Management and Daniel A. Wren
The foundations of Henri Fayol 's administrative theory
Daniel A. Wren David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus and Curator, Harry W. Bass Business History Collection, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA Arthur G. Bedeian Boyd Professor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA John D. Breeze Independent Scholar and Business Owner/Manager, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Keywords Abstract
Management theory, History
Among modern scholars and students there is an increasing distance between the fundamental thoughts of early management writers and contemporary, often secondary, accounts of how these pioneers developed their ideas. This shortcoming can be remedied by seeking original sources from when a pioneer 's ideas were being formulated and from the context within which this occurred. We examine examples of how others have furthered our understanding of management history by the discovery and translation of pioneering writings and present a rare, out-of-print translation and a previously untranslated and unpublished presentation from the French pioneer, Henri Fayol. These presentations to his colleagues in the mineral industry reveal Fayol 's early reflections as they would later evolve into his classical book, Administration Industrielle et Ge Ârale. Âne
Management Decision 40/9 [2002] 906±918 # MCB UP Limited [ISSN 0025-1747] [DOI 10.1108/00251740210441108]
As management historians, we are seldom able to trace the formative thinking of our field 's major contributors, especially its founders. McMahon and Carr (1999, p. 228) noted the ``increasing distance between students and scholars of today and the early writers in the development of management thought . . . The current generation of students are reading less of the actual writings of the early scholars and more what those writing current texts are attributing to [them]. ' ' At best, by examining contemporary accounts, or in the limited instances where autobiographies exist, we can
Daniel A. Wren David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus and Curator, Harry W. Bass Business History Collection, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA Arthur G. Bedeian Boyd Professor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA John D. Breeze Independent Scholar and Business Owner/Manager, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Keywords Abstract
Management theory, History
Among modern scholars and students there is an increasing distance between the fundamental thoughts of early management writers and contemporary, often secondary, accounts of how these pioneers developed their ideas. This shortcoming can be remedied by seeking original sources from when a pioneer 's ideas were being formulated and from the context within which this occurred. We examine examples of how others have furthered our understanding of management history by the discovery and translation of pioneering writings and present a rare, out-of-print translation and a previously untranslated and unpublished presentation from the French pioneer, Henri Fayol. These presentations to his colleagues in the mineral industry reveal Fayol 's early reflections as they would later evolve into his classical book, Administration Industrielle et Ge Ârale. Âne
Management Decision 40/9 [2002] 906±918 # MCB UP Limited [ISSN 0025-1747] [DOI 10.1108/00251740210441108]
As management historians, we are seldom able to trace the formative thinking of our field 's major contributors, especially its founders. McMahon and Carr (1999, p. 228) noted the ``increasing distance between students and scholars of today and the early writers in the development of management thought . . . The current generation of students are reading less of the actual writings of the early scholars and more what those writing current texts are attributing to [them]. ' ' At best, by examining contemporary accounts, or in the limited instances where autobiographies exist, we can
References: Eberly, C.G. and Smith, D.C. (1970), ``Preface to the `teacher-student relation ' ' ', Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 135-36. Fayol, H. (1901), ``Discours prononces par M. Henri Fayol . . . a la Seance Solonelle de  Cloture ' ', Bulletin de la Societe de l 'Industrie Minerale, third series, Vol. 15, pp. 759-66. Fayol, H (1908a), ``L 'expose des principles  generaux d ' administration ' ' (translated by   Breeze, J.D.), unpublished paper. Fayol, H. (1908b), ``Le Cinquantenaire de la Societe de Commentry-Fourchambault et Decazeville: Resume ' ', Societe de l 'Industrie  Minerale: Comptes Rendus Mensuels, July, pp. 240-2. Fayol, H. (1916), ``Administration industrielle et generale ' ', Bulletin de la Societe de l 'Industrie   Minerale, fifth series, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 5-162. Fayol, H. (1917), Administration Industrielle et Generale, Dunod et Pinat, Paris.   Fayol, H. (1930), Industrial and General Administration (translated by Coubrough, J.A.), Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London. Fayol, H. (1937), ``The administrative theory in the state ' ' (translated by S. Greer), in Gulick, L. and Urwick. L. (Eds), Papers on the Science of Administration, Institute of Public Administration, New York, NY, pp. 99-114. Fayol, H. (1949), General and Industrial Management (translated by Storrs, C.), Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London. Fayol, H. fils (1975), personal correspondence to Bedeian, A.G., 24 January. Follett, M.P. (1970), ``The teacher-student relation ' ', Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 137-49 (originally published in 1928). Greenwood, R.G., Bolton, A.A. and Greenwood, R.A. (1983), ``Hawthorne a half century later: Relay assembly participants remember ' ', Journal of Management, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 217-31. Gulick, L. (1937), ``Notes on the theory of organization ' ', in Gulick, L. and Urwick, L. (Eds), Papers on the Science of Administration, Institute of Public Administration, New York, NY, pp. 1-46. Gulick, L. and Urwick, L. (1937), Papers on the Science of Administration, Institute of Public Administration, New York, NY (reprinted in International Journal of Public Administration, 1998, Vol. 21 Nos 2-4). McMahon, D. and Carr, J.C. (1999), ``The contributions of Chester Barnard to strategic management theory ' ', Journal of Management History, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 228-40. Pearson, N.M. (1945), ``Fayolism as the necessary complement to Taylorism ' ', America Political Science Review, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 68-80. Sasaki, T. (1995), ``Henri Fayol 's family relationships ' ', Journal of Management History, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 13-20. Urwick, L. (1937), ``The function of administration with special reference to the work of Henri Fayol ' ', in Gulick, L. and Urwick, L. (Eds), [ 917 ] Daniel A. Wren, Authur G. Bedeian and John D. Breeze The foundations of Henri Fayol 's administrative theory Management Decision 40/9 [2002] 906±918 Papers on the Science of Administration, Institute of Public Administration, New York, NY, pp. 115-30 (reprinted in International Journal of Public Administration, 1998, Vol. 21 Nos 2-41. Urwick, L. (1949), ``Foreword ' ', Fayol, H., General and Industrial Management, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, London. Vitry, M. (2000), Dunod Editor for permissions, to Wren, D.A., April, p. 19. Weber, M. (1922), Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, J.C.B. Mohr, Tubingen. Weber, M. (1946), From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (edited and translated by Gerth, H.H. and Wright Mills, C.), Oxford University Press, New York, NY. Weber, M. (1947), The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (edited and translated by Henderson, A.M. and Parsons, T.), The Free Press, New York, NY. Wrege, C.D. (1961), ``Factors and fallacies of Hawthorne: a historical study of the origins, procedures, and the results of the Hawthorne Illumination Texts and their influence on the Hawthorne Studies ' ', PhD dissertation, 3 volumes, New York University, New York, NY. Wrege, C.D. (1995), ``F.W. Taylor 's lecture on management, 4 June 1907 ' ', Journal of Management History, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 4-32. Wren, D.A. (2001), ``Henri Fayol as strategist: a nineteenth century corporate turnaround ' ', Management Decision, Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 475-87. [ 918 ]