Unit 1 – Administration or Management?

UNIT 1

ADMINISTRATION OR MANAGEMENT?

SECTION A

A.1 Answer the following questions:

1. What do you – as reader – expect from a text whose title is a question?

2. Do you have different expectations if the title is based on an "or" question?
3. Try to give a definition to each of the following terms:
to administer – administration
to manage – manager

A.2 Read the text below carefully and decide whether the question in the title
invites the reader to make a choice or to compare the two terms in
order to understand them better.

TEXT A

Administration or Management?
This is a question which still gener- manage are synonyms, in others, they
ates discussions and controversies. In involve difference in meaning.
some contexts, to administer and to When applied to public and private
 English for Public Administration
organisations, a dominant perception is
that public organisations are adminis-
tered, while private organisations are
managed. Both types of organisations
have goals, however, both use re-
sources to achieve those goals and
both are held accountable to their
stakeholders for the decisions they
make and for the ways they use re-
sources. The people responsible for
making the decisions and carrying out
the policies and objectives, in both
types of organisation, are clearly per-
forming the same role: they are plan-
ning, organising, co-ordinating and con-
trolling, in other words managing. Ad-
ministration in both types of organisa-
tion involves establishing procedures
which are designed to link policy with
practice, to ensure consistency and fa-
cilitate control. In public organisations,
it is these administrative processes that
tend to dominate.
This gives public organisations their
distinctive nature, although this varies
from one organisation to another.
Analysts sometimes identify a large
number of systems within public or-
ganisations, reflecting the diversity of
their tasks.
They argue that only a minority of
the systems had the primary task of
making the best use of resources.
These are normally referred to as
management systems which were
found notably in the nationalised in-
dustries. Other systems as judicial,
diplomatic and administrative. These
differ in their structures and operational
styles from management systems. The
latter bear a closer resemblance to
private business organisations than do
the other systems. The main contrasts
between administrative and
management systems are:
1. In administrative systems, objec-
tives tend to be expressed in very
general terms and are rarely re-
viewed or changed. Management
systems, in contrast, have more
clearly identified goals and objec-
tives, with specific deadlines and
targets.
2. The main criteria of success for
administrative systems are
avoiding mistakes and getting
things right. In management sys-
tems, the criteria are achieving
targets, usually expressed quan-
titatively.
3. The economical and efficient use
of resources is secondary tasks in

administrative systems but of
primary importance in the creation
of effective management systems.
4. Administrative systems tend to fo-
cus on role where responsibilities
are precisely defined and there is
limited delegation structures tend
to consist of long hierarchies and
there is a tendency to caution and
to refer problems upwards. In
management systems a task is
central, there are shorter hierar-
chies, more delegation and a will-
ingness to make decisions.
5. The role of the administrator is
more one of arbitration and rule
interpretation. In contrast the
manager is a protagonist, looking
for opportunities, fighting for re-
sources and taking initiatives.
So administrative systems appear to
have mechanistic structures, with long
chains of command and narrow spans
of control. They are heavily bureaucra-
tised and foster defensive and passive
behaviour. Role and status are – in
most cases - routinised to constrain
discretion. Managerial systems, on the
Unit 1 – Administration or Management?
other hand, tend to have more flexible
structures with less hierarchy. They are
task oriented and maximise individual
discretion and there is a high level of
decentralisation and wider spans of
control. The criteria of success in public
administrative systems are mistake
avoidance, satisfying public expecta-
tions of fairness, averting political con-
troversy and achieving consensus,
conformity and consistency in practice.
The criteria of success in management
systems, in contrast, hinge around
achieving the goals set for the organi-
sation. Making the right decision is less
important than making an appropriate
decision, given the elements of risk and
uncertainty involved. Managers are
judged by their ability to recognise and
seize opportunities, react quickly to
changed circumstances and make prof-
its or avoid losses.
(Adapted and abridged from "Public
Management and Administration" by
Owen E. Hughes)
 English for Public Administration

A.3 Vocabulary

A.3.1 Fill in the blanks with suitable words and phrases from the text:
Both public and private organisations are held …1… to their stakeholders.
They use …2… to achieve their goals. In both types of organisation,
administration involves establishing …3… designed …4… policy with …5… .
In …6… systems, objectives are rarely …7… or changed. …8… systems have
clearer …9… and goals, with specific …10… and …11… . In administrative
systems there is limited …12…. An administrator has a role of …13… and
…14… interpretation. A manager is a …15…, looking …16… opportunities,
…17… for resources and …18… initiatives.

