Administrative Management

Biological Parallel

Ant colonies coordinate hundreds of thousands of workers through administrative systems—not central command. Pheromone trails function as task assignments (follow this trail = forage here), chemical alarm signals as crisis protocols, and trophallaxis (food sharing) as resource distribution. No ant manages others directly; administration emerges from standardized communication channels and response rules. When a trail evaporates, ants automatically reallocate without supervisory intervention. Fayol's administrative management—planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling—describes how complex systems maintain order through protocols rather than personality, a pattern evolved long before human organizations needed the same solution.