Introduction
Public administration is concerned with the advancement of policies and the necessary management to allow governments to function effectively. On the other hand, we could also define public administration as the act of managing public programs. It is mainly meant to ensure that politics are translated into a reality that citizens expect to see in their day to day lives. Public administration ensures the process of decision making by the government is well understood by its citizens (Sheffrin 8).
In addition, it is necessary to have a good analysis of the established policies. This includes the various inputs aimed at producing the desired policies. On the other hand, it should also include other inputs that will produce alternative policies. Public administration is also concerned with the conduct of public officials while executing their roles and duties (Sheffrin 12). This is done in relation to government programs and policies that will be formally responsible for their conduct in different perspectives.
What this means is that most unelected public officers can in fact be considered as public administrators. They might include police officers, city managers, cabinet secretaries, and analysts, amongst others. These administrators work in public agencies and departments at the various levels of the government. There has been an argument that public administration is multidisciplinary in character (Sheffrin 15).
The scope of public administration is so large that it has not been easy to understand and this has been left to individual interpretations depending on one’s general overview. It therefore means that public administration can be both a field of study and an occupation. There is an argument as to whether it can still be referred to as a discipline because of its complexity (Denhardt 11).
A private business is mostly concerned with enterprises that are owned by investors and shareholders. In this case, the business can be owned jointly or it can still be owned by an individual. This is in contrast to other publicly owned businesses or enterprises that are run by government through the mandate of its citizens. These businesses exist with profit motives other than ensuring that the people get essential services or products.
In other words, a private business is a legally recognized institution that is expected to enhance the provision of services and goods in exchange for money. Private businesses are predominant in capitalist economies where they are formed with profit motives and with a view to increasing the wealth of its owners (Denhardt 15). This means that the owners expect returns after engaging in a risk as far as their business is concerned.
A private business can be widely accepted as a state of being busy either as a society or as an individual while doing commercially viable work that will lead to profits. This can be an activity of continuity in the supply of essential goods and services that are in demand by customers and the public at large (Denhardt 18). As far as private business is concerned, there are various forms of ownership that are generally accepted and this might depend on the different countries.
This means that forms of business organizations will vary in relation to the jurisdiction. Although this is expected in a normal society, there some common forms of business ownership. They include; sole proprietorship, partnerships, corporations and cooperatives (Denhardt 21). This therefore means that there are various classifications of private business depending on their motives.
Discussion
Contrasts
As far as public administration and private business are concerned, there is a difference in the organizational goals and principles of the two entities. Private business has always had a definite mission.
This is mainly in pursuit of stability, profit, and growth of returns. The only way to achieve this is by ensuring that there is quality provision of goods and services. On the hand, public administration has ambiguous plans and purposes (Aucoin 17). The essence of public administration is to ensure that the public or citizens are well served and attended to, in line with their expectations.
It can be explained that private business and public administration derive their mandate from different people. This therefore demands that they provide what they are expected to. On the other hand, the ambiguity of purposes in public administration is complicated by many inoperable and unnecessary agencies (Aucoin 19). Their purpose and aim has been complicated by bloated and overlapping bureaucracies.
There is an argument that the main aim of public administration is to enact public policies while the aim of private business is to ensure that owners and shareholders increase their wealth and net worth. It is undeniable that there is a lot of vagueness in the enforcement of public administration policies. This is due to overlapping and ambiguity in these policies (Aucoin 22). On the other hand, private business has not witnessed any overlapping tendencies in their policies because of achievable business goals.
The fact that public administration is not concerned with profit motives should not be confused or used as a way of deviating from the normal operation tendencies. This means that just as private business managers are more concerned with financial matters, the same should also apply to public administration (Aucoin 23). In fact, good public administration managers have always ensured that they carry out their financial matters in an open and efficient way that will guarantee sustainability.
Private businesses are always guaranteed of funding from their owners and shareholders while public administrators have to fight for funding from the government. In as much as public organizations or units may fight for funding and influence, this should not be misused. There are cases whereby public administration has been biased depending on the priorities that the government has.
