The Impact of Classical Theorist on Contemporary Management Practice

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Recommended: Contrast Fayol with contemporary management theories

French mining engineer, Henri Fayol graduated in 1860. He later became the director-general of Comambault, a company who was at the verge of bankruptcy. Fayol successfully reformed the company into one of the largest industrial combines of Europe after his retirement. Fayolism or Administrative theory was developed in 1900s with the focus that management should be considered as an essential skill of life and should be separated from any technical knowledge. He believed that everyone perform certain administrative functions in their everyday lives (Lynch and Robert G., 2013). The theory emphasizes that the success of an organization was determined by the administrative ability of its leader as oppose to their technicality.

Henri Fayol’s written work “Administration Industrielle et Générale” (Revised by Gray, 1987) proposed that there are 5 primary functions of management and 14 principles of management. This was his main contribution to management’s thoughts and practice. “Experiences… are expensive teachers” (Fayol, n.d.), through his understandings over the years in Comambault, Fayol believed that the principle of management could be outlined and taught.

5 Functions of management (Peaucelle & Guthrie, 2013)

1. To Plan
“Gouverner c’est prévoir” (Fayol, 1916) it is important to plan the foreseeable future and determine stages and technology necessary to implement it.

2. To Organize
To provide the organization with all its required tools, supplies, personnel etc. to operate.

3. To Coordinate
Work in harmony to achieve and adapt the means of the company’s objectives.

4. To Command
To trigger actions and act as a leader to ensure the work has been met.

5. To Control
To verify that the organization’s rule, given orders an...

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Morgen Witzel and Malcom Warner http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199585762.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199585762 Kazi Nashid Morsheda (n.d.), Fayolism, Fayol’s principles & Elements, http://www.academia.edu/4067269/Fayolism_Fayols_principle_and_elements Lauren Spatig, (2009), Rediscovering Fayol: Parallels to Behaviorists Management and Transformational Leadership, Fielding Graduate University http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/eds/detail?vid=3&sid=24eb909b-9b63-4a71-9c67-9e02000add69@sessionmgr115&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ==#db=bth&AN=48177685 Lynch & Robert G., (January 2013), Fayol Publishes General and Industrial
Management, Salem Press Encyclopedia
Matthew Alanis, (2014), Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management
http://www.alanisbusinessacademy.com/2014/03/12/managementprinciples/

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