What is a system in administration?

We explain what a system in administration is, what its functions are, how they are composed and the types that exist.

1. What is a system in administration?

A system in administration consists of a set of processes that must be carried out by the members of an organization to achieve the pre-established goals .

In these systems they must include each administrative unit and specify what the role of each employee is and what are their tasks to perform to achieve a certain level of sales and production that translates into greater benefits for the company .

This facilitates the operation of the organization , allows to monitor the performance of each employee and carry out audits .

In recent years, organizations opted for the specialization of workers, the allocation of power according to the levels occupied within the hierarchy and division of labor. All this facilitates and speeds up decision making to achieve the objectives and goals of the organization.

At the time of making decisions , the personnel is based on the information that is reflected in the administration system.

The systems handle three things:

• Support operational tasks.
• Compile and store data.
• Generate information

The systems are composed 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 into outputs.
• Feedback . Compare the output with a series of criteria established previously and rely on these criteria to control the results.
• The context in which the system is located. The environment interacts with the system constantly.

2. Types of administration systems

Within the companies, the following types of management system can be found:

• Control of business processes. 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). They are recorded daily transactions that enable the operation of the organization.
• Support in decision making . Computer-based systems that will be used by one or more specific managers. This computerized information system works as a support for decision-making around a problem that must be resolved.
• Management information . These systems gather information from different sources and then process it in statistics, reports or any other useful format. This information is used by supervisors and managers as raw material for decision-making related to the management of the company.
• Of business collaboration . These systems are the most used and help the directors of the organization to control the information flow inside . Among them are multimedia systems, file transfer or email.
• Executive information . These are the systems that provide external and internal information to senior managers to make decisions. They are easy and fast 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 for any type of influence. For example, machinery.

Other types of systems are as follows:

• Abstract . They are made up of general concepts, numbers, philosophical doctrines, hypotheses, ideas, plans or languages. It is the “software.”
• Concrete . They consist 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 . Work on data that was not previously selected or transformed.

3. General theory of administration systems

The general theory of systems follows from the writings Ludwing von Bertalanffy (German biologist), disseminated in the 1950s and 1960s. This theory is not intended to solve obstacles or provide practical solutions. However, knowing it helps the analysis of 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 approached together.

Some characteristics of systems theory are the following:

• Systematic view . 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 reflects the goals and methods and describes the phenomena of the organizations.
• Multicausality . It considers that a fact may be the consequence of different interdependent and related factors.
• Probabilistic . He admits that the variables can be analyzed predictively, not based on certainty.