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Henri Fayol

Born: July 29, 1841, Constantinople, Turkey


Died: November 19, 1925, Paris, France
Education: cole nationale suprieure des mines de Saint-tienne (1860)
Books: General and Industrial Management
Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer and director of mines who developed a general theory of business
administration that is often called Fayolism.[1] He and his colleagues developed this theory independently of
scientific management but roughly contemporaneously. Like his contemporary, Frederick Winslow Taylor, he is widely
acknowledged as a founder of modern management methods.
Fayol's work was one of the first comprehensive statements of a general theory of management.[5] He proposed that
there were five primary functions of management and fourteen principles of management. Henri Fayol's "14
Principles of Management" have been a significant influence on modern management theory. His practical list of
principles helped early 20th century managers learn how to organize and interact with their employees in a
productive way.Although the 14 Principles aren't widely used today, they can still offer guidance for today's
managers. Many of the principles are now considered to be common sense, but at the time they were revolutionary
concepts for organizational management.
(1) Division of Work:
This principle of Fayol tells us that as far as possible the whole work should be divided into different parts
and each individual should be assigned only one part of the work according to his ability and taste rather
than giving the whole work to one person.
When a particular individual performs the same job repeatedly, he will become an expert in doing that
particular part of the whole job. Consequently, the benefits of specialisation will become available.
(2) Authority and Responsibility:
According to this principle, authority and responsibility should go hand in hand. It means that when a
particular individual is given a particular work and he is made responsible for the results, this can be possible
only when he is given sufficient authority to discharge his responsibility.
It is not proper to make a person responsible for any work in the absence of authority. In the words of Fayol,
The result of authority is responsibility. It is the natural result of authority and essentially another aspect of
authority and whenever authority is used, responsibility are automatically born.
(3) Discipline:
Discipline is essential for any successful work performance. Fayol considers discipline to mean obedience,
respect for authority, and observance of established rules.
Discipline can be established by providing good supervision at all levels, clearly explaining the rules, and
implementing a system of reward and punishment. A manager can present a good example to his
subordinates by disciplining himself.
(4) Unity of Command:
According to the principle of unity of command, an individual employee should receive orders from only one
superior at a time and that employee should be answerable only to that superior. If there are many superiors
giving orders to the same employee, he will not be able to decide as to which order is to be given priority. He
thus finds himself in a confused situation.
(5) Unity of Direction:
Unity of direction means that there should be one head for one plan for a group of activities having the same
objective. In other words, there should be one plan of action for a group of activities having the same
objective and there should be one manager to control them.
(6) Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest:
This principle can be named Priority to General Interest over Individual Interest. According to this principle,
the general interest or the interest of the organisation is above everything. If one is asked to place individual
interest and the general interest in order of priority, definitely the general interest will be placed at the first
place.
(7) Remuneration to Employees:
Fayol is of the opinion that the employees should get a fair remuneration so that the employees and the
owners find equal amount of satisfaction. It is the duty of the manager to ensure that employees are being
paid remuneration according to their work. If, however, they are not paid properly for their work, they will
not do their work with perfect dedication, honesty and capacity.
(8) Centralisation and Decentralisation:
According to this principle, the superiors should adopt effective centralisation instead of complete
centralisation and complete decentralisation. By effective centralisation, Fayol does not mean that authority
should be completely centralised.
He feels that the superiors should keep the authority of taking important decisions in their own hands, while
the authority to take daily decisions and decisions of less importance should be delegated to the
subordinates.
(9) Scalar Chain:
It refers to a formal line of authority which moves from highest to the lowest ranks in a straight line, This
chain must be followed in a strict manner. It means each communication must move from top to bottom and

vice versa in a straight line. The important condition here is that no step (post) should be overlooked during
communication. (v) Gang Plank:
It is the exception of the principle of scalar chain. This concept was developed to establish a direct contact
with the employee of equal rank in case of emergency to avoid delay in communication
(10) Order:
According to the principle of order, a right person should be placed at the right job and a right thing should
be placed at the right place. According to Fayol, every enterprise should have two different orders-Material
Order for Physical Resources and Social Order for Human Resources.
(11) Equity:
This principle tells that the managers should treat their subordinates in a just and kind manner so that they
develop a feeling of dedication and attachment for their work. All the employees should be treated equally
and impartially.
Fayol tells us in connection with this principle that there should not be any equality of treatment between a
person whose work is really good and a person who is a shirker by nature.
(12) Stability of Personnel:
From the point of view of management it is absolutely harmful to change the employees frequently as it is a
reflection of inefficient management. Therefore, according to this principle there should be stability of tenure
of the employees so that the work continues efficiently.
Fayol thinks that instability in the tenure of employees is a cause of poor management and results. High rate
of labour turnover will result in increased expenses because of selecting them time and again, and giving
them training afresh.
(13) Initiative:
Initiative means the capacity to work while expressing ones thoughts. According to Fayol, it is the duty of
the manager to encourage the feeling of initiative among his employees for doing some work or taking some
decision but within the limits of authority and discipline.
It will be possible only when the manager will welcome the thoughts of his/her subordinates. By doing so the
subordinates will present new and useful ideas time and again and gradually they will become an integral
part of the organisation.
(14) Esprit de corps:
As per this principle, a manager should continuously make efforts to develop a team spirit among the
subordinates. To do this, he/she should use the word We instead of during the conversation with
subordinates.

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