Module I

Meaning Nature and Scope of Public Administration

Introduction

The lives of the people are closely connected with the administration of their
government. It is a complex process involves different things and a lot of activities.
Human beings are living in accordance with the policies and activities done by the
administrators. Administration, as an activity, is as old as the society itself.

Administration is a part and parcel of our daily life. The food we eat, the cloths we
wear, the goods we buy, the streets and highways on which we travel, the automobiles
in which we ride and the many services we enjoy-education, medical care, housing
and many others – are made possible by administration . Thus administration is
everywhere with us from ‘womb to tomb’.

Meaning of Administration

The term ‘Administration’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘ad’ and ‘ministare’
which means ‘to serve’. In simple words it means ‘care for’ or to ‘look after’ people,
to ‘manage affairs’. Administration may be defined as “group activity which involves
cooperation and coordination for the purpose of achieving desired goals or
objectives.” Any cooperative human effort towards achieving some common goals is
also known as administration. Thus every group activity involves some kind of
administration whether it is in a family, factory, hospital, company, university or in a
government department. Thus Administration permeates all organised human
activities.

Definitions of Administration

Pfiffner and Presthus define administration as “organization and direction of human

and material resources to achieve desired ends.”

According to L D White , Administration is “the direction, coordination and control of

many persons to achieve some purpose or objective”.

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Herbert a Simon said “in its broadest sense, administration can be defined as the
activities of groups cooperating to accomplish common goals”

Luther Gulick pointed out that “Administration has to do with getting things done,
with the accomplishment of defined objectives”.

Felix A Nigro defined “Administration is the organisation and use of men and
materials to accomplish a purpose”.

A brief analysis of the above definitions reveals that the administration comprises two
essentials, namely

1. cooperative effort, and

2. pursuit of common objectives.

Thus administration is a common process ,common to all group effort; public or

private ,civil or military, large - scale or small-scale.

Broadly speaking, the term ‘administration’ appears to bear at least four different
meanings or different senses depending upon the context in which it is used. They
are:-

1. As a Discipline: The name of a branch of a learning or intellectual discipline as

taught and studied in colleges and universities.

2. As a Vocation: Type of work/trade or profession/occupation, especially one that

involves knowledge and training in a branch of advance learning.

3. As a Process: The sum total of activities undertaken to implement public policy or

policies to produce some services or goods.

4. As a Synonym for word Executive or Government: Such other body of person in

supreme charge of affairs; for example Nagendra Modi Administration, Donald
Trump Administration etc.

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What is Public Administration?

Now let us discuss what Public administration is. Public Administration is an activity
as old as our ancient civilisation. But as an independent discipline or a branch of study
public administration cannot claim for a long history. Public administration gained
immense importance since the emergence of administrative state. The former
American President and the political scientist, Woodrow Wilson published an article
in political science journal in 1887 titled as ‘the study of administration’ is considered
as the first article mentioning of Public Administration. Woodrow Wilson is the
father of public administration. Public Administration is government in action.

Public Administration is a part, even though a large and important part, of

administration. Public Administration means performance of the executive functions
of the state. Public Administration lends itself to two usages. It refers to the practice.
Also, it means a field of intellectual enquiry or discipline. Public Administration
refers to the study of the activities of the State, but these activities may relate to the
executive or the legislature or the judiciary. Many thinkers restrict it to the executive.
But some scholars would have broaden the definition of the term and extended it to all
the three branches. Public Administration refers to the organisation and management
of activities financed from the tax-payer’s money.

Definitions of Public Administration

According to Woodrow Wilson, the father of public administration; “Pubic

Administration is the detailed and systematic application of law. Every particular
application of law is an act of administration.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica defines public administration as “the application of a policy

of a state through its government”. Therefore, public administration refers to that part
of administration, which pertains to the administrative activities of the government.

L.D. White said “Public Administration consists of all those operations having for
their purpose the fulfilment or the enforcement of public policy”. It includes military
as well as civil affairs, much of the works of the court, and all the special fields of

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government activity - police, education, health, construction of public works,
conservation, social security and many others.

Luther Gulick defined, “Public Administration is that part of the science of

administration, which has to do with the government and, thus, concerns itself
primarily with the executive branch, where the work of the government is done;
though there are obviously administrative problems also in connection with the
legislative and judicial branches.

To Wright Waldo “Public Administration is the art and science of management as

applied to the affairs of State.”

