We explain what an administration system is, what its functions are, how it is composed and the types that exist.
What is a system in administration?
A management system consists of a set of processes that the members of an organization must carry out to achieve the goals pre-established.
These systems must include each administrative unit and specify the role of each employee and what their tasks are to perform to achieve a certain level of sales and production that translates into greater benefits for the company.
This facilitates the functioning of the organization, allows you to monitor the performance of each employee and carry out audits.
In recent years, organizations have opted for the specialization of workers, the allocation of power according to the levels occupied within the hierarchy and the division of labor. All of this facilitates and speeds up decision-making to achieve the organization's objectives and goals.
When making decisions, staff rely on information reflected in the administration system.
The systems take care of three things:
- Support operational tasks.
- Compile and store data.
- Generate information.
The systems are made up of the following elements:
- The element that provides material for the system to operate.
- The purpose for which the system was formed.
- The phenomenon that generates changes: Converts inputs to outputs.
- Feedback. It compares the output to a set of previously established criteria and relies on these criteria to control the results.
- He context in which the system is located. The environment interacts with the system constantly.
See also: Management in administration
Types of management systems
Within companies, the following types of management system can be found:
- Business process control Systems that control business processes and address physical and industrial processes.
- Transaction processing Computerized systems that are used at the basic levels of the organizational hierarchy (at the operational level). In them, the daily transactions that enable the operation of the organization are recorded.
- Support in decision making Computer-based systems that will be used by one or more specific managers. This computerized information system works as support for decision making around a problem that must be solved.
- Management information These systems gather information from different sources and then process it into statistics, reports or any other useful format. This information is used by supervisors and managers as raw material for making decisions related to the management of the company.
- Business collaboration These systems are among the most used and help the organization's directors control the flow of information inside. Among them are multimedia systems, file transfer or email.
- Executive information They are the systems that provide external and internal information to senior managers to make decisions. They are easy and quick to access and present the information in graphic form. They provide general information that simply graphs the operation as a whole.
Depending on their nature, the systems can be:
- Open There is an exchange of elements and information with the environment, and that external influence modifies results, behaviors and activities. For example, a company.
- Closed No information or elements are exchanged with the environment: they are closed systems against any type of influence. For example, machinery.
Other types of systems are the following:
- Abstracts They are made up of general concepts, numbers, philosophical doctrines, hypotheses, ideas, plans or languages. It is the “software”.
- Concretes They are made up of tangible elements such as equipment or machinery. It is the “hardware”.
- Operational They are dedicated to processing information (which is usually repetitive) and preparing reports.
- Informative They are responsible for storing and processing data and are used to make decisions in line with the goals and objectives of the organization.
- Managers Works on data that was not previously selected or transformed.
General theory of management systems
General systems theory emerges from the writings of Ludwing von Bertalanffy (German biologist), published in the 1950s and 1960s. This theory does not aim to solve obstacles or provide practical solutions. However, knowing it helps analyze the context when making decisions within an organization.
This current considers that the properties of each system cannot be studied as separate elements but must be addressed jointly.
Some characteristics of systems theory are the following:
- Systematic vision Each organization is considered as a system that has five parts: input, output, process, environment and feedback.
- Multidimensional Each company is approached from a macroscopic and microscopic point of view. The first addresses it in relation to its country or community and the second considers its internal units.
- Dynamism The interaction that occurs within the company is considered a dynamic process.
- Adaptability Consider that organizations are adaptive systems. If they do not make use of that quality, they will not survive the modifications of the context.
- Descriptive It aims to characterize the qualities of the organization and its administration. It captures the goals and methods and describes the phenomena of the organizations.
- Multicausality Considers that an event can be the consequence of different interdependent and related factors.
- Probabilistic It admits that variables can be analyzed in a predictive manner, not based on certainties.
References
- «Administration Systems» in Gestiopolis.com
- «The 6 main types of information systems» on Kyocera.es
- «Systems Theory» in Business Administration