Distinction between Public and Business Administration

Earlier, I have posted the Introduction to Public Administration and its definition and the Scope and Domain of Public Administration. We, have seen that, at one stage, the 'management' euphoria led to diminish the distinction between public and private administration. And this distinction is however, greatly influenced by the political philosophy of that nation. For instance in the USA, which is a capitalist economy, the private sector plays a very important role and the public sector is in many ways dependent on the private sector for the supply of goods and services.

Hence, the tendency in that country is toward a blurring of lines rather than a distinct bifurcation of responsibilities. 

In India which is a mixed economy, the public sector was the dominant sector before 1990 but after LPG reform the trend has been reversed. Thus, the steady expansion of the private sector in India if it continues,it is expected to blur the distinction between these responsibilities. 

While in Socialist economies, the public sector is the dominant or only player, so it is expected draw a sharper distinction between the public and private management, such erstwhile USSR, Venezuela etc. 

But it must be the common concern of both public and business administration in the matters of general welfare. And it is true that private management can ignore the larger public interest in its own risk. While, Public Administration cannot it and there is need for much more efficient management. Here we will see the basic differences between the two, as discussed below: 

1. Purpose:-  Public Administration is to serve the public and public satisfaction is the goal. -  In contrast, business/public administration is oriented toward earning profit and Inability to earn profit will make businesses stop.
2. Adherence to Law: -- Public Administration is to operate strictly according to law, rules and regulation and this brings in a degree of rigidity of operation. The fear of audit or accountability, sometime acts as a constraint on performance. - In contrast, business administration is profit oriented and it is relatively free from such constraints of law. Apart from general laws regulating business, there has considerable flexibility to adapt their operations to changing environment. 
3. Publicness/Public Exposure:-The actions of Public Administration are always under the public gaze. Their achievements hardly get publicity while any fault occupies the newspaper headlines. For instance, the police department is always in constant hesitation to perform certain operations due to fear of the public wrath. -But the business administration is not under the public gaze and wide publicity is not to be found. 
4. Discrimination/partiality: - Publi Administration has no room for discrimination or partiality and such incidents will evoke public censure or legislative commotion. - -However in business administration, discrimination is freely practised due to competitive demands. It is almost a part of business culture in the choice of products and in fixing prices.
5. Complexity:-At higher levels of government, Public Administration is exceedingly complex because of many pulls and pressures, involvement of many minds, and need for several rounds of meetings before decisions are taken. Activities in one department have ramifications that spread over several other departments. -By contrast, business administration is more well-knit and single-minded in operation. There is much less complexity in organisation and operations and almost non-existent pressure. Private organisation has more compactness, insularity and autonomy of action.
6. Value Orientation :- With overarching responsibilities in terms of nation-building, and shaping the future society, Public Administration is therefore, much more value oriented. -On the other hand, Business organisations have to follow the guidelines laid down by the public authorities. 

To sum up, all societies have their political systems and economic systems, also they have their Public Administrative Systems. In contemporary societies, Public Administration has proven to be indispensable. Its scope is very wide which includes all the activities undertaken by the government in public interest. Administration and Public Administration have much in common though there are several points of differences as well [Learn more about Scope and Domain of Public Administration if you have missed the topic earlier] .

If you are lost in the middle and not able to find whereabouts of your study progress, then you can check the syllabus of the Public Administration (Part - A, Theory).

In my next post, I will be covering the importance of Public Administration in details. This will be add more knowledge about the subject, don't waste time and Click here to read the topic.