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:

  1. Division of Work. Specialization allows the individual to build up experience, and to continuously improve his skills. Thereby he can be more productive.
  2. Authority. The right to issue commands, along with which must go the balanced responsibility for its function.
  3. Discipline. Employees must obey, but this is two-sided: employees will only obey orders if management play their part by providing good leadership.
  4. Unity of Command. Each worker should have only one boss with no other conflicting lines of command.
  5. 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.
  6. Subordination of individual interest (to the general interest). Management must see that the goals of the firms are always paramount.
  7. 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.
  8. Centralization (or Decentralization). This is a matter of degree depending on the condition of the business and the quality of its personnel.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Equity. In running a business a ‘combination of kindliness and justice’ is needed. Treating employees well is important to achieve equity.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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:

  1. Prevoyance. (Forecast & Plan). Examining the future and drawing up a plan of action. The elements of strategy.
  2. To organize. Build up the structure, both material and human, of the undertaking.
  3. To command. Maintain the activity among the personnel.
  4. To coordinate. Binding together, unifying and harmonizing all activity and effort.
  5. 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 -

 

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Recent User Comments
Professor AL ABDALLAOUI Lafdil - Morocco - Casablanca Principles of Management "Management is theories and know how learning. The essence is that we never copy a used system with good results. We must make an effort to manage the current environment, based on its values and principles. Let's look for example to our mother, when we ask her to prepare bread. In order to realize this small project, she creates a small manufacturing. She has the budget, she buys the raw material, she has the equipment, she has the know-how, and qualified for time management, the follow up, the patience, total quality and HR management, finally she works with a great emotion, asking if my son is still hungry... These are the real bases of management. If we develop this small system which is a reference of Mother, and multiply it by 1000, we can manage a multinational company. Finally if we develop this theory, we can find the 14 principles of management."    1
Esther Sarfoh - Ghana Equity and Respect "Some managers look down on people who are not skilled, but at the end of the day they contribute to the objectives of an organisation. Managers should know these people also deserve to be treated well and paid reasonably."    8
Pramita Chakraborty - India Question "Esperit de corps is quite difficult to understand. can u make it a bit easier to understand with much more explainations?"    -1
 - India Ethics and Values "We all have been fortunate to have the basic principle of management as spelled out by Henri Fayol. In the present scene also they are applicable. What I have noticed is that importance is being given to change, stress, assertiveness and so on but not very much is talked about ethics and values. If these are are adhered to in letter and spirit the why should we at all have any problems in management?"    3
Eric Macauley - Sierra Leone Remuneration "In as much as remuneration serves as a significant push towards employees giving their best, one must bear in mind that it is not the only source of motivation. Hence, management must be aware and device other ways of motivating workers.eg,a tap on the back, quarterly retreats or outings,recognizing hard work etc.This is because its a little difficult in determining what motivate workers."    3
Best User Comments
Shillingi - Tanzania 14 Management Principles still Relevant "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."    150
Rebant - India What is Management? "Management... Indeed is a great learning and makes many things easy in their own way. Decision-making, organizing, co-ardinating & work not least are the components which come together in management. A great learning for all times: "MANAGEMENT""    98
Abdi - somaliland 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."    91
Ammini - Malaysia 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."    79
Dianne - Belgium 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."    62
osas eg - Nigeria Comments "These principles are very efficient and they serve as the best principles ever developed for carrying out effective management activities."    57
Mato - Kenya 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."    55
Jay - Philippines Risks "what are the risks in the 14 principles of management?"    52
Arijit - India Good and bad managers... "Why don't all managers follow the principles of management?? Still they become managers?? Why?? How??"    50
Sam Ebeke - Nigeria Scalar Chain "These 14 principles are evergreen management concepts. An overstretched scalar chain can make an organisation blind to young and up-coming talents down there un-noticed. No matter how big an organisation is, the number 1 man should not be completely out-of-reach of the number last. That is management..."    48

