Henri Fayol was one of the first theorists to claim/believe that Management was an acquired skill and was a key figure in the turn-of-the-century, Classical School of Management theory. He outlined five main functions of managers which were based on a much broader 14 Principles of Management

The Functions of a manager were:

1. To Plan
2. To Organise
3. To Command
4. To Co-ordinate
5. To Control

and these were based on the premise of the principles of management:

1. division of labour
2. authority
3. discipline
4. unity of command
5. unity of direction
6. subordination of individual to common goal,
7. remuneration for effort
8. centralisation
9. chain of command
10. order
11. equity
12. stability
13. initiative , and
14. team spirit

Looking at both these groupings in greater detail.

Centralisation is covered in another page. However, briefly, Centralisation in terms of what Fayol thought, was essential to the organisation and was simply a natural consequence of organising. Centralisation concerns itself with the modes of control over the actions of the organisation.

Scalar chain/line of authority/Chain of Command concerns itself with the reporting relationships in an organisation from top executive to the ordinary worker. Its main premise is that it is sensible, clear and understood.

Order is a slightly old fashioned term. In some ways it is difficult to define in general terms. To all intents and purposes it means that an organisation "should" provide an orderly place for each individual member. It is based on the premise that workers need to see how their role fits into the organisation and be confident enough to be able to predict the organisations behaviour towards them. Therfore policies, rules, instructions and actions should be understandable and understood. Order also implies steady evolutionary movement rather than wild, unpredictable movement which in today's work environment would suggest that there is no place for Fayols theory.

Equity simply means an "across the board" fairness and a sense of justice.

Stability of tenure. This is perhaps a difficult concept to understand in todays economic and job climate. Fayol believed (as do many modern writers) that stability of tenure promotes loyalty to the organisation, its purposes and values. In effect a harder working, more able worker.

initiative should be encouraged. Of course that is not to say that a worker can simply do his own thing (as that wouldn't fit in with the other principles). It simply means that workers should be encouraged (after consultaition with appropriate authority) to contribute to the organisation in terms of development and new ideas.

esprit de corps is again an old fashioned term and one which is used more often today is team spirit. This is a huge area which would require much more than a few brief lines to do it justice. However, it concerns itself with the need for building and maintaining of harmony among the work force , team work and sound interpersonal relationships.

Further Reading:
Laurie Mullins

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