Managment: Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayol
...1888-1918, he was made the Managing Director of the cartel where he became popularly known for his success in revamping the company and its standards. While he accomplished very much before 1916, the publication of his most famous book secured Fayol a place in management history. Fayol’s universal process approach involved the five functions of management. They start with planning, which is examining the future and laying out a plan of action to be taken. The second function is to organize, or lay out the lines of authority and responsibility. This also involves building up human and material resources for the project. The third piece of the managerial functions is to coordinate. This is when a manager lays out the timing and sequencing of activities to bind together, unify, and harmonize all activities and efforts that are being completed in the project. The fourth, and possibly the most important piece of the managerial functions is to command, or put the plan into action and set to work on the operation. To complete the managerial functions is to control, which is monitoring and correcting any action that isn’t conformed to the established rules and expressed command. This piece of the managerial functions helps managers to learn where they are making mistakes and correct them so they do not happen again. Another major part of Henri Fayol’s management approach is the fourteen universal principles of management. Each management principle has a place in the managerial scope of the business. The first is division of work is a specialization of labor in the workforce. Different people have different abilities, and their specialization will produce more and better work with the same effort. The second is authority is the right to give orders and the power to obedience. The development of a rewards or penalties for actions gives the workforce a sense of fair play at their job. The manager responsible for this award must be fair, have high moral, and be impartial. Forms of discipline are different among firms, but no matter how it is presented it is essential. The agreements upon which discipline is based should be as well defined as the command structure of the company. The fourth principle, unity of command, specifics that all employees should receive orders from only one superior. The next is unity of direction, which says that the efforts of the employees should be focused on one direction. It can also be expressed as “one head and one plan for the group” (Fayol 67). The subordination of individual interests and general interest means the employees’ interests should be secondary to the interests of the company. That is rewarded with remuration, which means employees have a right to receive some sort of pay for the services they provide to the company. This can be examined as time, job, and piece rates; bonuses; profit sharing; and non-financial incentives. The next principle is centralization, and Fayol says the degree of centralization and decentralization is unique to every company. The company should find the correct balance for optimal productivity. For the next principle, he states the chain of superiors in the firm, or a scalar chain, ranging from the superiors to the lowest ranking authority. Employees should abide by the formal chain of command unless the company feels employees should communicate with each other. Order maintains that both material and human resources should be in their proper place and equity states that fairness in the workplace is a result of kindliness and justice. This will in turn lead to devoted and loyal service of employees. The stability and tenure of personnel states that people need time to learn their jobs, and if they do correctly they will benefit the company. The next is initiative, which upholds that thinking out a plan and ensuring its success are two of the most rewarding satisfactions in a business. The final principle of Fayol is espirit de corps which literally means “union is strength”. This principle stresses the importance of a harmonious effort among employees. Fayol’s functions and principles of management are a fundamental part of managerial history. He showed how complex management processes can be separated into interdependent areas. His idea that management is a continuous process is still used very widely. His functions are a guide to management; a basic description that is more widely discussed in other theories. The universal process approach is important because it shows managers what they should do, and lets other processes explain why and how. The Operational Approach Also known as scientific management, the operational approach is a production-oriented field of management dedicated to improving efficiency and cutting waste (Kreitner 47). While it is a continually improving method, it has enclosed a constant purpose. This purpose is to make people as well as machines work as efficiently as possible. Frederick W. Taylor introduced this approach to management by always wanting to find a better way of doing things. ...