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Compare with the 14 Principles of Management: POSDCORB  |  Organization Chart  |  Fourteen Points of Management (Deming)  |  Ten Schools of Thought  |  Training Within Industry  |  Eight Attributes of Management Excellence  |  Centralization and Decentralization

 

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  ● Major.siva (India) Esprit de Corps "It is nothing but team spirit. In a team, if it has to achieve the goals, a one man show will never do it."
  ●  (India) Esprit de corps "It is working in unison with the colleagues enthusiastically for the benefit of the organization. Feel part of the place of work."
  ●  (India) Esprit de Corps "The concept is probably clear in an abstract way. The difficulty arises in its practical application in an organizational set up. I believe that the need for each member of the organization being appreciative and respectful towards others is the key. This can happen only when the top management builds an atmosphere where there is no perceived favoritism and avoidance of manipulative behavior."

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  ●  (jordan) Ethics and values "The most important in life, especially in business is the ethical handling of matters since without such factors all things will go far out of control."
  ●  (India) Principles of Management by Henry Fayol "Although the principles are very much true, but still it is not apllied in all industries, as there is responsibility but no authority. What can we do to bring this principle into place?"
  ● P Kamesh (India) Ethics and Values "In today's world everyone wants to be one up and therefore people tend to take shortcuts and compromise on values. They have to meet the targets and also please the boss. Therefore there is need to undertake some training sessions for the employees on ethics and values. Everyone is good basically but the circumstances make one lose sight of E & V."

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  ● Erick Billy (Tanzania) Principles of management "I think Mr. Fayol principles are applicable to many organizations and institutions in one way or the other and people use them as foundation of their managing systems and others will be built froma these to increase effectiveness and good administration in any Organization."
  ● Emmanuel (India) 14 Principles still Practical "These principles are spectacular and very pratical. Despite all the changes in technology and conceptual analysis, most companies that are succeeding are making good use of Fayol's principles."
  ● Odukoya Ademola (Ghana) Fayol's Principles are Evergreen "The set of rules put in place by Henri Fayol, discovered, put to use, tested and sustained till date will continue to remain evergreen. It's the lifeline of both the new and existing organization. If I have my way, I would print these principles on the heart of corporate and private establishment. The more top executives understand this, the more we have a positive, functional and dynamic premises for talented interpreneurial minds to develop in corporate settings, because the system and approaches are all scientific."
  ● Charlie (UK) Fayol's principles are old fashioned "I am not so sure, these principles seem based on "command and control", that management knows best. It fosters a 'them and us' mentality. What does this say about 'empowerment' and flatter organisational structures? I think a lot of this is old school thinking."
  ● Ravi Chhabra (India) Relevance can not be denied "Even after almost 100 years since these principles were first proposed, their relevance can not be denied. The 14 principles are still valid in the present scenario and can be applied by all present and future managers."
  ● Matonda (Kenya) 14 Principles very relevant "These principles are very relevant in the sense that from here we have the prevoyance and the foundation to build on a stable management structure. Think about specialization, unity of command, remuneration, scalar chain, discipline and esprit de corps not forgetting direction.They can even influence the political atmosphere when applied shrewdly. HENRI FAYOL deserves appreciation!"
  ● Ingrid (Zambia) Relevant or not? "I think these principles are very relevant and are applied by a lot of managers in different scenerios. But the environment is the most important thing. In Zambia, you will need to command one or two people to get performance."
  ● Tahir Qurban Ali Ch. (Pakistan) Principles of Management "I apply Fayol's 14 Principles of Management in my department while serving in different organizations with limited available resources and feel easy to achieve my targets in time."
  ● Makori (Kenya) Enabling Better Management "The 14 principles form the basis of the entire management practice in all organisations and companies. They happen to be active in all sectors and industries."

