14 Principles of Management
(Henri Fayol)

The general management principles as summarized by Fayol. Explanation of 14 Principles of Management of Henri Fayol. (1916)

Contributed by: Vincent Marino

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) - 14 Principles of Management

What are the 14 Principles of Management? Description

The 14 Management Principles from Henri Fayol (1841-1925) are:

Division of Work. Specialization allows the individual to build up experience, and to continuously improve his skills. Thereby he can be more productive.
Authority. The right to issue commands, along with which must go the balanced responsibility for its function.
Discipline. Employees must obey, but this is two-sided: employees will only obey orders if management play their part by providing good leadership.
Unity of Command. Each worker should have only one boss with no other conflicting lines of command.
Unity of Direction. People engaged in the same kind of activities must have the same objectives in a single plan. This is essential to ensure unity and coordination in the enterprise. Unity of command does not exist without unity of direction but does not necessarily flows from it.
Subordination of individual interest (to the general interest). Management must see that the goals of the firms are always paramount.
Remuneration. Payment is an important motivator although by analyzing a number of possibilities, Fayol points out that there is no such thing as a perfect system.
Centralization (or Decentralization). This is a matter of degree depending on the condition of the business and the quality of its personnel.
Scalar chain (Line of Authority). A hierarchy is necessary for unity of direction. But lateral communication is also fundamental, as long as superiors know that such communication is taking place. Scalar chain refers to the number of levels in the hierarchy from the ultimate authority to the lowest level in the organization. It should not be over-stretched and consist of too-many levels.
Order. Both material order and social order are necessary. The former minimizes lost time and useless handling of materials. The latter is achieved through organization and selection.
Equity. In running a business a ‘combination of kindliness and justice’ is needed. Treating employees well is important to achieve equity.
Stability of Tenure of Personnel. Employees work better if job security and career progress are assured to them. An insecure tenure and a high rate of employee turnover will affect the organization adversely.
Initiative. Allowing all personnel to show their initiative in some way is a source of strength for the organization. Even though it may well involve a sacrifice of ‘personal vanity’ on the part of many managers.
Team Spirit (Esprit de Corps). Management must foster the morale of its employees. He further suggests that: “real talent is needed to coordinate effort, encourage keenness, use each person’s abilities, and reward each one’s merit without arousing possible jealousies and disturbing harmonious relations.”

What is Management? Five elements

Fayol's definition of management roles and actions distinguishes between Five Elements:

Prevoyance. (Forecast & Plan). Examining the future and drawing up a plan of action. The elements of strategy.
To organize. Build up the structure, both material and human, of the undertaking.
To command. Maintain the activity among the personnel.
To coordinate. Binding together, unifying and harmonizing all activity and effort.
To control. Seeing that everything occurs in conformity with established rule and expressed command.

Origin of the 14 Principles of Management. History

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French management theorist whose theories in management and organization of labor were widely influential in the beginning of 20th century. He was a mining engineer who worked for a French mining company Commentry-Fourchamboult-Decazeville, first as an engineer. Then he moved into general management and became Managing Director from 1888 to 1918. During his tenure as Managing Director he wrote various articles on 'administration' and in 1916 the Bulletin de la Société de l’ Industrie Minérale, printed his "Administration, Industrielle et Générale – Prévoyance, Organisation, Commandement, Coordination, Contrôle". In 1949 the first English translation appeared: ‘General and Industrial Management’ by Constance Storrs.

Usage of the 14 Management Principles. Applications

Change and Organization.
Decision-making.
Skills. Can be used to improve the basic effectiveness of a manager.
Understand that management can be seen as a variety of activities, which can be listed and grouped.

Book: Henri Fayol - General and Industrial Management -

Principles of Management - Fayol Forum (39)

Exactly Where are the 14 Principles of Fayol Located?
"I am writing an essay which encompasses Fayol's theory and applying it to a modern business. I have a copy of General and Industrial Management to hand but I'm having difficulty to find a reference to the 14 principles in the book.
Are these principles simply ideas that have been derived from Fayol's work or am I just not looking hard enough?
If it helps, my copy is the 1984 revised edition by Irwin Gray. Any help would be much appreciated."

The Contribution of Henri Fayol to Strategy
"The biggest contribution Fayol made to the discipline of management or administration is not his 14 principles or the 5 functions of a manager.
In my opinion, it was to identify that there is a framework of strategies common to all organizations. On page one of chapter one of the first book ever written on the new subject of managing strategy, Fayol states that there are six activities that all executives must manage. These "activities" are in fact strategies and represent 6 of the eight strategies common to all organizations, whether they are for-profit, not-for-profit, or public sector in nature.
Fayol identified: risk, finances, organization, production (also known as manufacturing or service delivery depending on what the organization does), marketing and sales, and R&D/technology.
Peter Drucker identified the other two, business definition (known as mandate for public sector and not-for-profit organizations) in his book, The Practice of Management, published in 1954.
These eight strategies are what constitutes "the strategic plan" and all subsequent strategy implementation planning is driven by the expectations created by each of the eight.
Because none of the subsequent points Fayol makes, such as the 5 functions of a manager or 14 principles, have any relevance without being founded in strategy, I am always surprised at how so many readers missed what is contained on page one of chapter one.
I consider Fayol to the the true father of Strategic Management for this contribution. The reality is, we are only beginning to understand what he wrote. We are still hung up in a complex and confusing construct which uses synonyms for strategy (e.g. vision, mission, objectives, goals, tactics) rather than doing what Fayol recommended, which was to focus on the activities (i.e. risk, finances, production, etc.)."