A.3.2 Some words in the text appear in verb-noun partnerships, usually

referred to as collocations. Make up common collocations selecting
from the following verbs and nouns. Some verbs may go with more
than one noun:

to take profit
to achieve responsibility
to make targets
to avoid objectives
to set mistakes
to delegate initiative
to communicate resources
to allocate a policy
to carry out information
a plan
 Unit 1 – Administration or Management?

A.3.3 Match up the following words and phrases with the correct
meaning:

a. to justify minutely the way in which some

1. policy
amounts of money have been used
b. plan of action made by a government, a
2. efficiency
company or a political party
c. ability, quality to work well or to produce
3. consensus
the right result or the right work quickly
4. to account for d. working or producing results
5. system of
e. to come out; to derive from
accountability
f. system according to which people are
6. to emerge held responsible for their work and they
have to report to their superiors
g. the state of always being the same in
7. effectiveness
behaviour, thought, etc.
8. to avert h. general agreement; collective opinion
9. consistency i. to avoid; to turn away

A.4 Speaking activity: "Improving activity in a

public tax-collecting enterprise".
(Meeting at Top Level)
Stage 1 Organising the groups
Work in groups of four.

Group A – Managers
You are all members of the management of a tax collecting
organisation. You have to think of a managerial plan for the new
semester. On the basis of the text, work out this plan and be
prepared to explain each item from a manager’s point of view.

Group B – Representatives of the leading party (Administrators)

You have been given administrative responsibilities in a tax collecting
organisation. Discuss within the group and work out an efficient
policy so as to improve the activity of this public organisation and
meet the public’s expectations.
 English for Public Administration

Stage 2 Simulation of the meeting

Form new groups including two managers and two administrators.
The administrators will present the policy, which the managers have
to approve after analysing it carefully.

Role cards:

Managers
Do not forget that:
• administrative policies express objectives in very general terms. You have to make
the two administrators accept your specific objectives and targets;
• efficient use of resources is of primary importance for you. Make a clear
distribution of resources;
• your purpose is to get the work done. Think of opportunities you may have, take
initiative, make the two administrators accept your proposals, give arguments,
fight for your ideas;
• you are a protagonist;
• in the end, you have to come to a plan accepted by both parties.

Administrators
Do not forget that:
• the public's expectations are very important to you;
• you only fix general objectives. Therefore, you do not have to change them.
However, specific targets fixed by managers may be accepted.
• your main interest is to avoid mistakes;
• achieving targets is managers’ business;
• role is very important from your point of view. Define responsibilities clearly, work
out a system of delegating responsibility, make clear hierarchies to ensure control.
 Unit 1 – Administration or Management?

SECTION B

B.1 Discussion
Using information from Text A and knowing that both administrative and
management systems are found in the public sector, try to establish
which of the two systems has dominated and why.

Pair and group work:

First, talk to your deskmate about this and then, work in small
groups and compare your opinions with your colleagues'.

B.2 Read Text B and find out how many of your ideas are
confirmed by it.