M.E. Dimock opined, “Public administration is concerned with ‘what’ and ‘how’ of
the government. The ‘what’ is the subject matter, the technical knowledge of a field,
which enables the administrator to perform his tasks. The ‘how’ is the technique of
management, the principles according to which co-operative programmes are carried
through to success. Each is indispensable; together they form the synthesis called
administration”.

According to J.M Pfiffner, “Administration consists of getting the work of

government done by coordinating the efforts of people so that they can work together
to accomplish their set tasks”.

According to Nicholas Henry, “Public administration is a broad-ranging and vague

combination of theory and practice; its purpose is to promote a superior understanding
of government and its relationship with the society, it governs, as well as to encourage
public policies more responsive to social needs and to institute managerial practices
attuned to effectiveness, efficiency and the deeper human requisites of the citizenry”.

The traditional definitions of the public administration reflect the view that the public
administration is only involved in carrying out the policies and programmes of
government. It reflect that it has no role in policy making and also locates the
administration only in the executive branch but today the term public administration is
used in a broader sense that it is not only involved in carrying out the programmes of

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the government, but it also play an important role in policy formulation and covers the
three branches of the government. In this context, it may reflect on the definition
offered by F.A. Nigro and L.G.Nigro.

According to Nigro and Nigro Public administration:

✓ is co-operative group effort in public setting:

✓ covers all the three branches-executive ,legislature and judicial and their inter-
relations
✓ has an important role in the formulation of public policy and thus is a part of
the policy
✓ is different in significant ways from private administration, and
✓ is closely associated with the numerous private groups and individuals in
providing service to the community.

Nature of Public Administration

There are two views regarding the nature of Public Administration, that is

1. Integral view and

2. Managerial view

According to the integral view, ‘administration’ is the sum total of all the activities-
manual, clerical, managerial, technical etc., which are undertaken to realize the
objectives of organization. In this view, all the acts of officials of the government
from the Attendant to Secretaries to the government and Head of the State constitute
Public Administration. Thus the activities of the errand boy, the foreman, the
gatekeeper, the sweeper, as well as the IT professionals, the secretary to the
government and the managers in an enterprise constitute administration. It counts the
work of all persons from the lowest to the highest positions working in an
organization as part of administration.

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Henry Fayol and L.D. White are the supporters of this view. According to L.D. White
Public Administration “consists of all those operations having for their purpose the
fulfilment or the enforcement of public policy”. This definition cover a multitude of
particular operations in many fields- the delivery of a letter, the sale of public land, the
negotiation of a treaty, the award of compensation to an injured workman, the
quarantine of a sick child, the removal of litter from a park, manufacturing plutonium
and licensing the use of atomic energy. Thus it is a broader view of administration.

On the other hand the managerial view considers the administration in a narrower
sense. According to this view of administration, the managerial activities of people
who are involved in planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling
constitute public administration. It considers only the work of those persons engaged
in performing managerial functions. This view regards things are getting done and not
doing things. Managerial view excludes Public Administration from non-managerial
activities such as manual, clerical, and technical activities. Luther Gulick, Herbert
Simon, Smithburg, and Thompson are the supporters of this view. Luther Gulick
writes, “Administration has do with getting things done, with the accomplishment of
defined objectives”. Simon, Smithburg and Thomson observe, “the term
‘administration’ is also used in a narrower sense to refer to those patterns of
behaviours that are common to many kind of cooperating groups; and that do not
depend upon either the specific goals towards which they are cooperating or the
specific technological methods used to reach these goals”.

The two views differ from each other in many ways. According to Professor M. P.
Sharma the difference between the two views is fundamental.

➢ Integral view includes the activities of all the persons engaged in

administration whereas the managerial view restricts itself only to the activities
of the few persons at the top.
➢ The integral view depicts all type of activities from manual to managerial, from
non-technical to technical whereas the managerial view takes into account only
the managerial activities in an organization.

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 ➢ Furthermore, administration according to integral view would differ from one
sphere to another depending upon the subject matter, but whereas that will not
be the case according to the managerial point of view because the managerial
view is identified with the managerial techniques common to all the fields of
administration.

The difference between the two views relates to the difference between management
and operation or we may say between getting things done and doing things. The
correct meaning of the term administration would however, depend upon the context
in which it is used.

Scope of Public Administration

As we have seen earlier, Public administration has a border view and a narrower view.
In the modern developing age we have to make public administration as a scientific,
growing discipline. For this our approach to the study of public administration has to
be broader, modern and scientific. In the broader terms mutual dependence and the
intensive interaction between the three branches of the government is essential for
good administration. Thus, the scope of public administration is wide enough. By the
scope of Public Administration, we mean the major concerns of public administration
as an activity and as a discipline.

