Lesson 11ª

 

 

 

 

 

   

The Administrative Process

If we observe how life is developed in every social organism - and mainly in those which, as an enterprise, man forms freely - we can distinguish two main stages or phases. The comparison of what happens in the life of physical organisms will explain these two phases better.

First stage. It refers to the structuring or construction of the organism. In it, beginning from a cell, tissues and organs become defined and different until the being becomes whole in all its functions, able now to develop normal activities or functions, which are its own or specific.

Second stage. When the organism is completely structured, it develops its functions in full; operations or activities which are inherent to it, in all their varied but coordinated complexity, which tend to compose the very life of that organism.

This happens in the same way in a social organism: in its first stage, parting from the initiative of one or a few people, everything is directed to the structuring of that social organism. When it is properly structured, there is a second stage. This consists in the normal operation or function of such social organism, to achieve the proposed goals.

For a better understanding of this subject, we present some criteria of several authors on the different stages of the Administrative process:

Henry Fayol. Stages: Foreseeing, organization, command, coordination and control.
Koontz & O'Donnell. Stages: Planning, organization, integration, management and control.
G. R. Terry. Stages: Planning, organization, execution and control.
Agustín Reyes Ponce. Stages: Foreseeing, Planning, organization, integration, management and control.
Burt K. Scanlan. Stages. Planning, organization, management and control.

According to the previous proposals on the administrative process, we can conclude that; there are six basic stages to be studied and to form its two main phases.

The static phase is composed by foresight, planning, and organization. Here we answer the questions, "What are we going to do?", and, "How are we going to do it?" respectively.

The other phase is the dynamic phase. Its introduction within the organization allows us to see clearly what is being done and , thus, giving us the chance of evaluating such actions. Here, we find the phases of integration, management and control.


Another reason for them to be called the dynamic and static phases is due to the relationship it has with people. Generally, the static phase has little or no relationship with people. On the other hand, there is a great deal of interaction with other human beings in the dynamic phase.