Chi Cuadrada

Henri Fayol (Istanbul, 29 July 1841 – Paris, 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration.[1] He and his colleagues developed this theory independently of scientific management but roughly contemporaneously. He was one of the most influential contributors to modern concepts of management.

Biography

Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, where his father, an engineer, was appointed superintendent of works to build a bridge over the Golden Horn[1] (Galata Bridge). They returned to France in 1847, where Fayol studied at the mining school "École Nationale Supérieure des Mines" in Saint-Étienne.

When 19 years old he started as an engineer at a mining company "Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville" inCommentry. By 1900 the company was one of the largest producers of iron and steel in France and was regarded as a vital industry. Fayol became managing director in 1888, when the mine company employed over 1,000 people, and held that position over 30 years until 1918.

In 1916 he published his experience in the book "Administration Industrielle et Générale", at about the same time as Frederick Winslow Taylor published his Principles of Scientific Management

Theory

Fayolism

Fayol's work was one of the first comprehensive statements of a general theory of management. ]He proposed that there were five primary functions of management and 14 principles of management

Functions of management

1. to forecast and plan,

2. to organize

3. to command or direct

4. to coordinate

5. to control (French: contrôller: in the sense that a manager must receive feedback about a process in order to make necessary adjustments and must analyse the deviations.).

Principles of Management

1. Division of work. This principle is the same as Adam Smith's 'division of labour'. Specialisation increases output by making employees more efficient.

2. Authority. Managers must be able to give orders. Authority gives them this right. Note that responsibility arises wherever authority is exercised.

3. Discipline. Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. Good discipline is the result of effective leadership, a clear understanding between management and workers regarding the organization's rules, and the judicious use of penalties for infractions of the rules.

4. Unity of command. Every employee should receive orders from only

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