There are differences with respect to the issue of decision making in both public administration and private business. In public administration, decision making is mostly pluralist. This means that decisions are supposed to please the majority even if they are poor. There is a common practice in which key decisions are made in a politicized environment (Kettl and Fessler 12).
This allows for open debate, maximum participation and multiple veto points. In the long run, there is a hierarchy that needs to be followed to ensure that consensus is reached. The main aim of doing this is to come up with an informed decision.
Private business decision making is simple in nature as it does not involve a lot of people, like in public administration. In other words, it is almost monopolistic or in some instances, duopolistic (Aucoin 28). This decision making avoids a lot of conflicts in interests. The long term effect has always been a clearly defined goal that will suit the organization in enhancing its operations.
Visibility is another notable difference between public administration and private business. Managers in private business can work in an environment of relative obscurity as they are only answerable to the shareholders (Aucoin 29). This is not the case with public managers or administrators who will always work under the watchful eye of the public.
Their actions or moves are always subjected to a lot of public scrutiny to see if they are advancing their interests. This means that a public administrator or manager will always respond to diverse demands in the course of carrying out a public policy. Such demands have ended up creating an inevitable tension (Aucoin 32). This is in relation to efficiency and responsiveness. It implies that a public manager will be forced to manage effectively and respond to public concerns.
Because of this pressure, public organizations are often left in a no-win situation. This is because the public demands a lot of effective service delivery. Most of them pay taxes and this explains why they are always interested in what mangers are doing. On the other hand, they also demand accountability and an assurance that those in charge will not act irresponsibly.
There is a difference in unity analysis as far as private business and public administration are concerned. Most public institutions or organizations are a chain of command and control and this makes it hard to draw a line between different parts of the systems. As a matter of fact, existing frameworks might provide little help in this scenario. It therefore means that investment and strategic decisions will be made by this chain of command.
Public organizations and institutions have a complex system of organization with distinct demanding tasks. This is the main reason why most of them have been inefficient. Private businesses on the other hand don’t have a lot of bureaucracies that will complicate their management and operations. This means that there are no bloated bureaucracies.
A political aspect can be witnessed in both public administration and private business but it is prevalent in public administration. It should be noted that politics affects the policy direction that these companies will take either directly or indirectly (Aucoin 40). This is through regulation, laws and financial support. In addition, the public sector is controlled by elected politicians who might be out of touch with the realities on the ground.
Private businesses might not witness a lot of politicking because of their ownership and control. In this case, the board of directors will be involved in governance dimensions and funding. This explains why public administration is concerned with developing and structuring organizations by the government while private business is concerned with developing institutions and organizations on an individual basis.
Public administration oversees government programs that can not be tasked to the private sector. Private businesses on the other hand go into business because of their own motives that will guarantee returns and profits (Aucoin 42). Although they might be having different motives, they are not supposed exploit or mistreat people in any way.
As much as public administration and private business might be having different motives in their operational goals, partnerships should be encouraged for efficiency that will ensure that all the stakeholders are satisfied. These partnerships can be encouraged in technological or innovation ways.
Comparisons
Public administration and private business are both incorporated and as a matter of fact, there is the expectation that they will provide whatever they are expected to provide as per their liability. This means that they have separate legal entities as per their owners. It therefore implies that the owners will get real value for what they have invested in. This should be done as they execute their operations without contravening any laws (Denhardt 29).
For public administration and private businesses to achieve their expectations, there is need to have an effective and efficient management. This will enhance their operations and in the process ensure that they are more efficient. The management has to be inclusive and ensure that all aspects are well covered (Denhardt 31). This might include human resource management, production management, operation management, financial and service management which are important for proper functioning.
As far as their operations are concerned, there is need to ensure that assets are well managed to enhance returns. This is because without these assets, public administration and private businesses will not achieve their goals and aims.
This seems to be one feature that they share in their day to day running. Although they might be established for different reasons best known to shareholders, the essence of being operational is to ensure that people are well attended to (Denhardt 35). This is as far as the provision of goods and services is concerned in a broad way.
As far as these aspects are concerned, there is a common way by which they are organized and regulated. Legal jurisdictions come up with a way by which regulation will be done in both public administration and private business (Denhardt 41). This will depend on various factors that guide how businesses are organized. It is obvious that public administration might not be having profit motives like private businesses but the fact remains that they need to be regulated for efficiency and accountability.
