Administrative Functions, Structure, Coordination, and Participation in Organizations

Posted on Jan 8, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

Administrative Functions

Administrative functions are divided into four sections: planning, organization, direction, and control.

  • Planning is a decision-making process that involves determining objectives and selecting the actions that the organization should pursue to achieve them.
  • Organization: Once the objectives and the methods to achieve them are determined, it’s crucial to consider the available material and human resources. This includes clearly defining job descriptions, power distribution, and the necessary training for workers.
  • Direction involves influencing workers to contribute to achieving the organization’s goals.
  • Control represents the means available to those responsible for ensuring that goals are being met.

Organizational Structure

In the development of an organizational structure, four phases can be distinguished:

  1. Embryonic Structure: This occurs when one person handles all managerial and operational tasks essential to achieving their goals. There is no division of labor.
  2. Horizontal Development: This arises when operational tasks are shared, typically when the first worker is hired. There is a simple division of operational tasks, while the manager retains the remaining operational and all directive tasks.
  3. Vertical Development: This occurs when the employer has a corporate mentality, seeks further expansion, and distributes all operational tasks and some directive ones.
  4. Spatial Development: All members of the organization, except for those who do not make any decisions, must perform managerial and operational tasks. This process further specializes the work.

Coordination Mechanisms

According to Mintzberg, there are three mechanisms of coordination:

  • Mutual Adaptation: Two people coordinate through mutual adjustment, using negotiation to reach a common agreement on a specific decision without one overriding the authority of the other.
  • Direct Supervision: Direct supervision occurs when a person has power and responsibility over the work of others. They provide instructions and then verify if the work has been done as directed.
  • Standardization: This establishes coordination before an individual is employed. There are three types:
    • Standardization of Work: Rules dictate what the employee should do and how.
    • Standardization of Results: Before execution, it is determined what the individual must achieve. It specifies the expected outcome but not the process.
    • Standardization of Skills: In this case, the required preparation for performing the work is predetermined.

Forms of Participation

Participation refers to the set of measures available to employees to influence company decisions in which they work.

  • Formal Legislative Participation: Three models can be distinguished within this type:
    • Congestion: Based on the internal participation of workers in the company’s management bodies.
    • Employer-Union Model: Based on workers’ control through external participation bodies (works councils).
    • Cooperatives: A form of legislative participation.
  • Informal Participation: This involves seeking the employee’s opinion. A manager may consult with subordinates before making a decision. This participation is typically initiated voluntarily by management and is almost always straightforward.
  • Financial Participation: Ownership interest can be considered a proposal to distribute the wealth generated by the company. Profit-sharing is a form of employee participation in profits, often encouraging and facilitating employees’ personal commitment to the company.