Definition, Role

& Scope

According to the definition in Oxford

Dictionary,
the
term
administration
is
managing the affairs. The concept of
administration can be expressed I various
ways. Administration is present in all these
forms of governance. They are as follows.

Administration by Cabinet in a Parliamentary form

of governance
Administration by President in a Presidential form
of government
Activities of the departments of government
Managing organizations
The role of the Chief Executive

Administration can be defined as the activities of

groups co-operating to accomplish common goals.
Herbert Simon, Smithbourg and Thomson

Administration is the organization and the use

of men and materials to accomplish a purpose.
E.A. Nigro

Administration has to do with getting things

done; with the accomplishment of objectives.
Luther Gullick

In simplest terms, administration is determined

action taken in pursuit of a common purpose.
Z.A. Veig

Given below are some of the definitions of public

administration by different scholars interpreting it in
different ways.
By Public Administration is meant, in common usage,
the activities of the executive branches of the national,
state, and local governments.
Hebert Simon

[Public Administration] consists of those operations

having for their purpose the fulfillment of enforcement of
public policy as declared by competent authority.
L.D. White

Public Administration is detailed and systematic

application of law, Every particular application of law is an
act of administration.
Woodrow Wilson

Administration has to do with getting things

done Public administration is that part of the
science of administration which has to do with
government and thus concerns itself primarily with
the executive branch where the work of the
government is done, though there are obviously
problems also in connection with the legislative and
judicial
branches.
Luther Gullick

public administration consists of getting the

work of government done by co-coordinating the
efforts of people so that they can work together to
accomplish their set tasks.
John McDonald Pfiffner

The real core of administration is the basic

service which is performed for the public such as
police and the protection, public works, education,
recreation, sanitation, social security, agricultural
research, national defense and others.
E.A. Nigro

Administration is concerned with the what and

the how of the government. The what is the
subject matter, the technical knowledge of a field
that enables the administrator to perform his tasks.
The how is the technique of management, the
principles
according
to
which
co-operative
programmes are carried to success, Each is
indispensable, together they form eh synthesis called
administration.
Marshall E. Dimock
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In the light of the preceding definitions, it can be

concluded that:
Public
administration
is
concerned
with
governmental activities. It deals with federal, state,
and local government agencies that administer,
oversee, and manage public programmes and
exercise executive, legislative and judicial control over
other institutions within a given territorial unit. These
agencies also frame policies, make laws, adjudicate
legal cases and provide safety and national defense.
In general, government establishments oversee the
governmental programmes and activities that are not
performed by private establishments.
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The scope of administration is much

wider that that of public administration. As a
process of management, administration
encompasses all types of organizations from
the simple household to the most complex
forms of government organizations. Public
administration, on the other hand, confines
itself to the activities of governmental
organizations.
However,
it
must
be
remembered that public administration also
deals with private organizations.
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The POSDCORB (Managerial) View

Planning
Organization
Staffing
Directing
Coordinating
Reporting
Budgeting

The Integral (Wider) View: Describing the scope of

public administration, Sharma and Sadana write,
The scope of public administration ought to
include first administrative theory which is general
and abstract and largely consist of the POSDCORB
techniques
common
to
all
administration.
Secondly, it must include the studies of the
concrete
application
of
the
common
administrative theory to the various fields of
administrative activity such as police, education,
health, agriculture, justice, defense, social welfare,
etc., in the various countries as it the various
levels, local, state, national and international.