Public administration and private business have to perform as per their expectations because of their essence and necessity in the society at large. This means that there is interdependence as afar as their operations are concerned which is necessary for sustainability (Sheffrin 23). Sustainability should be emphasized as there is no way a customer and the public can do without goods and services they are used to.
Proper policy formulation is the strength behind public administration and private business. This has always been enforced by involving all concerned parties. It is evident that many organizations (be it private or public) will only be successful with a good policy framework that will define and give a good direction to be followed (Sheffrin 27).
Public administration and private business needs funds to ensure that they operate well. This means that they should incur costs in their day to day operations. Without these funds, they will not be in a good position to enhance service delivery. Although their operations might not be the same, the fact remains that they need enough funds to discharge their duties well (Sheffrin 32). There will be no needs for them to continue being in operation if they don’t provide good and services.
Accountability is necessary in both private business and public administration. This has always ensured that their actions and operations are not questionable. The only way that an organization can be successful is to ensure that they are accountable to the public, shareholders, owners and all interested stakeholders (Sheffrin 36). There are various measures that are employed by both (private and public) to enhance accountability.
Public administration and private business have thrived because of a good organization framework. An organization framework ensures that good policies and aspirations are put in place. In the process, it is easy to delegate roles.
These well defined roles will ensure that activities and operations are not grounded. All of them have ensured that they first of all craft a good organizational framework that will guide their operations (Sheffrin 45). This is the only way that they can evaluate themselves and know how to enhance their expectations and aims.
Decision making is always enhanced and adhered to in both public administration and private business. This is the only they can make good strategic moves that have ended up enhancing their sustainability and operations. Decision making is essential for operational efficiency and it is common in both scenarios of public administration and private business. This is the reason why they have put in place the right frameworks that will guide the way they make decisions (Sheffrin 56).
It is quite clear that both of them (public administration and private business) have some good similarities that guide their day to day operations. This is because they share some commonalities as far as their goals and aims are concerned. Although they might not be same, the fact remains that public administration and private business play an important role in the society. This means that there should be no contradictions as far as their existence and operations are concerned.
Conclusion
The scope of public administration is so large that it has not been easy to understand and this has been left to individual interpretations depending on ones general overview (Aucoin 32). It therefore means that public administration can be a field of study and also on the other hand an occupation. There is an argument as to whether it can still be referred to as a discipline because of its complexity.
It therefore implies that most unelected public officers will be considered as public administrators. They might include police officers, city managers, cabinet secretaries, analysts etc. These administrators work in public agencies and departments which should be at all levels of the government. There has been an argument that public administration is multidisciplinary in character.
A private business is a legally recognized institution that is expected to enhance the provision of services and goods in exchange for money. They are mostly predominant in capitalist economies where they are formed with profit motives and on the other hand with an aim increasing the wealth of its owners (Aucoin 32). This means that owners expect returns after engaging in a risk as far as their business is concerned.
This can be an activity of continuity in the supply of essential good and services that will be demanded by customers and the public at large. As far as private business is concerned, there are various forms of ownership that are generally accepted and this might depend on different countries (Sheffrin 15). This means that forms of business organizations will vary in relation to the jurisdiction. Although this is expected in a normal society, there some common forms of business ownership.
There is an argument that the main aim of public administration is to enact public policies while the aim of private business is to ensure that owners and shareholders increase their wealth and net worth. It is undeniable that there is a lot of vagueness in the enforcement of public administration policies (Aucoin 54). This is due to overlapping and the ambiguity in these policies. On the other hand, private business has not witnessed any overlapping tendencies in their policies because of good business goals.
Works Cited
Aucoin, Peter. New Public Management and the Quality of Government: Coping with the New Political Governance in Canada. Sweden: University of Gothenburg, 2008. Print
Denhardt, Robert. Public Administration: An Action Orientation. Belmont CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009. Print.
Kettl, Donald and Fessler, James. The Politics of the Administrative Process. Washington D.C.: CQ Press, 2009. Print.
Sheffrin, Steven. Economics: Principles in action. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hal, 2003. Print.