Friday, January 25, 2008

Henri Fayol – Fun Facts, Questions & Answers Information

Henri Fayol made his observatiosn on general management in his book, Administration Industrielle et Generale:

1.“Employees should receive orders from one superior only”. How did Fayol define this principle?

Unity of Command. Unity of command states that every worker should have only one immediate superior – he or she is responsible to that person and should ideally receive orders from that person only. This helps to pin responsibility in case of faults and fix errors in the system more easily. It also helps prevent chaos.

2. "Respect for agreements which are directed at achieving obedience, application, energy and the outward marks of respect”. What was Fayol defining?

Discipline. Discipline was one of the most important principles (according to Fayol). He declared that discipline requires good superiors at all levels.

3. Fayol emphasised on the need for team work in completing objectives and in the principle “In union, there is strength”. What term did Fayol use for expressing this? this

Esprit de Corps. Fayol was a Frenchman. He made his observations on general management in his book, “Administration Industrielle et Generale.”

4. To avoid wastage of time and resources while communicating in the formal chain (following the organisational chart), Fayol introduced a concept. What is it better known as?

Gang plank Policy. Suppose a supervisor in the service sector (of a firm) wanted to communicate something to his or her counterpart in the production sector. Following the formal line of communication would mean that he/she had to communicate to his/her superior who contacts theirs and so on till the person who is head of both the departments is contacted; from the latter, the message is routed downwards till it reaches the required person. As per the “Gang plank policy”, the supervisor can contact a counterpart in any department directly (subject to approval from his/her superior).

5. “Each group of activities with the same objective must have one head of one plan (to achieve the objective)”. What was Fayol defining?

Unity of Direction. Every department in an organisation must move according to specified plan – it is not only necessary that the plan optimises the working of the department; it should also be made considering the organisation as a whole (to prevent plans of different departments from clashing).

6. Fayol talks about “Division of Labour”.

Fayol believed that it is necessary to have division of labour to improve efficiency. He wanted this principle to all kinds of work – both managerial as well as technical.

7. “Order” was an important principle for Fayol. He broke down “Order” into two types – Material and what?

Social. Order was defined as “a place for everything (everyone) and everything (everyone) in its (his or her) place”.

8. Another important principle of Fayol was “Authority and Responsibility”. According to Fayol, Authority was a combination of official power as well as what?

Personal. Official authority was derived from the manager’s position while personal authority was obtained from a combination of factors like intelligence, past service, moral worth, experience, informal relationships etc.

9. Fayol advocated the need for subordination of general interest to individual interest.

He advocated that both ‘interests’ should be met but when these interests collide (or differ), then the overall interest (general interest) must prevail. Management must also try to reconcile the differences.

10."The extent to which authority is concentrated or dispersed”. This principle is known in the management fields as _______?

Centralisation. Fayol maintained that individual circumstances will degree (of centralisation) that is needed to “give the best overall yield”.


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Monday, January 21, 2008

Evolution of Management - Open Discussion

When we talk about the Evolution of Management - in your point of view, what do you think if there is a Change of Management in your organisation?

Will you accept the changes as part of the Evolution of Management and what are the advantages and disadvantages that impact on you?

Your participation in this discussion is much appreciated.

Fayolism Literature

Interesting literature.

One of the great management thinkers of the 20th century was Henri Fayol (1841-1925). Orignally educated at the St. Etienne School of Mines, he started his career at a mining company, Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville. As CEO from 1888 to 1918, he made the company one of the most successful in France.

In so doing, he evolved what became known as the Administration School of Management, detailed in a book, Administration industrielle et generale, published in 1916. The book had unprecedented impact, and "Fayolism" revolutionised business in France. In contrast to Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915), the American engineer who evolved the principles of scientific management that influenced industries in America as well as in other countries, including the USSR, Fayol set forth general principles that were useful in a broad range of organisations as well as in government.

Fayolism remained little known outside France until 1949 when his book was translated into English and published under the title "General and Industrial Management". The book, which still is in print, became one of the most influential management books of the 20th century.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Henri Fayol - 5 Primary Functions of Mgmt

Here's what I picked on Henri Fayol's statement which was posted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on 26/1/2008 @ 7.20 PM.

Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol

Henri Fayol (born 1841 in Istanbul; died 1925 in Paris) was a French management theorist.

Fayol was one of the most influential contributors to modern concepts of management, having proposed that there are five primary functions of management: (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) commanding, (4) coordinating, and (5) controlling (Fayol, 1949, 1987). Controlling is described in the sense that a manager must receive feedback on a process in order to make necessary adjustments. Many of today’s management texts including Daft (2005) have reduced the five functions to four: (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) leading, and (4) controlling. Daft's text is organized around Fayol's four functions.

Fayol suggested that it is important to have unity of command: a concept that suggests there should be only one supervisor for each person in an organization. Like Socrates, Fayol suggested that management is a universal human activity that applies equally well to the family as it does to the corporation.

Summary:
From my understanding based on the statement above - In today's rapid changes and challenging working environment, a good and real Manager should be able to apply five (5) primary functions of Henri Fayol management theory stated above in order for the Manager to manage and control people more effective and efficient in the organisation environment as well to the family.

What do you think? please give your comments and have a say.