Category: Administration

Introduction

Codes of ethics exist to provide standards of excellence for civil servants to practice (Advanced Solutions International, Inc.). The standard of professionalism is one to be expected from those in administrative positions and to be reciprocated back from community members. The action of task completion is fueled by inspiration and honest. Conversely, scandals, release of confidential information, or inappropriate use of funds can violate the trust of the public. For this writing assignment I will be explaining the importance of ethics and some concerns regarding the process of conducting ethical behavior.

Importance of Ethics

There is a recognition that high-profile cases of mismanagement and corrosion can evoke impressions that question the constitutionality and caliber of administrative action. Current societal and economical operations are shaped by needs, wants, and the interaction between allocated services and their respective governments to fulfill said wishes. The demand for public administration arises from a lack of trust and education (Hijal-Moghrabi, I., & Sabharwal, M., p. 465, 2018). The individuals in administrative positions are thought leaders and impart their wisdom to operating contexts, and are expected to produce quality and integrity work (Rickman, T., Flores, Y., & Mason, D., 2017). The full confidence in knowing that a policy member will not oppose responsibility is never entirely available, but there are measures that can be taken to best prevent mal behavior (Pohoata, G., p. 79, 2016). Failure to meet public expectations in an unethical way may then cause citizens to search elsewhere for a solution and result in broken trust. Ergo augmenting the ethical behavior of organization administration is indispensable to the validity of governance.

The article, The Ethics of Ethics in the PA Times, briefly touches on a poor example of public administration during the water contamination in Flint, Michigan (Rickman, T., Flores, Y., & Mason, D., 2017). Decisions to use contaminated water were made based on cost-efficiency and financial benefit instead of prioritizing safety (Rickman, T., Flores, Y., & Mason, D., 2017). Here, the government officials did not make the public their priority, neither did they make safety a priority. In order to reap the benefits of good decision making, administration should have communicated effectively during meetings to both transmit and receive messages. One way communication is not as effective as two way communication, and outside contributions would have given a new perspective on the situation. Public governance today has a character of being compliance-oriented but should not refer to deserting the commitment to public law including credibility and fairness. The indisputable portion of public administration is determined based on conscious and practical decision making parallel to ethical adherence (Michael, B., Carr, I., & Bowser, D., p. 170, 2015). Ethical administration is crucial to both business and government, but they are not interchangeable. The Flint crisis snowballed because a decision was made to treat the government like a for-profit business, because in this case the ideal outcome was financial. This could have been prevented had effective meetings and communication been practiced — the sending and receiving of messages from all stakeholders.

Criticisms and Concerns Regarding Ethics

Various methods of principle statements, required required classes to reinforce ethical principles, mission statements, and code of conducts exist to encourage ethical governance, but are not legally binding. Those who have a role in the performance of administration grapple with the question of, will the effort of enforcing ethics modules pay off and if so, what difference will it make? The success of like organizations conducting unethical or corrupt management exalts the transgressions. However, given the fact that any management is compromised when any administrator breaks trust, the trouble to maintain positive community relations appears insignificant. No encumberment remains that can connect to these principles to charge penalties (Michael, B., Carr, I., & Bowser, D., 2015). Efforts to enforce ethical administration remain inconsequential lest common sense is applied to the situation. Assuming the stakes, implementing ethics may not even relieve or prevent administrative misconduct from happening, yet the glimmer of hope for slow change is assuring.

Conclusion

Recognizing and identifying the ethical principles that should direct the performance of conduct and behavior of civil servants in their external and internal relations is essential for several reasons: 1) internal management success, 2) mutual understanding, and 3) elimination of legal worry. Engaging in ethical administration enables management to be thoroughly cognizant of the rules that they should adhere to as do all other organizations that are seeking to make change and produce results. Secondly, community relations remain a positive relationship with community patrons. Concepts of vision-building and enhancement can be achieved through answers from the audience it is being done for, therefore citizens know what to anticipate. In pursuit of affirmative change and lasting impact promoting an organized and executive culture of service to stakeholders adopting and exercising ethical principles contributes to quality democracy amongst bureaucratic and informal settings.

In order to accurately answer the question of how business administration differs from business management, we must go to the root of the definition.

Business administration can be defined as the operating of the broader activity of an organization, it deals with setting goals and strategies of the business. These activities may include organizing and planning policies, motivating managers, communicating, and overseeing the main aspects of the business in terms of policy setting. Business administration can be categorized into five sections: planning which involves creating a plan of action for the future, organizing which ensures the resources the company needs are available both human and non-human resources, commanding which involves leading the team in order for the plans of the organization to be followed, coordinating activities so all the subsection of the business are working together to ensure the business goals are achieved, and control – ensuring that measures are in place to test the strategies implemented (Henri Fayol). Business administration, according to ‘Business Management and Administration’ by Geoffrey Whitehead and Graham Whitehall, is “simply as the part of the management of a business organization which seeks to implement the decisions made by top management and achieve the objectives which it has specified”.

On the other hand, business management deals specifically with middle-level management, which focuses primarily on the setting of the overall objectives of the organizations. Donald J. Cough defines management as the art and science of decision-making and leadership. Management is a strategic process of planning, and organizing resources for the achievement of the objectives set by the top-level management. The definition of management is best described in my opinion by Harold Koontz: “Management is the art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups”.

Essentially, the definition of both business management and business administration are very similar in that they both deal directly with the positive outcome of each individual objective. The roles are interdependent with each other. The main difference that can clearly be identified is simply that when we speak of the administration of a business, we are therefore referring to the ‘thinkers’ of the organization, the high-level managers, who may also be the owners of the company or the individual concerned mainly about the profit the company makes at the end of the financial year. These are the individuals that integrate leadership and vision. Moreover, the difference can clearly be seen when we look at the term ‘management’, this is referring to the lower level of management, these are the individuals responsible for the implementation of decisions made by the administrators, how and when things should be done.

In a company like Microsoft, there are many levels of management and can be best used to explain how we can further show the differences and similarities between business administration and business management. At Microsoft, there are various levels of management responsible for different tasks within the organization but at the end of the day are responsible collectively for the efficient operation of the company. The administrator of Microsoft will be the CEO/founder of the organization, this person, and maybe a few selected executive members of the board, will sit and decide what are the objectives of the business, list the long-term goals, decide on alternative business objectives, set overall profit attainment margin for a specific time frame. Decide on whether to expand the business or remain at the current operating level, decide to make new products, or just develop current technologies. After these decisions are made the administrators come in to provide feedback to the management of if the goals set are manageable, if it’s realistic in the timeframe set out, and if the current resource available is adequate to meet the goals set established. The administrators will essentially be the managers of the marketing department, finance department, purchasing department, sales department, and most importantly research and development. These are the people who will then determine how these goals can be implemented and, if possible, reassign new timelines. There are, some cases where business management and business administration crosses, this is mainly seen in small business, the administration does all the work of setting and implementing objectives, they are often assisted by the senior managers, these persons usually have board member status and come with a wealth of expertise.

Essentially, the difference between business management and business administration is the level at which they operate in terms of their responsibility within the organization.