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  ● nana boakye (Ghana) Management is an art and a science "It's an art because it involves a specialized individual in making an organizations goals achieved. It's a science also because it involves the study of humans and the environment in which they live and operate and applying these in making the goals of the organization achieved."
  ● Kuldeep (India) Management is a jungle "At the end mgt is a jungle. There are no single theories, sometimes everything works and sometimes nothing, even if the fundamentals are correct."
  ● Rahul (India) Management is a process "Management is a systematic process of taking decisions and implementing them. It consists of various functions like planning, controling, organizing and coordinating."
  ● Calvin (Hong Kong/China) Management is domain-specific "Management is to decide what to do and get things done. It is a domain-specific concept. Simply discussing what "management" is does not make much sense or don't mean much. "X + Management" means "how human beings do the X". e.g. HR Management, impression management, comprehensive pest management ... Management itself can be a technique/science or craft/art! The point is to know what to do and mission completed,"
  ● shrikant (india) Management is more than theory "Management is a lot more than the theoretical and bookish concepts. It has everything to do with the situation in which a manager makes decisions , considering the goals of the company at its apex where at the same time the subordinates are also not kept out of the book. The manager who acieves this is the one who is following the definition of management"
  ● Dr. Stella John Samuel (India) Management by a group of people "Management is much more than what any individual person or manager can say. It is a process which involves a series of actions and commands by a group of people, who aim at achieving a target or goal set by the organization in which they work."
  ● Sanjay kumar Mohapatra (India) Management is Practical "In real meaning management is not theoretical but more practical. Driving man tactfully, leading them to achieve a proper goal, organizing man and machine into a particular space in a harmonious way, may be considered as a great principle of management. And in brief it may be said that to manage men tactfully is the real management."
  ● Qaiss Alokozai (Afghanistan) Management is developing your employees "Can we say developing your employees through your work is management?"
  ● Laeeq (Pakistan) Definition of management "There is no standard definition of management and the term management is interpreted in various ways depending on the context in which it is used. But one of the earliest definitions of management is given by Mr. Fayol. That's why I salute him."
  ● Laxmi Pradad Khanal (Nepal) Management tells what to do "Management tells us what to do at what time for what purposes. It explains doing the right things at the right time."
  ● AfriKing (Newham, East London) The Best Definition of Management "Management is the attainment of organisational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organising, controlling and leading."
  ● Manish (India) Management is Co-ordination "Management is the business of co-ordination with command and the right mix of compassion. Good managers do lead but follow the people's perspective and put prejudices and thier own whims and fancies in the backyard..."
  ● Usman Kamal (Pakistan Peshawar) Process of getting activities completed "Management is the process of getting activities completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people."
  ● Peejay van den Berg (South Africa) Management is the Mother of all Sciences "Wow, way back in 1999 I was in a position to ask myself: "What is the definition of management? Good news, it took me 10 (ten) years of research and alas I have a definition. You just wont believe it, its simple, compelling and usable. Watch this space to share in my 10 years of labor of inquiry in a book soon to be published. MANAGEMENT IS NOT A DISCIPLINE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES - IT IS THE MOTHER OF ALL SCIENCES. The question is not whether Management is a science? THE QUESTION SHOULD BE WHETHER SCIENCE IS A SCIENCE."
  ● Bhanu Prakash (India) Management is Getting Things Done "Management is getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effictively and efficently."
  ● Major.siva (India) Management is Common Sense "As a lecturer in management studies, I just consider management as a common sense, may be in a little bit higher degree. What HF said is not beyond the line of my thinking."

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  ● Steve Deporter (USA) Risks "Great addition, because if the manager is not patient then the process of him/her managing will be soon lost or eschewed by another emotion."
  ●  (India) Management requires patience "Patience is the backbone as a matter of fact. There are lot many solutions to a problem/issue but the best and the optimum solution has to be selected. To do that information is to be gathered without which proper decisions cannot be taken. There would be time constraints for the solutions to be reached and therefore the importance of "patience"."