I. Scope of Public Administration as an Activity

Broadly speaking, Public Administration embraces all the activities of the

government. Hence, as an activity the scope of public administration is no less than
the scope of state activity. In the modern welfare state people, expect many things- a
wide variety of services and protection from the government. In this context, public
administration provides a number of welfare and social security services to the people.
Besides, it has to manage government owned industries and regulate private
industries. Public administration covers every area and activity within the ambit public
policy. Thus the scope of public administration is very wide in modern state.

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II. Scope of Public Administration as a Discipline

Writers have defined the scope of public administration in different terms. The scope
of public administration as a discipline, that is subject of studies, broadly comprises of
two views. They are:

1. POSDCORB view
2. The Subject Matter view

POSDCORB view of Public Administration

This is a narrow view of public administration and takes into account only the
executive branch of the government. In other words this view corresponds with the
managerial view. Hendry fayol, L.Urwick, Fercey M. Queen and Luther Gulick are
the main supporters of this view.

According to Henri Fayol the main categories of administration are: Planning,

Organization, Command, Coordination and control. L. Urwick fully supports Fayol’s
view. F.M. Queen says that the study of administration deals with ‘Men, Materials
and Methods’.

Luther Gulick’s view on the scope of public administration is very important because
he has explained that in detail. He sums up these techniques in the word POSCORB,
each letter of which describe one technique. These letters stands for:

P = Planning,

O = Organisation,

S =Staffing,

D =Directing,

CO = Co-ordination

R =Reporting

B = Budgeting.

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Let us see the real meaning of these terms:-

1. Planning means the working out in broad outline the things to be done, the
methods to be adopted to accomplish the purpose.
2. Organization means the establishment of the formal structure of authority
through which the work is sub-divided, arranged, defined, and coordinated.
3. Staffing means the recruitment and training of the personnel and their
conditions of work.
4. Directing means making decisions and issuing orders and instructions.
5. Co-ordination means the interrelating the work of various divisions, sections,
and other parts of the organizations.
6. Reporting means informing the superiors within the agency to whom the
executive is responsible about what is going on.
7. Budgeting means fiscal planning, controlling, and accounting.

According to Gulick the POSDCORB activities are common to all organizations.

They are the common problems of the management, which are found in different
agencies regardless of the nature of work they do.

POSDCORB gives unity, certainty, and definiteness and makes the study more
systematic. The critics pointed out that the POSDCORB activities were neither the
whole of administration nor even the most important part of it. The POSDCORB view
overlooks the fact that different agencies are faced with different administrative
problems, which are peculiar to the nature of the services, they render, and the
functions they performed. The POSDCORB view takes into consideration only the
common techniques of the administration and ignores the study of the ‘Subject
Matter’ with which the agency is concerned. A major defect is that the POSDCORB
view does not contain any reference to the formulation and implementation of the
policy. Therefore the scope of administration is defined very narrowly, being too
inward looking and to conscious of the top management.

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The Subject Matter View of Public Administration

The subject matter view is more or less similar to the integral view of the nature of the
public administration. According to this view public administration studies the sum
total of the entire activities of the government; the executive, legislature and judiciary.
Thus the scope of public administration is very wide.

Public Administration as a discipline consists of five branches:

i. Organisational theory and Behaviour;

ii. Public Personal Administration;
iii. Public Financial Administration;
iv. Comparative and Development Administration and
v. Public Policy Analysis

This function comprises line functions or services meant for people. We all know that
public administration deals not only with the processes but also with the substantive
matters of administration, such as Defence, Law and Order, Education, Public Heath,
Agriculture, Public works, Social Security, Justice, Welfare, etc... These services
require not only POSDCORB techniques but also have important specialised
techniques of thereon which are not covered by POSDCORB techniques. For
example, if you take Police Administration it has its own techniques in crime
detection, maintenance of Law and Order, etc., which are much and more vital to
efficient police work, than the formal principles of organisation, personnel
management, coordination or finance and it is the same with other services too.
Therefore the study of Public Administration should deal with both the processes (that
is POSDCORB techniques and substantive concerns). So emphasis on the subject-
matter cannot be neglected. We conclude the scope of public administration with the
statement of Lewis Meriam: “Public administration is an instrument with two blades
like a pair of scissors. One blade may be knowledge of the field covered by
POSDCORB; the other blade is knowledge of the subject matter in which these
techniques are applied. Both blades must be good to make an effective tool".

