administrationsværktøjer

Administration refers to the process of organizing people, resources, and tasks to achieve defined objectives. It encompasses planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling activities within organizations and institutions. The term is used across sectors, including government, business, and nonprofit organizations, and may denote both the overall management function and the routine tasks that keep operations running.

Public administration is a distinct field concerned with implementing government policy and delivering public services. It includes budgeting, regulatory enforcement, public-sector workforce management, procurement, and service delivery, as well as accountability to citizens and legislative bodies. Theory and practice of public administration emphasize transparency, rule of law, ethics, and performance measurement.

In classical management theory, administration is closely related to management functions. Henri Fayol proposed five elements: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Modern usage often substitutes leadership and decision-making for commanding, and emphasizes coordination across departments and levels of authority within complex organizations.

Common challenges include bureaucratic inefficiency, corruption, and responsiveness to changing needs. Effective administration today increasingly relies on data-informed decision-making, digital tools, stakeholder engagement, and clear governance structures. While the term can refer to the generic act of running an organization, it also denotes specialized domains such as public administration, academic administration, and corporate administration.