Henry Felol's Biography
Today's managers have access to an amazing array of resources which they can use to improve their skills. But what about those managers who were leading the way forward 100 years ago?
Managers in the early 1900s had very few external resources to draw upon to guide and develop their management practice. But thanks to early theorists like Henri Fayol (1841-1925), managers began to get the tools they needed to lead and manage more effectively. Fayol, and others like him, are responsible for building the foundations of modern management theory.
Background[pic]
Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. His father, an engineer, was appointed superintendent of works to build the Galata Bridge, which bridged the Golden Horn.[1] The family returned to France in 1847, where Fayol graduated from the mining academy "École Nationale Supérieure des Mines" in Saint-Étienne in 1860.
The nineteen-year old engineer started at the mining company "Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville" in Commentry. By 1900 the company was one of the largest producers of iron and steel in France and was regarded as a vital industry.[1] Fayol became managing director in 1888, when the mine company employed over 10,000 people, and held that position over 30 years until 1918.
Based largely on his own management experience, he developed his concept of administration. In 1916 he published these experience in the book "Administration Industrielle et Générale", at about the same time as Frederick Winslow Taylor published his Principles of Scientific Management.
Work
Fayol's work became more generally known with the 1949 publication of General and industrial administration,[2] the English translation[3] of the 1916 article "Administration industrielle et générale". In this works Fayol presented his theory of management, known as Fayolism. Before that Fayol had written several articles on mining engineering, starting in the 1870s, and some preliminary
Managers in the early 1900s had very few external resources to draw upon to guide and develop their management practice. But thanks to early theorists like Henri Fayol (1841-1925), managers began to get the tools they needed to lead and manage more effectively. Fayol, and others like him, are responsible for building the foundations of modern management theory.
Background[pic]
Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. His father, an engineer, was appointed superintendent of works to build the Galata Bridge, which bridged the Golden Horn.[1] The family returned to France in 1847, where Fayol graduated from the mining academy "École Nationale Supérieure des Mines" in Saint-Étienne in 1860.
The nineteen-year old engineer started at the mining company "Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville" in Commentry. By 1900 the company was one of the largest producers of iron and steel in France and was regarded as a vital industry.[1] Fayol became managing director in 1888, when the mine company employed over 10,000 people, and held that position over 30 years until 1918.
Based largely on his own management experience, he developed his concept of administration. In 1916 he published these experience in the book "Administration Industrielle et Générale", at about the same time as Frederick Winslow Taylor published his Principles of Scientific Management.
Work
Fayol's work became more generally known with the 1949 publication of General and industrial administration,[2] the English translation[3] of the 1916 article "Administration industrielle et générale". In this works Fayol presented his theory of management, known as Fayolism. Before that Fayol had written several articles on mining engineering, starting in the 1870s, and some preliminary