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  ●  (India) Modern Organisational Hierarchy "In the vertical layers of ranks of personnel within an organization, each layer subordinate to the one above it. Organization hierarchy is often shown in the form of an organization chart. An extended hierarchy is typical of a bureaucracy, but during the later 20th and early 21st centuries the layers of hierarchical positions within large organizations have often been reduced as part of downsizing exercises. These result in shallow or nonexistent hierarchies of flexible, flat organizations, within which there is greater employee empowerment and autonomy. There is no more important or less important managerial roles in managerial hierarchy. Each layer is an integral part of the root. "

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  ● Dianne (Belgium) The 10 Principles of Urwick (2) "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."
  ● David Shortt (Ireland) Theory of managment "Thats very informative, thank you"
  ● SERAJ (INDIA) management "the above statements and definitions are very accurate."

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  ● del (Ghana) Fayol Beneficial "When contemporary management practices are critically observed, it is noted that Henri Fayol's 14 principles are evident. The application of these principles in management practice to some extent brings about higher productivity despite its shortfalls."
  ● Enimola DJ (Nigeria) Foundation for Contemporary Management "Henri Fayol's 14 principles- foundation for the contemporary management. Students in all management programmes and practicing managers will find it a useful tool. Kudos to Fayol!"
  ● Hussain (India) 14 principles of management "14 princples of management by fayol are the fundamentals of managerial study. Many of the principles should be updated by evaluating the present environment."
  ● Aditi (India) Management and Fayol "Henry Fayol's 14 Principles of Management have helped to achieve significant role in the corporate sector as well. These many roles have widely helped to understand, analyse the roles of management better... For instance, so that one can practically incorporate these practices in an organisation for better solutions."
  ● m'nyk (nigeria) 14 principles "As an artist, I feel greatly moved by these priciples right from my higher education yrs. 3 kposa for Fayol..."

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  ● Erica David (Philippines) Principles of Management "It's good, it's fun and it's easy if you concentrate in your work on being a manager."

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  ● omolola (Nigeria) RISK in Principles fayol "I believe risk is included in the first 3 principles mention above. That is: if there is adeqate Discipline, Authority and Proper Division of Work, I believe that there shall be minimal Risk."
  ● menbre Zenebe (Ethiopia) Risk "As risks are not confined to only internal environment, no matter how effective are the principles, we can not do way with them."

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  ● Umair (Pakistan) Good and Bad Managers "Because these 14 principles are not part of the job description of a manager. He manages and is free to manage in his own natural style."
  ● Vinit (India) 14 Management Principles "The 14 principals are not always practical, it depends on your work area and your surroundings. A few things remain the same, but management decisions and management policies change frequently."
  ● Joy (Kenya) Response to Arijit: Culture "Speaking from experience of developing country, the culture of inefficiency and ineffectiveness perpetutated by the highest office of the country makes it challenging for the principles to work. This culture is not only present in the country as a whole but in organisations as well. The general situation of the country's socio-economic and political structure provides poor environment for the managers to practice good management. (Opinion/reflection)"
  ●  (Pakistan) Good and Bad Managers "Dear Arijit, sometimes managers have to mold themselves according to the situation and they seem not to follow the principles."
  ● sajeel (Pakistan) Managers and Principles of Henri Fayol "Managers usually do not follow the principles because they are free to control the organization or the firm."

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  ● Crash Override!! (UK) Number Last "I couldnt agree more with the latter half of your comment. Absolute home run - period!!"
  ● Zandile Tshabalala (South Africa) Unity of direction and lines of reporting "I disagree that with the latter the over-stretched scalar of chain. Surbodinated need only report to their designated surpervisor/boss to reduce chaos and too many informal reporting chains that can lead to a disruption in communication. Management needs to set harmony between that, that's why there's a hierachy. The top level people cannot be involved too much with the operational people or else there'll be too much minor issues to handle."

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