Administrative and functional management

 

Each organization should follow certain principles if it has to run smoothly and progress well. Henri Fayol developed this principle. Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. He was French mining engineer and when he became nineteen-year old then he started at the mining company "Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville" in Commentry. Fayol became managing director in 1888, when the mine company employed over 10,000 people, and held that position over 30 years until 1918. By 1900 the company was one of the largest producers of iron and steel in France and was regarded as a vital industry. Based largely on his own management experience, he developed his concept of administration. In 1916 he published these experience in the book "Administration Industrielle et Générale", at about the same time as Frederick Winslow Taylor published his Principles of Scientific Management.

 

He proposed 6 primary functions of management and 14 principles of management.

 

Functions of management

1. to forecast and plan
2. to organize
3. to command or direct
4. to coordinate
5. to develop output
6. to control (French: controller: in the sense that a manager must receive feedback about a process in order to make necessary adjustments and must analyze the deviations)

Now many writers have reduced this function to five: (1) planning; (2) organizing; (3) leading; (4) controlling (5) Forecasting (Draft, 1983)

Principles of management

1. Division of work. Work should be divided among individuals and groups to ensure that effort and attention are focused on special portions of the task. Fayol presented work specialization as the best way to use the human resources of the organization.
2. Authority. Managers must be able to give orders. Authority gives them this right. Note that responsibility arises wherever authority is exercised.
3. Discipline. Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. Good discipline is the result of effective leadership, a clear understanding between management and workers regarding the organization's rules, and the judicious use of penalties for infractions of the rules.
4. Unity of command. Every employee should receive orders from only one superior.
5. Unity of direction. Each group of organisational activities that have the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan.
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. Centralisation refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision making. Whether decision making is centralized (to management) or decentralized (to subordinates) is a question of proper proportion. The task is to find the optimum degree of centralisation for each situation.
9. Scalar chain. The line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks represents the scalar chain. Communications should follow this chain. However, if following the chain creates delays, cross-communications can be allowed if agreed to by all parties and superiors are kept informed.
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.
12. Stability of tenure of personnel. High employee turnover is inefficient. 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.

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[i] Daft, Richard L (1983), Organization theory and design, The West series in management., West Pub. Co., cop, ISBN 978-0-314-69645-8