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Summing up the role of public administration

in society Gerald Caiden states that public
administration has the following functions to
perform.
Preservation of the policy
Maintenance of stability and order
Institutionalization of socio-economic changes
Management of large scale of commercial services
Ensuring growth and economic development
Protection of weaker sections of society
Formation of public opinion
Influencing public policies and political trends
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There are many similarities between public

administration and private administration.
The skills such as clerical, accounting,
statistical, and managerial required for
both public and private administration are
the same. Personnel can be interchanged
between the two. There are common work
methods and procedures for both public
and private administrations. The under
mentioned areas have commonalities.
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Administrative devices like hierarchy and

division of work are present in both types of
organizations. The demarcation of duties and
responsibilities is similar in both the organizations.
There are people who are responsible for policy
making and others for policy implementation. The
whole idea of the government corporations is to
import the organizational discipline and methods of
business management into public administration.
Conversely, large-scale business administration
has also been influenced appreciably by
governmental practices in such matters as
personnel
administration,
superannuation
arrangements or staff welfare. Finally, it has been
said that the efforts to adjust itself to the changing
conditions of our times and newer techniques of
management have its own peril.
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In public administration there is public

accountability. The civil servants or the
bureaucrats must be careful in adopting new
measures as they have to face criticism from
the public, press, and political parties. There
is a great degree of transparency in their
functioning. The activities of government
officials
are
watched
keenly.
Private
administration is independent and is not
accountable to the public administration or
political parties.
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The government undertakes social welfare activities and

provides facilities like education, medical assistance, posts
and telegraphs or transportation to people. Private
administration, however, is concerned only with producing
profitable and marketable goods.
The planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating,
reporting and budgeting (POSDCORB) principles can be
applied in the private and pubic sector organizations.
The activities of Public administration must not be delayed.
The matters concerning law and order, health or education
cannot be ignored or delayed. Private administration is not
concerned with the above matters.
It is necessary for an organization, whether public or private,
to place qualified persons at all levels. Recruitment is the
process through which people are absorbed into service.
Therefore, recruitment is the cornerstone of the whole
public-personnel administration, Recruitment is present in
both public and private administration.
15

Both
public
and
private
organizations insist on training
the employees. Training is the
process of developing skills,
habits, knowledge, and aptitude
among the employees.

16

Promotion
involves
upgrading
an
employee from a lower level to a higher level
with a rise in the responsibilities, status and
pay. Promotion is an essential element of
public and private administration. It works
like an incentive for the employees to put in
more efforts in their duties. Without proper
promotional opportunities, it is difficult to
motivate employees. Every employee desires
to climb higher steps in the ladder of the
organization. The promotion may bring a
small or a steep rise in the pay of there may
be no pecuniary benefits at all.
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The management will superannuate aged

employees
from
service
by
providing
retirement benefits. This retirement process is
present in private and public administration.
But the rules for retirement are not uniform.
Retirement policy should also take into
consideration the average life expectancy of
the employee. Generally, there is no age limit
to join private organizations unlike government
organizations, which have an upper age limit.
But there is age limit in private organizations
too which may not be uniform.

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Security is an essential element

of an organization. Both the
public
and
the
private
organizations must realize the
need and necessity of providing
security to their staff. Unless,
security is provided, the staff will
not work whole-heartedly.
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There are some differences between public

and private administration.
The scope of public administration is more
comprehensive in nature. The main concern of
public administration is to serve people and
provide welfare.
The scope of private administration is
limited.
According
to
Paul
Appleby,
Government administration differs from all
other administrative work by virtue of its public
nature, the way in which it is subject to public
scrutiny and outcry.

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Herbert Simon observes the distinction between public

and private administration in the following aspects:
Bureaucracy: Bureaucrats or officials run the
government administration. The private administration
is like business and run by professional manager.
Political: Public administration is political in nature
whereas the private administration is non-political.
Red-tapism: Public administration is characterized by
red-tapism while private administration is free from it.
Principle of uniformity: Public administration is
mostly regulated by common and uniform rules and
regulations.
Principle of external financial control: Government
revenues and heads of expenditure are controlled by the
representatives of people through a legislative body.
Principle of ministerial responsibility: Public
administration is accountable to its political masters and
through them the people.
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The scope of private administration is limited.

