Henr Fayol & Management

The work of Taylor and Fayol is essentially complementary. They both realized that the problem of HR and their management at all levels is the key to business success. Both applied scientific method to this problem. Taylor worked primarily on the operative level, from the bottom of the organizational hierarchy upward. Fayol concentrated on the Managing Director (his term) and worked downward.

Unlike Taylor, Fayol's work reflects a tension between his recognition that managers are not supermen and yet employees should not be allowed enough autonomy and responsibility to solve second-order problems (problems for which there are no precedents, or previous exemplary solutions).

Additionally, Fayol's work provides much more insights into the intellectual underpinnings of the approach.

On the division of labor (9, 13): The most important ability of the worker is "technical" (physical) ability. As one goes up the organization ladder, the relative importance of managerial ability increases, while that of technical ability decreases. To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, coordinate and to control (p. 6).

General Principles of Management

1. Division of work. Specialization belongs to the natural order (a religious belief!?). Management should pursue standardization of work. The object of work is to produce more and better with the same effort. The worker always on the same part, the manager concerned always with the same matters, acquire an ability, sureness, and accuracy which increase their output.

2. Authority and responsibility. The good manager should have official authority deriving from office and personal authority, compounded of intelligence, experience, moral worth, ability to lead, past services, etc. Responsibility is a corollary of authority, it is its natural consequence and essential counterpart, and where authority is exercised responsibility arises.

3. Discipline. Discipline is obedience, application, energy, behavior, and respect. Discipline is absolutely essential for the smooth running of business and without discipline no enterprise could prosper.

When a defect in discipline is apparent or when relations between superiors and subordinates leave much to be desired, responsibility for this must not be cast heedlessly, and without going further afield, on the poor state of the team, because the ill mostly results from the ineptitude of the leaders.

4. Unity of command. An employee should receive orders from one superior only.

5. Unity of direction. One head and one plan for a group of activities having the same objective (centralization of authority).

6. Subordination of individual interest to general interest. The interest of the home should come before that of its members and that the interest of the State should have pride of place over that of one citizen or group of citizens. Constant supervision is needed to ensure that the general interest will not be lost sight in favor of individual interest.

7. Remuneration of personnel. Remuneration should be fair (!?). It shall not go beyond reasonable limits. But who defines "fair?"

8. Centralization. Centralization belongs to the natural order (a religious belief!?). The degree of centralization must vary according to different cases. If the moral worth of the manager, his strength, intelligence, experience and swiftness of thought allow him to have a wide span of activities he will be able to carry centralization quite far and reduce his seconds in command to mere executive