Henri Fayol (1841-1925) a successful French industrialist. Fayol's career began as a mining engineer. He then moved into research geology and in 1888 joined, Comambault as Director. Comambault was in difficulty but Fayol turned the operation round. On retirement he published his work - a comprehensive theory of administration - described and classified administrative management roles and processes then became recognised and referenced by others in the growing discourse about management. He developed theories about management. His thought could be taught to those individuals with administrative responsibilities to management.
Fayol’s contribution is the functional approach which is still used today. The major managerial functions, according to Fayol, were planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. The functions have been slightly modified several times since Fayol. In the main, these still provide the basic frame work for studying management as witnessed by the organization. Fayol’s works were not translated into English for a couple of decades after his death.
Fayol's five functions are still relevant to today management roles and action.
(1) to forecast and plan - prevoyanceexamine the future and draw up plans of action
(2) to organisebuild up the structure, material and human of the undertaking
(3) to commandmaintain activity among the personnel
(4) to co-ordinatebind together, unify and harmonise activity and effort
(5) to controlsee that everything occurs in conformity with policy and practise
Fayol gives 14 principles of management which are still being used nowadays. His aspiration for an "administrative science" sought a consistent set of principles that all organizations must apply in order to run properly. These principles are given below:
1. Division of work ; Specialization increases output by making employees more efficient.
2. Authority; Managers must be able to give order. Authority gives them this right. Along with authority, however, goes responsibility, allocation and permission to use the necessary resources needed (budgets, assets, staff) to carry out the responsibilities,"judgement demands high moral character. A manager should never be given authority without responsibility and at the same time and also should never be given responsibility without the associated authority.
3. Discipline; Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. without it - standards, consistency of action, adherence to rules and values - no enterprise could prosper.
4. Unity of Command ; An employee should receive orders from one superior only.
5. Unity of direction; The organization should have a single plan of action to guide managers and workers.
6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest. The interests of any one employee or group of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as a whole.
7. Remuneration; Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.
8. Centralization; This term refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision making.
9. Scalar Chain; The line term refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved decision making.
10. Order; People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.
11. Equity; Managers should be kind and fair to their subordinates. Equity, fairness and a sense of justice "should" pervade the organisation in principle and practice.
12. Stability of tenure of personnel; Management should provide orderly personnel planning and ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.
13. Initiative; Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels of effort.
14. Esprit de corps; Promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization. Management must foster the morale of employees.The real talent needed to coordinate efforts, encourage keenness, use the abilities of each person, reward each person irrespective of personal liking and disliking but due to his individual efforts and knowledge. Here Fayol emphasises the need for building and maintaining of harmony among the work force , team work and sound interpersonal relationships.
Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management
