments, people). Without the necessary information, individuals and departments in the organization perform poorly, which can lead to a kind of terminal inefficiency for them and the organization as a whole.

The research results confirm the general belief that accurate and relevant information improves decision-making and other activities of individuals and groups unless it arrives in overwhelming quantities.

Communication in organizations should give departments and employees the information and knowledge that allow them to perform their tasks well and motivate them to do so.

All employees, including managers, require appropriate information for the 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 information processing of each type is achieved: technical, coordination-related, motivational, and attitudinal. Part of organizational effectiveness will be based on the degree of fit between the pattern or network of organized communications and the characteristics of the task system.

In part it will also be due to the manager’s interpersonal skills 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 information processing needs posed by the problem to be solved.

Laboratory studies with groups indicate some general conclusions:

Increases in task uncertainty, complexity, and interdependence are accompanied by a greater need to share or process information.
The way communication systems or networks are structured is a determining factor in the ability to share or process information.
The better the communication system meets information processing needs, the more likely it is that the task will be performed 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 have focused on its structure and processes.

The communication process

The impersonal structure of communication systems does not by itself ensure organizational effectiveness. The fact of having a good design and adequate coordination mechanisms does not guarantee the elimination of the 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 carried out 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 mainly brings old and unwanted information. Current, live, and relevant information is almost always found in conversation.

Although a well-designed structure can facilitate spoken or written communication, between those who need it, how effectively you communicate depends on the process and structure of the communication.

The Communication Process – Definition of Management and Management Theories

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 goal is to influence the receiver to get the influence he wants. Good communication takes place when the receiver’s understanding coincides with the meaning that the sender wants to convey. In good communication, understanding is the goal that is achieved.

Good communication is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective communication.

Effective communication is based in part on good communication; Thus, although managers sometimes want to achieve effective communication without giving much thought to good communication, a careful study of what hinders good communication and causes misunderstandings can help achieve effective communication.

Barriers to Understanding

In order for the meaning that the sender wants to convey to reach the receiver’s mind in its entirety, he 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, should it be attempted, it faces the same barriers.

Barriers At The Source

Lack of clarity.
Multiple opposing sources.
Spam messages.

Transmission Barriers

Bad choice of channel.

Barriers At The Receiver

Inattention
Premature evaluation
Responses to insignificant factors
Preparing one’s own response instead of listening
wrong interpretation

Feedback Barriers

There is not always feedback in communication. It is an additional step that may or may not be present in it. When it is not provided, communication is one way; when supplied the communication is done in two directions.

One-way and two-way communication have been compared, and it has been shown that, although the former is faster, it appears more orderly and is often less threatening to senders whose ambiguities and errors are exposed by feedback. The second is more accurate and promotes self-confidence on the part of the receivers. But the mere presence of feedback rarely guarantees effective communication. In feedback, the receiver becomes a sender and thus becomes subject to all the problems of a sender. Furthermore, as already noted, what this new sender sends is subject to all transmission and reception problems.

Role of Feedback in Control

Feedback is an essential phase of the control process. Without feedback on activities and results relative to sales and service targets, managers would be fulfilling their role, without the benefit of information regarding their progress in meeting targets. Thanks to performance feedback, it is possible to compare actual results with those projected and try to make adjustments where necessary, for example: business office managers can use their reports to see if defect patterns in contacts with customers imply the need for further training of service representatives or changes to their leadership systems.

Conflict

Conflict and cooperation are integral elements of the life of organizations. Both are considered two aspects of social activity, closely related. So much so that the resolution of the conflict is much better understood as a phase of the conflict-cooperation scheme than as an end to the conflict or a final resolution of the conflict. Administrative thinking has been concerned with the problem of obtaining cooperation and resolving conflicts. Conflict is not casual, it is inherent in business life and inherent in the use of power.

Staff Integration

It is defined as filling and keeping the positions filled in the organizational structure. This includes identifying workforce requirements, maintaining an inventory of available people, and recruiting, selecting, employing, promoting, evaluating, planning careers, paying and training or otherwise developing both candidates and employees. who currently carry out the work to fulfill their tasks effectively and efficiently. It is clear that the integration of personnel must be closely linked to the organization, that is, to the establishment of intentional structures of roles and positions.

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 manager can control without them. He cannot gauge whether his subordinates are operating as desired unless he has a plan, be it short, medium, or long term. Generally, the clearer, more complete, and more coordinated the plans and the longer the period they encompass, the more complete the control can be.

A manager can study past plans to see where and how they went wrong, to find out what happened and why, and take steps to prevent mistakes from happening again. However, the best control prevents deviations from happening ahead of time.

Control elements:

Setting standards . It is the application of a unit of measurement, which will serve as a model, guide or pattern based on which the control will be carried out.
Measurement of results . The action of measuring execution and results can in some way modify the same unit of measurement.
Correction . The concrete and tangible utility of the control is in the corrective action to integrate the deviations in relation to the standards.
Feedback . The establishment of corrective measures gives rise to feedback; This is where the closest relationship between planning and control is found.