Administrative Management

• Administrative Management 1 focuses on the role of administrative management within an organization.

Learning Outcomes

• To explain the role of the administrative function in an organization.
• To explain the role of the administrative manager in an organization.
• To identify the information needs in an organization.
• To explain the relationship between the administrative function and the other functions in an organization.
• To discuss the administrative manager of the future.

Administrative Management

• Encompasses the processes and resources required to collect, manipulate, maintain, protect, and retrieve information used in an organization, according to Slovensky et al, 2006.
• Defined as managing information through people, focusing on information and its management.

Administrative Function

• A part of an organization responsible for the orderly collection, processing, storing, and distribution of information to decision-makers, managers, and other stakeholders.
• Provides a supportive function to other functions to satisfy organizational information requirements.
• Functions are specific units responsible for particular activities such as Marketing, Operations, Purchasing, Human resources, Finance and Public relations.
• Information provided to managers for decision making should be relevant, accurate, and timely.

Role of the Administrative Function

• Performs a basic function in an organization encompassing the entire management component in an administrative capacity.
• Covers the whole network or records of the organization, providing information for management purposes.
• Provides specialized support to individuals and other organizational functions, enabling the latter to be more cost-effective.
• Promotes efficiency by relieving individuals of administrative responsibilities, and allowing them more time to focus on other important areas.
• Admin managers should stay up to date with technological changes to make existing information readable, accessible and convenient.

Data vs Information

• Data refers to individual observations on an item, and refers to raw facts.
• Data may be meaningless unless they have been transformed to form information where upon decisions can then be made.
• Data is used by machines and is useless unless it is processed (through systems) to create information.
• Information is data that has been converted or processed into meaningful and useful context for specific end users.
• Managers use information to initiate actions, make decisions, and manage their units.
• Various information systems are used by managers to get information, such as Management Information Systems (MIS), Expert Systems (ES) and Transactions Processing Systems (TPS).

Information Systems

• Refers to a group of people, procedures, and resources that collect, transform, and distribute information in an organization.
• Information generated within an organization will be relatively cheaper than outsourcing.
• Reduces uncertainty or risks associated with globalization e.g., cyber terrorism, viruses, hacking
• Give value addition to existing production or services.
• Strategies on new products or services are based on available information.
• Organizations derive a competitive advantage through the protection of sensitive information.

Administrative Manager

• The person to whom top management delegates authority and responsibility over the Admin Functions
• Provides supportive guidance within the organization
• Interacts with other functional units
• Ensures all administrative activities run smoothly and contributes to the effective management of the organization.
• Responsible for managing activities relating to information in an organization.
• Responsible for combining people, technology, material, money, and information sources.
• Responsible for managing the Admin Function using (POLC) planning, organizing, leading, and controlling all administrative activities related to these activities in an organization.
• Incumbent upon the Admin Manager to create an Information System that can be used by an organization as a whole.
• Possesses understanding of aspects such as work simplification, work measurement, work standards, records management, data processing and office layout.
• Responsible for effective communication, including office procedures, workflow and systems design.
• Responsible for automation relating to email, printing and phone systems.
• Responsible for form analysis, protection, storage, and controlling staff relations.
• Administrative management includes storage of data, processing and production of information through various systems.
• Must ensure relevant organizational activities are designed to maximize individual and unit productivity.
• Must provide effective management of the information of the organization, and maintain reasonable qualitative and quantitative standards.
• Provide satisfactory physical and mental working environment for the employees of the organization.
• Help define duties and responsibilities of employees assigned within the Admin office management functional area and between these employees maintain a high level of work effectiveness.
• Required enhances the effective supervision of office personnel.

Objectives of the Admin Manager

• Ensure the efficient and proper use of specialized office equipment.
• A primary objective of Admin management is to present relevant information in the right format, at the right time, and at an acceptable cost to specific decision-makers. At all levels in the organization.
• Realize this objective, data must be captured according to a specific medium, source documents and data must be stored in the most effective manner.
• Information must be available to decision-makers through the most appropriate medium.

Management Tasks (POLC)

• Planning relates to a number of steps that the Admin manager should follow in order to manage the section effectively and efficiently.
• The Admin manager should analyze past and present situations, observe trends, make forecasts based on situational analysis, mapping stakeholders, and budget development.
• Activities need to be scheduled and budget needs to be drawn.
• Problems of the past must be avoided and used as points of reference in projecting the future through corrective action.
• The Admin manager should always be vigilant and proactive in dealing with dynamic operating business environment.
• Must devise plans that will ensure sustenance and growth of the business in terms of productivity.
• Organizing function allows all resources to be collated to achieve goals and objectives.
• An organization structure for the administrative section must be created incorporating all the different sections and positions.
• The most effective ways for employees to perform specific tasks need to be developed.
• Efficient work methods and procedures need to be designed, and employee training should be provided.
• Leading: Admin manager needs to direct, supervise and motivate the employees in the Admin section.
• Controlling: Admin manager needs to develop a control system to ensure that the quality and quantity of work are according to set standards and according to methods and procedures used in the organization.

Information needs of the Organization

• Organizations have different goals, products and managers and therefore have different information needs which are classified into external and internal needs.
• Information is needed by external partners such as stakeholders.
• External role players include Government departments, Private bodies, Suppliers, Shareholders, Banks other stakeholders.
• Information can be supplied to the external environment in the form of financial reports.
• Must be gathered from both the external and internal environment of the organization.
• Internal information needs of the organization are divided into: -- Information needs of Top Management (Economic variables, Government Acts and Regulations, Technology, Competitors) -- Information needs of Functional Managers (Middle level managers- coordinate with top management and implement planning and development.) -- Information needs of Supervisors (Low level managers, use predetemined systems such as Gantt charts, observation, etc)

Requirements of Useful Information

• Information must be correct and accurate to contribute to effective decision making.
• Information must be timely and complete to avoid misleading.
• Information needs to be relevant, clear and should be summarised, where appropriate.
• The cost of providing information must be relatively economical.
• Information must be collected from various quarters so decisions can be approached from various perspectives.

Functional Units

• Include Administration, Marketing, Operations, Purchasing and Supply Chain, Human Resources, Finance, Public Realtions, Quality and Information Technology.
• It is the responsibilities of the Admin manager to make information that they don't have or collect themselves, available to them.
• The Admin manager should be aware of the different levels of management in the organization and the types of decisions made.
• An Information System needs to be created to facilitate the gathering of relevant information from the functions and different levels of management.
• The system must be able to process the information and store it so that it can be extracted easily.

Future Admin Managers

• Admin manager must ensure that relevant information is sent to those who require it for decision making purposes.
• Should be responsible for the co-ordination and management of that process.
• Functional managers can make a simple or complex decision.
• The Admin Manager of the Future: Issues to include are Globalization, Technology changes, Diversity, HIV/AIDS, Covid19, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) etc.

Conclusion

• Admin manager must possess many different skills.
• Admin Managers must make use of available technology to assist in managing the available information.
• Sufficient information makes decision making in an organization easier.
• Administration Manager must be a person possessing many different skills.
• Task of Admin manager has grown over the past years and had its functions to be crucial.
• Right information at the right time gives an organization a competitive edge when it comes to the industry.
• Administration manager must stay abreast of any developments in administrative and technology field, and implement changes when need be.
• To manage the functions effectively, the Administrative manager must be a multiskilled person, and must coordinate the information needs of the organisation.