Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 23 Issue 1

Administration: Science, Art or Technique? A Reflective Look at the Epistemological Status of the Administration 53 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXIII Issue I Version I Year 2023 ( ) A © 2023 Global Journals administrator and, therefore, the culture, climate and functioning of the organization. Another aspect to consider in this equation is the heterogeneity of theoretical approaches of the discipline. Koontz presented it as an administrative "jungle", made up of schools of administrative thought, raised throughout history becoming an attempt of researchers in the field for establishing a consensus precisely on the object of study of the administration. This variety far from simplifying its object or its study methods demonstrates its complexity. However, it is necessary to point out that administration as an object of study is well documented in Taylor´s approaches regarding the planning of the method. Furthermore, Taylor states that to succeed the principles of administration require that the participants of the organization work together for a common interest. Taylor conceived it as the increase in productivity adding the principle of the complexity of the administrative phenomenon. This perspective unravels and justifies the emergence of the humanist approach to administration. Moreover, it is hence the perception of an administrative "jungle" spoken by Koontz. Besides, it establishes as well the multiplicity of methodological possibilities to address the administrative phenomenon. In this same order of ideas, it appears consideration how difficult is to approach the management activities of the administration. To be more specific, the skills (creativity and negotiation) and values (morals) are required by the administrative task (which I would classify as a managerial role). Borgucci (2012) distinguishes creativity and, links it to negotiation as well as morality, which are characteristic or distinctive features of the administrator or manager's style. They affect the decision-making process and involve risk, according to the spatial context. Temporary of the organization, commitment that can be managed by taking into account postulates of the theory of contingency, organizational development, or the theory of managerial effectiveness. These aspects of the managerial role should lead to solving problems by adequately using the tools or strategies according to the context they take place. From an ecological point of view, we talk about beneficiating all the actors involved in the organization, directly or indirectly. It becomes then a challenge for those in the managerial role in the administrative field, or the researcher to take this aspect as an object of study. Resulting in an obstacle of an epistemic nature. The methodological status of administrative principles can be also considered another epistemic obstacle. It is understood as a set of socio-technical rules susceptible to periodic revision (and not as universal or general laws as required by the scientific tradition), with practical and moral aspirations. Due to the complex nature of the administrative phenomenon (conceived as a dynamic system), the administration's methods used must have a flexible and diverse perspective. In addition, it is relevant to emphasize the presence of empiricism within this list of epistemic obstacles. Empiricism is conceived as the submission of the observer-researcher subject to organizational facts, in this case from a perspective alien to criteria of scientific rigor, that is, the possibility of uncritical empiricism. However, researchers in the field of administration have tried to advance toward its scientific nature, and authors such as Le Moigne (1997), Kliksberg (1992), or Bunge (2000) give an account of this, without ignoring the methodological possibilities offered by postpositivist, which address phenomena such as administration from the study of cases, justified in the postulates, for example, of systems theory, holistic theory, or complex thought. In this sense, the directing of causality in the formulation of laws or administrative principles stands out, with a certain range of validity as long as they are conceived from specific contexts. Causality in its most general meaning refers to the relationship between two things, under which the second (the effect, result, or impact) is univocally foreseeable from the first (the administrative action). This is seen from a deterministic perspective (typical of experimental studies with a quantitative approach), which is complemented by the statement of the relationship between scientific knowledge and, administrative practice. It refers to the imperative need for what is stated in the context of scientific research (the theoretical postulates or assumptions) to transcend the practical (administrative work), by adopting the administration of the principles of science. V. F inal T houghts: A dministration as an E pistemic F ramework It is necessary to start by making an approximation to the knowledge of the entities within which the activities of human beings develop. Let´s start with the affirmation that administrative phenomenon at the level of popular knowledge as a human activity arises as to whether it is possible to study it scientifically. Although there is not still epistemological consensus on the status of administration, the phenomenon or administrative process depends on the paradigmatic approach of its interlocutor. It is also accompanied by adjectives such as "science", "socio- technics" or "art". Regardless of the epithet used, the organization is considered the general object of administrative work. Plus, the exclusive object of study is the processes by which the participants or co- participants of an organization are led toward the achievement of its objectives or purposes. Since the object of a discipline is the portion of reality that works,