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Thus the activities of the Public administration will be wide in scope. Prof. White
supports this view; “in their broader context the ends of administration are the
ultimate objects of the state itself, the maintenance of peace and order, the
progressive achievement of justice, the instruction of the young, protection against
decease and insecurity, the adjustment and compromise of conflicting groups and
interests in short, the attainment of good life”. Thus, it is obvious that though public
administration studies the administrative branch of the executive organ, yet its scope
is very wide and it varies with people’s connection of good life.

We may conclude the discussion with the observation of Herbert Simon who says that
Public administration has two important aspects, namely deciding and doing things.
The first provides the basis for the second. One cannot conceive of any discipline
without thinking or deciding. Thus Public administration is a broad- ranging and
amorphous combination of theory and practice.

The scope of public administration varies with people’s expectations of what they
should get from government. Throughout the world the demands made by the people
upon governments have continually increased and in time to come they would further
increase.

Importance of Public Administration

Public administration has a very important place not only as an instrument of

governance but also as an important mechanism for preserving and promoting the
welfare of community in the era of welfare states. It has a great impact upon the life of
the people as well. It is a vital process charged with the implementation of great
objective.

The importance of public administration may be studied under three heads:

i. Public Administration and the People - Public administration has a very

important place in the life of people. It is the branch of government that
touches more directly and more strikingly than any other the lives of human
beings. All people use the service of public administration almost in their in

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 their activity. There are several departments of administration like the
employment exchanges, industries department, medical department, and
agriculture department etc, which affect almost every citizen in one way or
other. With the advancement of science and technology the problem of
maintaining effective coordination between the administration and the rest of
the community has become great important. So the pursuit of knowledge of
public administration becomes most essential element in the modern time.
ii. Public Administration and Democracy - The ideals of democracy, i.e.,
progress, prosperity and protection of the common man can be obtained only
through impartial, honest and efficient administration. An administrator should
be neutral in politics and serve faithfully any political party which comes in
power. In the field of government he must possess some aptitude for getting
along with politicians. Modern democracy has brought in the concept of a
welfare state. It has increased the scope of state activity leading to ever
increasing demands on public administration for more and more of services.
Undue intervention of politicians in administration and it may cease to be an
effective instrument for the realisation of nations’ ideals.
iii. Public Administration as a Subject - Almost for all his needs the citizen
depends upon public administration. In view of the important role of public
administration in the life of the people, its study cannot be ignored by the
citizen of a state. Therefore, its teaching should become a part of the
curriculum of education. The study of public administration will help the
people to become better administrators.

Causes of its Growing Importance

Industrial revolution and technological developments have contributed the importance

of public administration. The ordinary person can feel secure only if large scale
organisation based on sound principles of administration caters his interests. The rapid
means of transport and communication have made the existence of large scale
administration possible.

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Emergence of concept of planning for the socio- economic amelioration of the
common man has led to the development public administration. Formulation and
execution of these plans widens the sphere of public administration. With the
inception of welfare states the concept of police states has suffered setbacks. The
welfare states look after the individuals in all way of life. These are the factors
responsible for the development and growing importance of public administration.

Public and Private Administration

Public administration and private administration are two species of the same genus,
namely administration. The management of affairs by private individuals or body of
individuals is private administration while management of affairs by central, state or
local government is public administration. Public administration is often compared
with private administration with a view to finding out similarities and dissimilarities
between the two.

The similarity between public and private administration are: Both public and private
administrations manifest common features at several points. Many of the managerial
and administrative tactics are common to both. The activities like account keeping,
filing etc. are in same uniformity. Both mutually taking some practices in
administration. The emergence of public corporation – a halfway house between its
commercial prototype and the traditional governmental department - is a pointer to
this trend. Thus, there is a good deal of similarity between public and private
administration.

The following are the important differences between the two types of administration.

