Definition of Management

Know what the definition of administration from a general perspective

By: Ivan Thompson

Let's start with etymology. The word government comes from the Latin ad (to, direction, trend) and minister (subordination or obedience), meaning one who performs a function under the command of another, ie one that provides a service to another [1]. However, today, the word has a different meaning administration and much more complex because it includes (depending on definition) terms like "process", "resources", "achievement of objectives", "efficiency", "effectiveness" among others, that have radically changed their original meaning. Furthermore, understanding this term has become more difficult because the various definitions that exist today, which vary by school administrative and author.

With this in mind, this article provides a general definition of management that is based on the proposals of some prestigious authors, in order to give the reader a general idea of ​​the meaning of management today. Then provides a brief explanation of this definition and an axiom to be considered.
Definition of Directors:

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According Idalberto Chiavenato, the administration is "the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the use of resources to achieve organizational goals" [1].
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For Robbins and Coulter, the administration is the "coordination of work activities so that they are conducted efficiently and effectively with others and through them" [2].
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Hitt, Black & Porter, defined management as "the process of structuring and joint use of resources oriented towards goals, to perform tasks in an organizational environment" [3].
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According to Diez de Castro, García del Junco, Martin Jimenez and Christopher Periáñez, the administration is "the set of basic functions or processes (plan, organize, direct, coordinate and control), which conveniently made, impacting positively on the effectiveness and efficiency of the activity in the organization "[4].
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For Weihrich Koontz and the administration is "the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which, working in groups, individuals effectively meet specific objectives" [5a].
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Reinaldo O. Da Silva, defines management as "a set of activities aimed to use resources efficiently and effectively in order to achieve one or more objectives or goals of the organization" [6].

At this point, and taking into account the above proposals, I propose the following definition of management:

Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the use of resources and work activities in order to achieve the objectives or goals of the organization efficiently and effectively.

This definition is divided into five main parts which are explained below:

1. Process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling: That is, perform a set of activities or functions in sequence, including:
* Planning: It's basically choose and set aims and objectives of the organization. Next, determine policies, projects, programs, procedures, methods, budgets, policies and strategies to achieve them, and in addition to decisions having to choose between different future courses of action [4]. In a nutshell, is to decide in advance what you want to achieve in the future and how it will achieve.
* Organization: It consists of determining which tasks to do, who makes them, how they are grouped, who reports to whom and where decisions are made [2].
* Address: The fact influence individuals to contribute for the implementation of organizational and group goals, therefore, has to do primarily with the interpersonal aspect of management [5].
Control: involves measuring and correcting the individual and organizational performance to ensure that the facts they stick to the plans. Involves measuring performance based on goals and plans, the detection of deviations from standards and contribution to the correction of these [5].
2. Resource Usage: This refers to the use of different types of resources available to the organization's human, financial, material and information.
3. Work activities: They are the set of operations or tasks performed in the organization and that as resources are essential to achieving the objectives.
4. Achievement of objectives or goals of the organization: The whole process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the use of resources and activities are not made randomly, but in order to achieve the objectives or goals of the organization.
5. Efficiency and effectiveness: In essence, efficiency is the achievement of objectives and efficiency is the achievement of objectives with the use of minimal resources [5].


Axiom: In short, running (either an organization, family life or yourself) is to decide in advance what you want to accomplish and how it will achieve, then use the available resources and implement planned activities in order to achieve the set objectives or goals, doing what must be done with as little resources as possible ...

Additional considerations to keep in mind:

According to Hitt, Black & Porter, the term management has other meanings besides "a process" or "a set of activities." Sometimes the term is used to designate a specific area of ​​the organization: the set of individuals who took over the managerial duties. So, you may hear the phrase "the administration drafted a new policy for staff." Often when the term is used in this way does not necessarily refer to all members of the organization, but rather to those occupying positions of power and influence in this scenario (management levels) [3].