The scope of public administration is
comprehensive in nature. The main focus of
administration is to serve people and work
for their welfare. The following are the
distinctive features:

Public Responsibility
Social Necessity
Officials Remain Incognito
Matter of Urgency
Monopoly
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In public administration, there is public

accountability. The civil servants or the
bureaucrats must be careful in adopting new
measures. Otherwise, they may face criticism
form the public, press and political parties.
Private administration is independent and is
not accountable like public administration. In
public administration, there is ministerial
control. The government department is under
the overall control and supervision of the
minister. The entire cabinet is responsible to
the parliament and people at large.

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The government provides social welfare

to the people such as education, health,
posts and telegraphs and transport.
Special provisions are made for the
weaker
sections.
The
private
administration is concerned only with
producing marketable or luxurious goods
which people with affordability would
buy.

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In public administration, even the most senior

officials remain incognito or anonymous and
their identity is not disclosed. This is because
whatever they do, they do it on behalf of the
government and in their own name. On the
contrary, a business entrepreneur does
things on his behalf and is well known in
business circles. He need a lot of publicity to
market and establish his products and make
his name known.

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The activities of public administration must not be

delayed. Matters pertaining to law and order, health,
and education cannot be ignored or delayed. Private
administration is nor concerned with such issues. Many
of the services provided by public administration are
monopolistic, i.e., without competition from the private
sector.
Public administration is regulated by more
stringent laws and rules than private administration in
issues pertaining to purchases, tenders, and contracts.
In business dealings, if a transaction is profitable it is
excused even if it violated laws. Public administration
stands on the principal motto of service to the
community without bothering much on profits.
5
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The code of ethics for public and private

administration is different. For example, public
administration cannot advertise its services the way
in which businessmen advertise their products.
Government should not indulge in expensive
propaganda as it would create a negative impact on
people. But in the late nineties and at the beginning
of the twenty first century, things have changes.
The government, both at the center and the state,
has taken up advertisement campaign on a massive
scale to attract people and voters. The role of the
government has undergone a transformation in the
age of information technology.

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Another important feature that distinguishes

public administration from private administration
is monopoly. There are some areas where only the
government can regulate. For instance, the
government has monopoly over the railways,
posts and telegraphs, or printing of currency in
government mints/presses. However, this is not
the case with activities of private sector
organizations where there is heavy competition.
Elaborating their differences, Rumki Basu writes
The major points of differences are in the spheres
of uniformity and impartiality, responsibility and
serviceability.
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Every country has to be treated now

like a business
house. Every business
house has to have four thrusts to grow
progress and develop to bring well being:
The thrust
(SCA)
The thrust
The thrust
The thrust

of sustainable competitive advantage

of correct investment decisions (CID)
of strategic planning (SP)
of timely implementation (TI)

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SCA can be obtained through correct marketing

strategies.
The
arms
of
marketing
like
advertising, retailing, market stability and control
on rising prices, effective distribution, farm
development and transport systems have to be
constantly reviewed and managed.
Rulers have to be proficient in all of these basic
marketing tools to be able to see results. There is
no advantage of making roads, canals and
bridges (including under or over head passes) as
long as full advantages are not attained.

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This leads us to the CID. If an

infrastructural project is not correctly made
feasible and economically viable, there is no
need to implement it. The old and
redundant PC 1 system should be replaced
with modern feasibility reports and proper
evaluation of each investment should be
done. This obviously will lead us to
correcting our priorities and utilizing natural
resources, which otherwise are limited or
scanty or borrowed.

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The third thrust is that of strategic

planning. Financial objectives, allocation of
funds, timing development plans in the
short and long run, planning agenda and
responsibilities must be clearly established.
This will lead us to effective governance and
administration.

32

The fourth thrust is that of TI.

Organization
structure,
systems,
authority
and
responsibility
plus
accountability and overall supervision
should be well defined and timely
implementation assured.

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If these four thrusts are implemented, the

overall management of the country plus
governance would fall in order. The redundant
government rule and laws are amended to suit
the kind of governance that comes about in the
country. The public sector will benefit but the
private sector will benefit to a large extent.
Unemployment,
corruption
and
mismanagement will give way to an orderly
society. Crime will automatically go away.

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