1. Political Direction - In public administration there is political direction. The

administers under public administration has to carry out the orders which he
gets from the political executive with no option of his own.
2. Profit Motive - Public administration is conducted with the motive of service
while the motive of private administration is profit making. If private

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 administration is useful to the public, its service to it is a by-product of profit
making. Private administration will never undertake a work if it does not bring
profit.
3. Service and cost - In public administration there is an intimate relationship
between service rendered and the cost of the service charged from the public.
Only such amount of money is raised by taxation, which is necessary for the
rendering of service. In private administration income of funds exceeds
expenditure because there is usually an attempt to extract as such money as
possible from the public.
4. Nature of Functions - Public administration is more comprehensive. It deals
with the various types of the needs of the people. In a socialist State the scope
of State is still larger. Private administration does not cover so many aspects of
human life. It mostly concerned with the economics needs of life.
5. Efficiency - It is considered by many that in public administration efficiency is
less. Because of extravagance, redtapism, and corruption, which may dominate
in public administration, it may not be in a position to function in an efficient
manner. But in private administration the level of efficiency is superior to
public administration. The incentive of more profits impels the individuals to
devote him more to work.
6. Public Responsibility - Public administration has responsibility to the public.
It has to face the criticism of the public, press, and political parties. The private
administration does not have any great responsibility towards the public. It is
only responsible to the people indirectly and that too for securing its own ends
and not for the welfare of the people.
7. Public Relations - The public and private administration also differs on the
principles of public relations. Public relations have a narrower content in public
administration than in private administration.
8. Uniform Treatment - Public administration is consistent in procedure and
uniform in dealings with the public. In such a system a civil servant cannot
show favour to some people and disfavour to others. But private administration
need not bother much about uniformity in treatment.

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 9. Monopolistic - In the field of public administration, there is generally a
monopoly of the government and it does not allow private parties to compete
with it. For example, no person can establish post and telegraph, railways etc.
But in private administration, several individuals or organizations compete with
each other to supply the same commodity or meet the same needs. Thus there is
no monopoly in private administration.
10. Financial meticulousness - Public administration has to very careful in
financial matters. Public money is to be spending meticulously and according
to the prescribed procedure. It is the legislature, which exercises financial
control over executive. But there is no difference between finance and
administration in private administration. There is no external financial control.
11. Social Prestige - Public Administration carries a greater social prestige than
private administration. Service to the community is the basic characterising
public administration.
12. Social Consequence - The social consequence of public administration will be
great because a defect in it will do more harm to the public. But in private
administration this will be less. Even if any harm is done by it will be of less
significance and thereby may be negligible.

The Public Administration has certain distinctive features, which differentiate it from
private administration. Public Administration is far more closely tied up with the
constitution and formal laws of a country than private administration. It is thus closest
to political science and emphasises elements such as equality, fairness and rule of law
in decision- making. Private administration, on the other hand, stands by profit,
effectiveness, cost- benefit analysis. The difference between the two is more apparent
than real. Both respond to the environment differently’ which inevitably produces
consequences for the functioning of organisation and their management. It can be
concluded that public and private administration are the two species of the same
genus, but they have special values and techniques of their own which give to each its
distinctive character.

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Evolution and Development of Public Administration

The term ‘public Administration’ stands for two implications. Firstly it refers to the
activity of administrating the affairs of the government like enforcement of law and
order. Secondly, it refers to a branch of study like political science, sociology etc.
Public administration as a discipline is not a very old one. In fact it was originated in
1887, when the former American president Woodrow Wilson wrote an article entitled
‘the study of Administration’ in ‘political science quarterly’ however public
administration as a practice, is as old as our civilization.

Public Administration as a separate subject of study originated and developed in the

USA. The scientific management movement advocated by F.W. Taylor, in the 19th
century, industrialization which gave rise to large scale organizations, the emergence
of the concept of welfare state and the movement for government reform due to
negative consequence of spoils- system are all have contributed to the growth of
Public Administration.

Yet Public Administration has passed through several phase of development. One can
broadly divide the Public Administration into the following six periods.

1. First Stage: Public Administration Dichotomy 1887-1926

2. Second Stage: Principles of Administration 1927-1937
3. Third Stage: Era of Challenge 1938-1948
4. Fourth Stage: Crisis of Identity 1948-1970.
5. Fifth Stage: Public Policy Perspective 1971- 1991.
6. Sixth Stage: Rowing to Steering 1991- continuing

Many other branches also emerged like development administration, comparative

public administration, international administration etc. The emerging focus of public
administration is organization theory and management science, its focus is the public
interest and public affairs. . USA continues to be the single most important source of
literature in the field of public administration.

