Henri Fayol's 14 Principles
Introduction
Fayol’s 14 principles derive from the circumstance that Fayol felt that management was not well defined. In his striving to change this circumstance he suggested “some generalized teaching of management” to be a main part of every curriculum at places of higher education and even beginning in “primary schools” . Fayol’s dedication to this idea is demonstrated by the fact that after retirement he went on to not just write books about management ideas, but more importantly, he found the Centre For Administrative Studies (CAS) in 1917 in Paris . The CAS mainly functioned as a centre of discussion between professionals from a large variety of professions, in order to further the knowledge and understanding of management principles.
Discussion is what Fayol had in mind, when he presented his 14 principles . In Fayol’s own words: “Are they [the principles] to have a place in the management code which is to be built up? General discussion will show”. In the following I will discuss each of his principles under the aspect of a comparison with examples, historic or modern, and in relation to other theoreticians of management, in order to examine how Fayol’s principles hold up as “management code” today.
Principle 1: Division of work
The idea of division of work, or as Adam Smith called it “division of labour”, in 1776 probably goes back to the beginning of work itself. Fayol recognizes this in considering specialization as part of “the natural order” comparing it to the organs of the body . “The object of division of work is to produce more and better work with the same effort”, Fayol describes.
This very objective has not been altered in today’s labor. In a sense this principle is the fundamental feature of modern economy, allowing for the largest increases of productivity. Peter F. Drucker informs us, that the 20th century has seen a rate of 3% productivity increase per year, hence productivity has risen 50 fold since the time of Frederick Taylor, who
Fayol’s 14 principles derive from the circumstance that Fayol felt that management was not well defined. In his striving to change this circumstance he suggested “some generalized teaching of management” to be a main part of every curriculum at places of higher education and even beginning in “primary schools” . Fayol’s dedication to this idea is demonstrated by the fact that after retirement he went on to not just write books about management ideas, but more importantly, he found the Centre For Administrative Studies (CAS) in 1917 in Paris . The CAS mainly functioned as a centre of discussion between professionals from a large variety of professions, in order to further the knowledge and understanding of management principles.
Discussion is what Fayol had in mind, when he presented his 14 principles . In Fayol’s own words: “Are they [the principles] to have a place in the management code which is to be built up? General discussion will show”. In the following I will discuss each of his principles under the aspect of a comparison with examples, historic or modern, and in relation to other theoreticians of management, in order to examine how Fayol’s principles hold up as “management code” today.
Principle 1: Division of work
The idea of division of work, or as Adam Smith called it “division of labour”, in 1776 probably goes back to the beginning of work itself. Fayol recognizes this in considering specialization as part of “the natural order” comparing it to the organs of the body . “The object of division of work is to produce more and better work with the same effort”, Fayol describes.
This very objective has not been altered in today’s labor. In a sense this principle is the fundamental feature of modern economy, allowing for the largest increases of productivity. Peter F. Drucker informs us, that the 20th century has seen a rate of 3% productivity increase per year, hence productivity has risen 50 fold since the time of Frederick Taylor, who