Differences between Management and Administration

Management

Management is defined as an act of managing people and their work, for achieving a common goal by using the organization’s resources. It creates an environment under which the manager and his subordinates can work together for the attainment of group objective. It is a group of people who use their skills and talent in running the complete system of the organization. It is an activity, a function, a process, a discipline and much more.

Planning, organizing, leading, motivating, controlling, coordination and decision making are the major activities performed by the management. Management brings together 5M’s of the organization, i.e., Men, Material, Machines, Methods, and Money. It is a result-oriented activity, which focuses on achieving the desired output.

Some of the critical constituents of effective management include:

• Planning
• Motivation
• Controlling
• Coordination
• Leading
• Organizing

The concept of 5 M’s is pretty prevalent in Management:

• Men
• Material
• Money
• Machines
• Methods

Administration

The administration is a systematic process of administering the management of a business organization, an educational institution like school or college, government office or any nonprofit organization. The main function of administration is the formation of plans, policies, and procedures, setting up of goals and objectives, enforcing rules and regulations, etc.

Administration lays down the fundamental framework of an organization, within which the management of the organization functions.

The nature of administration is bureaucratic. It is a broader term as it involves forecasting, planning, organizing and decision-making functions at the highest level of the enterprise. Administration represents the top layer of the management hierarchy of the organization. These top-level authorities are the either owners or business partners who invest their capital in starting the business. They get their returns in the form of profits or as a dividend.

Management and Administration let’s discuss all the differences between these two terms:

• Management is the procedure and a set of ways to execute the tasks in a business laid down by the plans set by the Administration. It is managing a specific set of people who are accomplishing that particular task. Administration, on the other hand, is administrating the whole Organization by a group of people.
• Management is a sub-activity or a procedure in business, whereas Administration is a high-level or the main activity of a business.
• Operation: Management is responsible for executing the policy and goals set by the Administration. Administration, on the other hand, is responsible for the formation of those policies and objectives.
• Decision making: Administration is responsible and holds the right to make all the decisions within an organization. Management, on the other hand, has the right to make a decision only for certain areas as set by the Administration.
• People representing the terms: Management represents all the employees within the Organization and Administration represents the owners and top-level executives.
• Purpose-driven Organizations: Management can be found in companies/corporations and all profit-driven ventures. The term administration, on the other hand, is often used in Government bodies, NGOs, Non-profit Organizations, etc.
• Operator: Operator for Management is a manager who is responsible for the output of workers in a company. Operator for Administration, on the other hand, is an administrator who is responsible for the proper working environment in a company as a whole using policies, plans, rules, and other factors.
• Focus: The focus of Management is to increase efficiency and get short term results by increasing the efficiency of specific tasks. Administration, on the other hand, works on the long-term vision and builds plans for best utilization of resources and growth of the company as a whole.