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 Politics Administration Dichotomy

Woodrow Wilson is credited with the politics-administration dichotomy via his

theories on public administration in his 1887 essay, "The Study of Administration".
Wilson came up with a theory that politics and administration are inherently different
and should be approached as such. Wilson wrote in his essay in regards to public
administration: “The field of administration is a field of business. It is removed from
the hurry and strife of politics.... Administration lies outside the proper sphere of
politics. Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets
the tasks for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices.” With
these words, Wilson started a debate that has been going on for decades and continues
to this day. The politics-administration dichotomy is an important concept in the field
of public administration and shows no signs of going away because it deals with the
policy-makers role as an administrator and the balancing act that is the relationship
between politics and administration. This essay is considered to be the first source to
be analyzed and studied in the public administration field. Wilson was primarily
influenced by Richard Ely and Herbert Adams who taught at Johns Hopkins
University.

(Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was an

American statesman, lawyer, and academic who served as the 28th president of the
United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served
as the president of Princeton University and as the 34th governor of New Jersey before
winning the 1912 presidential election.)

Woodrow Wilson’s politics-administration dichotomy can potentially be substantial in

sustaining a strong productive government. The complexity, difficulty level and ample
multiplication of governmental functions can be seen as a main component in the
cause to implement the politics-administration dichotomy.

Woodrow Wilson’s model created one of the first concepts of checks and balances,
which is one of the most predominant systems of democratic accountability used to
shape the United States government. Nevertheless “separating the will of the people

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from politics” could be extremely beneficial and institutionally separating
administration from politics could prove valuable in sustaining government
accountability. Politics-administration dichotomy also leads to political neutrality.
The importance of neutrality in politics and policy are established within the politics-
administration dichotomy.

Wilson stated four reasons why there should be a science of administration:

1. Straighten the paths of government;

2. Make its business businesslike;
3. Strengthen its organization; and
4. Crown its dutifulness.

Wilson knew that it is not possible to achieve absolute separation of politics and
administration. He wants to keep public administration out of the evils of politics and
institutionalize the practice of effective administration. As governments today serve
several masters (the people), their functions became more complex which made
Wilson underscore the need for great mastery in running the government. For this
monumental task, the role of the study of administration is to produce competent
administrators who will not just serve as passive instruments of power but vanguards
of the public interest, and to promote a type of governance responsive to the needs of
the public and reflective of the people’s will.

Pfiffner enumerates point of distinction between political and administrative officiers.

They are:

1. Amateure 1. Professional
2. Non technical 2. Technical
3. Partisan 3. Non partisan
4. Temporary 4. Permanent
5. More Public Contacts 5. Less Public Contacts
6. More Legislative Contacts 6. Fewer Legislative Contacts
7. More Policy Formulating 7. Less Policy Formulating
8. More Decisions 8. More Advisory

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 9. More Coordination 9. More Performance
10. Influenced by technical opinion 10. Influenced by technical data

Criticism

1. The dichotomy of policy and administration was a conceptual distinction

underlying a theory of democratic accountability. It was not intended to guide
behaviour, it was intended as a behavioural prescription directed against
contemporary practices of machine politics.
2. The political/administration dichotomy aimed to separate the power between
political leaders and the merit-based appointment of professional permanent
civil servants in the administrative state.
3. Wilson making the statement, “Government should be run like a business”. The
concept ‘everyone has a boss’ with creating the business like mindset running
our country it makes everyone have to answer to someone than the other, it
creates a sense of working for your job when you are supposed to be working
for the people whom you represent.

Theories of Administration

The Administrative Theory is based on the concept of departmentalization, which

means the different activities to be performed for achieving the common purpose of
the organization should be identified and be classified into different groups or
departments, such that the task can be accomplished effectively.

I. Scientific Management Theory

The Scientific Management Theory is well known for its application of engineering
science at the production floor or the operating levels. The major contributor of this
theory is Fredrick Winslow Taylor, and that’s why the scientific management is often
called as “Taylorism” or Time and Motion Studies.

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F.W. Taylor is regarded as the father of Scientific Management. His book is
‘Principles of Scientific Management’. Taylor pointed out, “Management is a true
Science, resting upon clearly fixed laws, rules and principles, as a foundation”. “The
same principles can be applied with equal force to all social activities; to the
management of our homes, the management of our farms, the management of the
business of our tradesmen, large and small, of our churches, our philanthropic
institutions, our universities and our governmental departments”.

The scientific management theory focused on improving the efficiency of each

individual in the organization. The major emphasis is on increasing the production
through the use of intensive technology, and the human beings are just considered as
adjuncts to machines in the performance of routine tasks.