TEXT B

Although both management and ad-
ministrative systems are found in the
public sector, it is the administrative
system that has traditionally domi-
nated. This is in part because histori-
cally the public services emerged as
administrative bodies, supporting politi-
cal policy makers and law makers and
ensuring that the law was imple-
mented. The civil service is still domi-
nated by an elite whose perception of
their role is that of policy advisers to
ministers and guardians of the public
interest. Many analysts have confirmed
that administrators did not see them-
selves as managers, which had an ef-
fect on the way in which the Service
was managed.
The traditional administrative culture
is also a consequence of public systems
of accountability. Public bodies have
money appropriated by Parliament or
local authorities for specific purposes
annually. They are required to account
for the regularity of their expenditures
each year. This invites a cautious atti-
tude to the use of funds and close
scrutiny over each commitment of re-
sources. Any decision to change the
use of funds has traditionally required
to be vired by the finance department.
 English for Public Administration
Bureaucratic administrative
structures and systems are also
in part a consequence of the size
of public bodies, their dispersal
throughout the country and the need to
ensure standard and uniform practices.
The law requires that all those entitled
to social or welfare rights should
receive equal treatment. It also sets
down rules and procedures to be
followed. Only bureaucratic practices
can ensure that this occurs.
Administrative systems are con-
cerned about the use of resources in so
far as they constrain what can be done
but they do not assess success in terms
of product outputs - but in terms of
goal effectiveness. It is generally stated
that public organisations have to
achieve a balance between resource
efficiency and goal effectiveness. Public
organisations should pay special atten-
tion to policy tests. These tests are ul-
timately qualitative and judgmental.
They imply a qualitative judgement
about not only the goals but also the
relative priority given to different goals.
It is politicians who finally decide on
both the goals and resources to be
used in pursuing them. There is no ob-
jective way of determining what the
right policies or right amount of re-
sources are. In the market it is the
price mechanism, which arbitrates, in
the public domain it is political choice.
How public organisations are managed
derives from these fundamental facts of
political life. They are predominantly
administratively driven, not manage-
ment driven. Traditionally, their man-
agement systems have emerged out of
their administrative systems, not vice
versa. In the private sector, the man-
agement function precedes the admin-
istrative one. In public organisations,
because of their primarily political goals
and accountabilities, and the priority
given to procedures, it is the adminis-
trative function, which is prior to the
management one.
(Adapted and abridged from "Public
Management and Administration" by Owen
E. Hughes)
 Unit 1 – Administration or Management?

B.3 Comprehension

Answer the following questions:

1. Why did administrative systems dominate traditionally?
2. What are the consequences of the public system of accountability?
3. How can bureaucratic practices of the public system be explained?
4. How is success conceived in administrative systems?
5. What do policy tests consist in?
6. Which of the two functions (administrative and management) prevails in
public organisations and why?

B.4 Make up sentences using the following words and expressions:

public bodies, to ensure, in so far as, to strike a

balance, cautious attitude, to pursue, political
choice, in terms of, to assess, expenditures

B.5 Translate into English:

1. Legea cere ca tuturor cetăţenilor să li se acorde tratament egal.

2. Testarea politicii administrative implică nu numai aprecierea calitativă a

scopurilor, ci şi relativa prioritate acordată diferitelor scopuri.
3. Li se cere să justifice regularitatea cheltuielilor în fiecare an?
4. Nu este de loc uşor să evaluezi succesul prin eficacitatea scopului.
5. Nu există un mod obiectiv de a decide ce înseamnă o politică administrativă
bună.
 English for Public Administration

abc
SECTION C Language focus

Initial "it" – used for emphatic purposes

The new project attracts many students.
It's the new project that attracts many students.
They are waiting for the champions.
It's the champions they are waiting for.

C.1 Answer the questions below using "it" as an introductory element to

emphasise the words given in bold italics. Remember that, for such
a function, "it" is used with nouns in both singular and plural.

Finally, the politicians decide on both the goals and resources to be

used.
Who decides on goals and resources?
In the public field, political choice arbitrates obviously.
What arbitrates obviously in the public field?
The children are in the garden and make a terrible noise.
What's that terrible noise?
First of all, they want to avoid political controversy.
What is the point they want to avoid first of all?
They are concerned about the implementation of the law.
What are they concerned about?