Thursday, June 26, 2014

The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.

Structure:
What is Administration all about?
Notion of power and Importance of power in administration
Different situations and corresponding degree of power in the system

Administration is the task of the management of various human, capital, technological, knowledge and material resources in a co-ordinated manner to achieve a certain goal. The co-ordination among various resources may require the use of power to bring them onto same page.

Power in the administration assumes various forms. For instance it could be physically coercive power to ensure access to some material resources required for the task. Or it could be mentally-coercive power to influence the decision making and thought processes of various actors involved in the task.

The administrators’ work at the grass-root level in real life settings where they have to deal with the whim and fancies of human nature. Thus different situation and different individuals require different kind of treatment to fall in line to get the work done. An administrator has to use all the tools available in the basket to influence the stakeholder involved in the task. Some may agree to the rational argument while other understands the money. Some incorrigible ones may have to be punished to get the work done. Thus an able administrator is well trained in utilising the Kautilyan lever of sama-dama-danda-bheda to get the job done.

Various able administrators had devised their own tricks and techniques to deal with sub-ordinate, collegues and superiors. For example some follow the policy of carrot and stick. Chinese Leader Deng Xiaoping followed policy of speaking in the soft voice and carrying a big stick. Similarly modern administrators gauge the psychological profile of their subordinates. Maslow has described the different sources of motivation in his work-motivation theory. Some members of the team are motivated by esteem-enhancement while others are motivated to work due to monetary incentives. Some are forced to work due to fear of punishment or job loss.

The sublimity of administrator lies in gauging the need factor and motivational factor of the team members and other stakeholder involved and bring the best out of them by manipulating the lever of power.

2 comments:

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  2. Another way to write the same answer: Please tell me which is better for the examiner...

    An administrator should be well-trained in using his power element to get the work done. This is essential for following reasons:
    Variety of stakeholders: Administrator works at the ground level where he has to deal with variety of people. Some may be honest, some other may be lazy. Other may be cunning or opportunist. So administrator should know about how he should deal with a particular person to get the work done in most effective manner.
    Variety of situations: Administrator work in diverse work setting. It may be a formal work environment or it could be informal situation. Some time he has to take instant decisions like in a disaster situation and at other times he has ample time to make decisions. Each situation requires a varying use of his power.
    Kautilyan thought: Kautilya in his theory of statecraft said that an administrator should be equipped in using the strategy of Sama-Daam-Danda-Bheda. he should know when to use rational argument or when should utilize the power of punishment. This would maximize his extraction power.
    Different level of work-motivation of people: Even the five fingers of the hand are not same. This stands true for the team work as well. Different members in the team are having different needs and expectation. Administrator should be know what would motivate each of them and use his influencing or coercing power accordingly.
    Nature of work: Administrator requires co-ordination between different resources like human resource, capital resource, technology, raw material and brings them together. This kind of work requires the ability to handle the lever of power in appropriate manner so that administrator has maximum bargaining power.
    Wide scope of discretion: At the ground level in real world, administrator holds wide discretionary power.
    Task of administration is artistic ability to leverage the lever of power in order to get the work done in most effective and efficient manner.

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