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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 -

 

Principles of Management Forum

Recent User Comments
Khushboo Borar - India Science and Art "The Principles of Management include the concepts of both Science and Art. Science because there are some fundamental and technical rules applied when these principles are practically used. Also they too need the art of the person as they cannot be applied in the same manner in all situations."    2
Jay - Philippines Risks "what are the risks in the 14 principles of management?"    67
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..."    42
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."    73
Shillingi - Tanzania 14 Management Principles "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."    96
Best User Comments
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."    57
osas eg - Nigeria Comments "These princples are very efficient and they serve as the best principles ever developed for carrying out effective management activities."    54
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""    53
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."    45
Mabel Moses - Nigeria Scientific Management. "Hi, these 14 principles by (Henri Fayol 1841-1925) have been a great contribution in our old and recent time. In the sence that he made everyone understand that without these principles, an organisation can not function well. No wonder Fayol was regarded as the father of modern scientific management {Editor: this last statement is incorrect, see reactions}, because he was concerned with both the principles of organisations and the functions of administrators…"    44

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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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  § Julius Egharevba (Nigeria) Comparative Management "Could the 14 principles of management by Fayol not come to bare more positively in Nigeria to uniting scaler line between employee and employer of labour?"

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  § Crash Override!! (UK) Number Last "I couldnt agree more with the latter half of your comment. Absolute home run - period!!"

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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."

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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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  § 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 ... "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 "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"

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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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  § Richard Arney (Australia) Scientific Management "Wasn't Frederick Winslow Taylor (the one best way) the father of Scientific Management?"
  § Editor (NL) Administration School "Without any doubt, Frederick Winslow Taylor, and not Fayol, must be regarded as the Father of Scientific Management. Another term for Scientific Management is in fact "Taylorism". Taylor published his book called: "The Principles of Scientific Management" in 1911. Fayol on the other hand is often called the founding father of the Administration School, although this was established in the 50s, over 25 years after he died, when his English book 'General and Industrial Management' became widely known."

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