What are the Difference Between Management and Administration?

Considering Management and Administration to be the same is a common misconception. There are a lot of similarities between the two terms but are entirely different, especially in terms of business.

As a business management student and a businessman, it is imperative for you to clearly understand the difference between the two terms to understand complex topics of business management. Management is a part of the Administration and not the other way around.

Lets first understand the meaning of both of the terms, and then we can compare the two.

What is Management?

Management is an act of managing subordinates and resources in order to work at a common goal. It consists of various factors and duties, all of which collectively are designed to build a healthy and effective environment for business operations. Under Management, the policies and broad objectives are pre-defined, and you have to work towards execution and the plans required while executing.

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, which are –

• Men
• Material
• Money
• Machines
• Methods

What is Administration?

The Administration is a set of procedures for administering Management in a company. It consists of a number of steps and ways in order to build efficient programs, policies, and systems within an organization that will be followed to manage operations.

The fundamental role of the Administration is to lay the framework for the Organization. This framework is used by the Management to build plans and execute orders. Administration represents the top level of management professionals in a company. Usually, these are the business owners or the CEO of a company.

Also Read: What are the different Levels of Management?

Some of the critical constituents of Administration are –

• Formations of all company policies.
• Framing the plan of actions for various objectives of a company.
• Setting the goals for all departments in the Organization.
• Enforcing the rules and regulations within the Organization.

Now that you understand the underlying meaning of Management and Administration let’s discuss all the differences between these two terms –

1. 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.
2. Management is a sub-activity or a procedure in business, whereas Administration is a high-level or the main activity of a business.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. People representing the terms – Management represents all the employees within the Organization and Administration represents the owners and top-level executives.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.

Conclusion

I am sure that by now, you have understood the technical meaning and difference between Management and Administration. Although in real life, you will often overcome one man fulfilling two roles at the same time. The top-level executives in any organization are the Administration, whereas middle and lower-level executives form the Management. A key takeaway and understanding should be that Administration is above Management, and it gives directions to Management and improves the business environment.