The scientific management theory basically encompasses the work performed on the
production floor as these tasks are quite different from the other tasks performed
within the organization. Such as, these are repetitive in nature, and the individual
workers performing their daily activities are divided into a large number of cyclical
repetitions of same or closely related activities. Also, these activities do not require
the individual worker to exercise complex-problem solving activity. Therefore, more
attention is required to be imposed on the standardization of working methods and
hence the scientific management theory laid emphasis on this aspect.

The major principles of scientific management, given by Taylor, can be summarized

as follows:

1. Separate planning from doing.

2. Replacing rule of thump methods with the scientific methods and procedures of
work.
3. The Functional foremanship of supervision, i.e. Eight supervisors required to
give directions and instructions in their respective fields.
4. Time, motion and fatigue studies shall be used to determine the fair amount of
work done by each individual worker.

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 5. Improving the working conditions and standardizing the tools, period of work
and cost of production.
6. Proper scientific selection and training of workmen should be done.
7. The financial incentives should be given to the workers to boost their
productivity and motivate them to perform well.
8. Achieving cooperation between management and workers.

Thus, the scientific management theory focused more on mechanization and

automation, i.e., technical aspects of efficiency rather than the broader aspects of
human behaviour in the organization.

Criticism

1. Stress on mechanical efficiency of organisation and neglect human factors in

organisation.
2. It views, man as a means to the ends of organisational efficiency.
3. Its assumption that what is good for the organisation is also good for the
workers is not acceptable.

II. Human Relations Theory

The Human Relations Theory is the extended version of the classical theory wherein
the behavioural sciences get included into the management. According to this theory,
the organization is the social system, and its performance does get affected by the
human actions. The other name of this theory is Neoclassical Theory or Behavioural
Theory.

The pioneering studies which resulted from the experiments in the Hawthorne plant of
the Western Electric Company by Elton Mayo in late twenties also challenged many
prevailing ideas about incentives and human behaviour in groups. It concentrates on
human factor and the complex interpersonal and social relations between people in
organizational situations. The main contribution of human relations approach lies in
highlighting the social and psychological side of human behaviour.

The tenants of the human relations school are as follows:-

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 1. An organization is not merely a techno-economic system. It is very much a
social system.
2. The behaviour of an individual is dominated by the informal group of which he
is a part.
3. An individual employee cannot be motivated by economic incentives alone.
His social and psychological needs must be satisfied to improve the level of
motivation. Social satisfaction at the work place leads to higher performance.
4. Employees are capable of self-direction and control. The employee centred and
participative style of leadership is more effective than task-centred leadership.
5. Management requires social skills to make employees feel that they are a part
of the organization. Organization must take interest in employee development
and welfare.

These studies of human behaviour stresses the human aspect of administration, the
need of employees for recognition, security, and ego-satisfaction, and the importance
of the social environment and group attitudes in work situations. They reach the
conclusion that employee- oriented supervision is more effective than production-
minded, authoritarian supervision. Thus these studies highlighted the weaknesses of
the machine concept of organization and suggested for taking into account the social
and psychological factors of work situation. Unlike the machine mode of organization,
it views organization in its holistic social perspective. It treats workers as human
beings with all humanly attributes. It believes that each worker carries with him a
different culture, attitude, belief and a way of life. Therefore, the organization must
take proper cognizance of such socio-cultural aspects of a worker while engaging an
employee. It is also significant for identifying the informal groups, which are
important in achieving the organizational goals. Thus, Human relation theory
discovered the human side of organization and tried to offer human solutions to
human problems.

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Criticism

The human relations are not a really employee-oriented approach. It seeks to

manipulate and exploit the emotions of employees for the benefit of the organization.
It gives workers a false sense of participation and happiness.

1. The approach ignores the wider environmental issues such as the work task,
organization structure and trade union. Social environment may fail to motivate
employees if they find the work task highly momentous.
2. The human relations approach is based on a wrong assumption that satisfied
workers are more productive workers.
3. The approach stresses the social psychological side of management and
undermines the role of economic incentives in work motivation. If the
employees feel that salary levels are too low, they are likely to be dissatisfied
despite cordial inter-personal relations.

In spite of such limitations, Human Relations theory emphasized human factor in

administration.

III. Bureaucratic Theory

The Bureaucratic Theory is related to the structure and administrative process of the
organization and is given by Max Weber (1864 – 1920), who is regarded as the father
of bureaucracy. Weber did not use the term bureaucracy. On the other hand he used it
in the sense of a legal rational organisation which is applicable to all big
organisations, public and private. What is Bureaucracy? The term bureaucracy means
the rules and regulations, processes, procedures, patterns, etc. that are formulated to
reduce the complexity of organization’s functioning.