Current Research on Fayol / 14 Principles?
"Although they are now almost 100 years old, we seem to agree that Fayol's principles continue to be relevant today.
Do you know of any research teams who are currently working on Fayol's 14 principles?"

Are Fayol's Principles of Management also applicable to non-profit organizations?
"Fayol's principles of management were written having industrial (mining) firms in mind. Obviously these are for profit companies.
Are the 14 principles also applicable to non-profit organizations? Which principles would have to be changed should we want to apply them to not for profit organizations?"

On the 4th Principle: Unity of Command
"According to Fayol's 4th Principle, Unity of Command, I should receive instruction from one boss who is my immediate manager.
However I have been instructed by other managers from other department too. And even by my colleagues. These instructions make my work overloaded. Is this not a violation of this principle by Fayol?"

Difference between Adminstration and Management
"Should't Fayol's principles be called the 14 principles of Administration? Why was 'administration' (in the French language) translated into English in 1949 as 'management'? What differences are there between the area of studying administration and management?
Remember that the original concept from Henry Fayol was called "Administration, industrielle et generalle" (in French) so should be translated as : "General and industrial administration"."

All of These Principles are Obvious Features
"In every organization, we can see all of them but we can't classify the companies with them. For example: classify to efficient or non efficient organization, competitive or primitive, dynamic or static, etc.
These principles just tell us how an organization can work (framework) but they don't tell us how is it working (structure)."

Manager in Conflict with Top Management...
"Conflicts occur regularly in almost all organisations. Managers having a conflict with top management usually have to accept the decision and command of top management.
But often times the manager may be right as he is the one who is conversant with the intricacies of the shop floor, not the top management!"

(Why) Do we Need Managers?
"Why do we need managers? They are a layer of cost and add no real value, so why do we have them? Most specialists left their field to be managers and usually hate it and perform at lower levels than in their previous roles.
What if we reduced managers to stewards and facilitators and paid them like other specialists would this help?"

Managers versus Leaders
"Not all managers are good leaders and not all leaders are good managers. We need to develop both managers and leaders to realize the vision and mission of the company."

On #9: Scalar Chain has to be Modified for Current Times
"Had Fayol been alive today, he would have modified scalar structure as the hierarchy is different and structures are much more flat today. People are working in different countries on a single project and individual responsibility is bigger combined with performance management."

Fayol's Management Roles
"Fayol mentioned 5 roles (or actions):
1. Prevoyance.
2. To organize.
3. To command.
4. To coordinate.
5. To control.
Apart from these 5 managerial functions or roles in my view:
6. To empower employees plays a crucial role in management excellence."

Fayols Principles are the Basis of Many Later Management Concepts
"Many recent management principle are extension of these 14 concepts. The only difference is often that they are confined to a set of more practical concepts to survive in the highly competitive global market."

Some Items May Be Missing, But...
"Dear all, we can now identify what is missing in the 14 principles. But when there were no principles, could we imagine the missings?
The 14 Principles of Fayol are the fundamental thoughts of management and now others items can be added in management."

Add #15 Principle: Conformity to the Basic Origin
"Aristotle noticed that well-being everywhere depends on two things: a choice of the correct goal, and a choice of a correct way of its achievement. In other words, to do the right things in the right way.
The 14 principles of Fayol define how to reach the goal (define the right way), but don't define, how correctly choose the goal (don't define the right things), what goal is correct.
As Peter Drucker has noticed, there is nothing more useless than to perform work effectively, that is not necessary to do at all.
So: what is necessary to do?
The answer has been given by N. Machiavelli with the concept of the "Basic Origin". Any organization which has deviated from the «basic origin», loses success & stability.
What is the «basic origin» of any system? It is the function, that is necessary to the suprasystem for which' execution the system was created, and which it should execute.
In my opinion (hypothesis), it is necessary to add to the 14 principles of Fayol the 15th principle: «Conformity to the Basic Origin».
Substantiation: this 15th principle:
1. Is orthogonal to fourteen principles of Fayol (mutually exclusive): it is not deduced from these 14 principles;
2. Essentially supplements the 14 principles of Fayol: it raises the exhaustiveness of the principles;
3. Destroys the isolation of Fayol's principles: connects them with others theoretical tools of management. For example, with Value Based Management (VBM). It is toolkit of application of a principle of conformity to the basic origin.
The trouble of modern management – it has many theoretical islands. Frequently not or poorly connected among themselves and even contradicting eachother.
The above suggested addition to the principles is directed against this trouble."

