Lesson 22 ª

 

 

 

 

 

   

Direction. Basics.

Where does the word "Direction" (management) come from?
Etymologically, the word "direction", comes from the verb "diregere"; this in turn is formed from the prefix "di", intensive, and "regere": to rule, to govern. This last one is derived from the Sanskrit "raj", which indicates "pre-eminency".

What is the definition of direction?
Direction is that element of administration through which you achieve the effective execution of what was planned. This is done by means of the authority of the administrator, exercised based in decisions, either made directly, in the moment, with more frequency, delegating such authority, and monitored constantly to ensure the submitted orders are carried out in an appropriate manner.

What is the importance of direction?
Lets notice that direction is the "essential"and"central" part of administration, to which the rest of the elements must be subordinated.

As a matter of fact; if you foresee, plan, organize, integrate and control, is only to function well. There is no use for complicated techniques in any of the other five elements if you can't achieve a good execution. This depends immediately, and agrees temporarily, with good management. The other techniques might be useful and interesting as long as they are manageable and made better.
Every stage in static administration is organized to prepare those in the dynamic administration. And from those, the central area is management. Thus, we can state, as we did, that it is the essence and heart of administration.
Its importance is due to its character.

Another reason of its importance lies in the fact that this administration element is the most real and human. We have to see "concrete men" in every case. On the other hand, in the aspects of the mechanical part, we deal with relations, "how things should be". Here, we face things and problems "as they come". Thus, we find ourselves in the stage of higher unpredictability, haste, and (if the expression is necessary) explosiveness; where a small mistake (easy for the difficulty of foreseeing human error) can sometimes be irreparable.

When an administrator becomes interested in the managing function, he begins to realize part of its complexity. In the first place, he is dealing with people, but not in a completely objective base, since he himself is a person, and ,in general, is part of the problem. He is in direct contact with people, with individuals as well as with groups. Soon he discovers, as a productive factor, that people are not only interested in the objectives of the enterprise, but they have their own personal objectives. To be able to encompass human efforts toward the objectives of the enterprise, the administrator soon realizes he must think in terms of results related to orientation, communication, motivation, and direction.

Even if the administrator is part of the group, it is convenient, for many reasons, to consider him as separated from his subordinates. To achieve the objectives of the enterprise he has been assigned human and other resources, and he has got to integrate them. It is also convenient to think of the administrator in a separate way since he is their boss. As a boss, he is not part of the group other than he who persuades the others to do what he wants or must be done. Management implies the intelligent use of an incentive system as well as a personality which summons interest in others.