According to Max Weber, the bureaucratic organization is the most rational means to
exercise a vital control over the individual workers. A bureaucratic organization is one
that has a hierarchy of authority, specialized work force, standardized principles, rules
and regulations, trained administrative personnel, etc.

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The Weber’s bureaucratic theory differs from the traditional managerial organization
in the sense; it is impersonal, and the performance of an individual is judged through
rule-based activity and the promotions are decided on the basis of one’s merits and
performance.

Max Weber popularised the term bureaucracy. He said that centralised bureaucratic
administration was an integral part of modern state structure and it is inevitable.
Weber has clearly stated in his Economy and Society: Vol. II that “The growing
complexity of the administrative task and the sheer expansion of the scope
increasingly result in the technical superiority of those who have had training and
experience and will thus inevitably favour the continuity of at least some of the
functionaries”. He has clearly stated the origin and inevitability of bureaucratic
organisation is to rule.

Characteristics of Bureaucracy

According to Max Weber:

1. In bureaucracy office is arranged or ordered hierarchically like a pyramid. That

is, officers hold office according to their rank. All the officers are subject to the
higher authority.
2. Bureaucratic system is characterised by impersonal and written rules. The
entire administration is run by impersonal authority and the authority is vested
in rules. In other words, in bureaucratic system, human appeal has no
importance. Laws and rules conduct the administration. All the decisions are
taken on the basis of rules and their methodical application.
3. All the officials are recruited strictly on the basis of proven efficiency and
potential competence. Officials are given specialist training. For the purpose of
recruitment, qualifications are fixed; of course there may be provision for
relaxation.
4. Each official, in bureaucracy, has special or demarcated task. That is, there is
clear division of work and each official will have to strictly observe it. The
tasks are -so demarcated that it involves fall time employment.

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 5. The separation of officials from ownership of the means of administration. It
means that the officials will simply conduct the administration and they cannot
claim the ownership of the means of administration.
6. The officials who perform their duties competently will have security in
services salaries and promotion. In other words, in bureaucracy efficiency,
merit and honesty are duly rewarded. There is also the scope of recognition of
seniority.

In every modern state and administration bureaucracy is practically indispensable.

Without bureaucracy no administration can be run properly and efficiently. Even the
ordinary management of administration is not possible. Precision, speed, unambiguity,
knowledge of the files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of
friction and of material and personal costs - these are raised to the maximum point in
the strictly bureaucratic organisation.

Criticism

1. Weber gives more importance to rigidity and inflexibility of bureaucracy.

2. Weber’s theory emphasises means and neglect ends. It over looks the
importance of organisational goal.
3. It does not deal with the informal social psychological dimensions of the
organisation.
4. It gives little attention to the individual in the organisation.
5. It is also said that Weber’s theory of bureaucracy does not suit the developing
nations, since it is a product of highly developed industrial societies of the
west.

IV. Classical Theory

The Classical Theory is the traditional theory, wherein more emphasis is on the
organization rather than the employees working therein. According to the classical
theory, the organization is considered as a machine and the human beings as different
components/parts of that machine. The main exponents of this theory are Henry Fayol,
Luther Gulick, Urwick, J. D. Mooney, M. P. Follett et.al.

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Characteristics

1. It lays emphasis on detecting errors and correcting them once they have been
committed.
2. It is more concerned with the amount of output than the human beings.
3. The human beings are considered to be relatively homogeneous and
unmodifiable. Thus, labour is not divided on the basis of different kinds of jobs
to be performed in an organization.
4. It is assumed that employees are relatively stable in terms of the change, in an
organization.
5. It is assumed that the authority and control should be vested with the central
authority only, in order to have a centralized and integrated system.

Some writers of the classical theory emphasized on the technological aspects of the
organization and how the individuals can be made more efficient, while others
emphasized on the structural aspects of an organization so that individuals collectively
can be made more efficient. Thus, this purview of different writers resulted in the
formation of two distinct streams:

➢ Scientific Management Stream

➢ Administrative Management Stream

Thus, according to this theory the human beings are just considered as a means of
production.

Criticism

1. The classical theory has not given adequate attention to the individual
employee and his needs.
2. It emphasises the formal structure only.
3. This theory does not take into account the informal organisation.

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