Need for Employees' Welfare in the Principles
"It is obvious that in this 14 principles something is missing: the inclusion of "staff welfare". Because after all proper measures has been put in place, and the end-result is achieved, what becomes of this team that achieved this goal, apart from being remunerated?"

School Based Management
"For school based management, behavioural aspects of management will be predominant while for higher levels the nitty-gritty of business will be more important."

What is Prevoyance? Explanation
"Prevoyance is the function of management which says one must examine the future and draw a plan. How hard is it to forecast what needs to be done in the future? I need a bit of explanation on this, thanks..."

Subordination of Individual Interest
"Subordination of individual interest puts individuals in a defensive position."

Explanation and Examples of Esprit de Corps
"Can someone please come with an explanation/example how to explain this to students?"

The Power of an Ownership Attitude among Employees
"As per my analysis, if any employee has an ownership attitude towards his organization, he does not require any kind of management theory to succeed in any kind of competitive market.
Using all kind of management and motivational theories (like Maslow Theory), if we can develop a sense or attitude of ownership inside all employees, such group of person can build a giant organization ..."

A Good Organization Run by Monkeys
"A good organization run by monkeys is still a zoo."

Example of Subordination of Individual Interest?
"Who can give me example of Henri Fayol's 6th principle ie. Subordination of Individual Interest. Thanks.."

Interpreting POLICE In Management Parlance
"The POLICE Acronym:
P = Planning and Promoting efficiency
O = Objectivity in action
L = Leadership sustaining Loyalty
I = Innovative to core
C = Consentious citizen
E = Effective at work"

Shortcut or Trick to Remember the 14 Principles?
"How to remember the 14 priciples of management, if we find it difficult to remember??"

Difficulties to Apply 14 Principles of Henri Fayol
"What difficulties can a manager confront today if he/she tried to implement the principles of Fayol as they were originally stated?"

Organizational Efficiency or Effectiveness?
"Which is more important for an organization: efficiency or effectiveness? Why?"

POLICE Acronym in Management
"Can someone explain the terms P. O. L. I. C. E. in management?"

New Management Concepts
"Management Principles change as there is a huge diversity in organizations and their structure. The application part of 14 principles talks only about Skills but now the world is driven into new competition, in order to overcome the competition, management indeed needs Skill, Knowledge and constant innovation."

Risks in Fayol's 14 Principles of Management
"What and where are the risks in the 14 principles of management?"

Management requires patience
"I think managers must be more patient than anybody else in the world, because when making a decision they don't just make a choice such as how cookers do in the kitchen."

14 Management Principles still Relevant Today
"Despite being challenged by various scholars, these principles from Fayol are still relevant in many organisations in Tanzania, what we are doing is just refining those principles in order to suit our environment and real cultural situations in our organisations."

What is organisational hierarchy?
"Describe the key management roles and discuss why some roles are considered to be more important or less important at different levels of the organisational hierarchy."

Managers: Born or Made?
"I think that managers are mostly born. The persons who have inborn, natural managerial qualities are much better in their role as manager than other managers who have acquired the managerial qualities.......
WHAT YOU ALL THINK???? Please react..."

The 10 Principles of Urwick
"Similar and well-known are the 10 Principles of Organisation by Lyndall Urwick. According to Urwick (Notes on the Theory of Organization, 1952), an organisation is built on ten principles:
1. The principle of the objective - Every organisation and every part of the organisation must be an expression of the purpose of the undertaking concerned, or it is eaningless and therefore redundant.
2. The principle of specialisation - The activities of every member of any organised group should be confined, as far as possible, to the performance of a single function.
3. The principle of co-ordination - The purpose of organising per se, as distinguished from the purpose of the undertaking, is to facilitate co-ordination: unity of effort.
4. The principle of authority - In every organised group the supreme authority must rest somewhere. There should be a clear line of authority to every individual in the group.
5. The principle of responsibility - The responsibility of the superior for the acts of the subordinate is absolute.
6. The principle of definition - The content of each position, both the duties involved, the authority and responsibility contemplated and the relationships with other positions should be clearly defined in writing and published to all concerned.
7. The principle of correspondence - In every position, the responsibility and the authority should correspond.
8. The principle of span of control - No person should supervise more than five, or at most, six direct subordinates whose work interlocks.
9. The principle of balance - It is essential that the various units of an organisation should be kept in balance.
10. The principle of continuity - Re-organisation is a continuous process: in every undertaking specific provision should be made for it."

Good and bad managers...
"Why don't all managers follow the principles of management?? Still they become managers?? Why?? How??"

Evolution of Management
"The way management is evolving keeps managers on their feet. Everyday brings a new management method. As a result the way we manage today you'll be surprised will change by the year 2010."

What is Management? Management is...
"Management... Indeed is a great learning and makes many things easy in their own way. Decision-making, organizing, co-ardinating and work not least are the components which come together in management. A great learning for all times: "MANAGEMENT""

Best Ever Developed on Management
"These principles are very efficient and they serve as the best principles ever developed for carrying out effective management activities."

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