The Management Theories of Henry Fayol - Essay Example

Fayol’s theory of management Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Management is one of the practices which help organizations to improve their performance in the global market. Every organization should consider its management and develop appropriate strategies which will lead to competitive advantage. In the early years, management had not evolved which implies that organizations difficulty in managing their resources which include financial and human resource skills. In this regard, Henry Fayol observed that there were problems in the mining factory, thus there was a need to develop better management techniques so as to eliminate the problems which faced the organization. Henry Fayol was the core founder of the management theories. He was born in the year 1841 and developed a mining factory in late years. He made various contributions to management of the organization by developing various theories of management (Brunsson 2008). However, his contributions to management have been criticized and some have been modified by other gurus. The principles and ideas presented by Henry Fayol are of great importance to today’s managers. His contributions have enabled the managers in the today’s society to improve their managerial skills by applying the principles such as division of labor centralizing some of the functions in the organization. In this regard therefore, this essay will discuss the management theories of Henry Fayol and their applications to current management. Impacts of Henry Fayol’s concepts/ theories Henry Fayol came up with various theories which are used by the managers today. Some of the concepts of Henry Fayol have been outdated and are not relevant in the modern society. However, his contributions have acted as a framework for managers today (Brunsson 2008). This section will therefore discuss the advantages and disadvantages of theories developed by Henry Fayol to the managers today and their impacts and how the theories can be reviewed differently from today’s managers. Considering the above contributions of Henry Fayol, the management of many organizations was transformed. In the first place, the productivity of many organizations was improved due to improved utilization of resources. Due to the division of work, employees were able to develop familiarity in their areas of work thus improving their skills (Crainer 2003). There was also improved communication in the organizations. This is because the only channel of communication which was applied by the organization was vertical which implies that the information can reach the lower level employees better. The main problems which were encountered by managers while conducting their duties were simplified with the introduction of Henry Fayol’s principles of management (McLean 2011). In this regard therefore, Henry Fayol enabled many organizations to improve their management skills and this led to increased competition and globalization. The disadvantage of management theory of Henry Fayol is that it focuses much on human labor. Since human people are prone to commit mistakes, they are likely to make mistakes which will affect the operations of the organization (McLean 2011). Moreover, if a mistake is committed and the employee does not admit it, thus will cause more trouble in the organization because his concepts only concentrate on human effort. The management theory of Henry Fayol has great impacts on the managers of today’s organizations and the employee. The first impact of the managers is that it helps them to improve harmony in the organization (Parker & Ritson 2005). This is because when there is unity of direction, there will be good communication among the employees and the management hence enabling the managers to improve promoting. In addition, the management theory of Henry Fayol has impacted on the behavior of the managers in the society today. The managers are able to learn and behave in a way that can motivate the employees in the organization (Parker & Ritson 2005). For instance, by considering the efforts of the employees and rewarding will motivate the employees thus creating a good relationship between the management and the employees. The impact of the theory on the employees is that it leads to improved motivation. This is because the theories developed by Henry Fayol focus on the employees. For instance, through effective remuneration, the employees will be satisfied thus offer their best skills when performing their tasks (Parker & Ritson 2005). In addition, the management theory of Fayol enables the employees to find easy time when responding to only one boss. Henry Fayol observed that it is good for the employees to receive orders from one boss only (McLean 2011). This implies that all employees in a particular section should receive commands from only one supervisor. The employees will be answerable to only one supervisor or the manager. This impacts on the employees in that they will find it easy to channel their grievances if any since they report to a single boss. Fayol also developed the equity policy (Parker & Ritson 2005). This principle implies that there should be fairness in the organization and duties should be allocated with no favors. In this regard, the employees are expected to be committed to improve the operations of the organization by putting their interests aside and uphold the organizational interests. The impact of this principle of the employees is that they will be satisfied with their jobs since there will be no favors when allocating duties and resources in the organization. Fairness will help to improve their morale. The behavioral theory developed by Fayol helps the employees to participate in the leadership of the organization. This is because this theory focuses on democratic style of leadership which implies that the employees will be involved in decision making (Wren 2001). The impact on the employees is that it helps them to improve their management skills, thus they will develop satisfaction with the organization. Theories of Henry Fayol and how they can be viewed today differently from the past Henry Fayol developed various theories concerning management. The first theory he developed was the administrative management theory. In this theory, he explained all things in the organization are achieved as a result of the human effort (Spatig 2009). It is therefore important to recognize the employees as important assets and motivate them so that they can help the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. In the modern business, the managers view this theory differently. There are other forces which determine the success of the organization other than the people. Both external and internal factors like the level of technology can determine the success of the organization not only the human beings. Therefore the managers see this theory differently from the past where people did all things in the organization. He also developed the classical management theory. This theory explains that human element is important in the success of an organization (Spatig 2009). If the organization fails to consider the human element it will not be able to achieve its goals since ignorance of the human element will lead to negative connotation. This theory is observed the same way Fayol observed it in the past. The managers today are finding better ways in which the employees can improve their productivity like teamwork. However in terms of aspects like leadership it is viewed differently from the past. Today’s managers practice democratic style of leadership instead of autocratic which was practiced in the past. In addition, there is also the behavioralism theory. This theory also takes into consideration the nature of the human element (Spatig 2009). In this regard, the employees will improve their commitment due to democratic leadership which involves them when making decisions for the organization and this improves the performance of the organization. Today this theory is viewed different from the past because today’s managers understand that leadership skills are developed and not born and that anyone can be made to be a leader. He also developed the principle of authority. The management should be given powers to give orders to the employees. Even the supervisors and the managers should have the authority to give orders to junior employees. Today, this principle is viewed differently from the past since the managers today delegate duties and responsibilities so that they can improve the commitment of the employees and also improve their management skills (Parker & Ritson 2005). In the management of organizations today, managers are considering the ways they can uphold the interests of the employees as well as those of the organization. The interests of the employees are viewed differently in the context today, unlike in the past (McLean 2011). Today managers are considering the ways in which they can improve the interests of the employees and the interests of the organizations. Therefore, this concept is seen to have negative impacts on the employees in the past since it did not consider the interests of the employees. In addition, the principle of unity of direction is also seen negatively and it is not commonly practiced in the management of organizations today. This is because many organizations have opted to teamwork when handling projects (Parker & Ritson 2005). This implies that the commands can be from the project manager and the line manager. Therefore, there is no command which comes only from one boss thus unity of command principle is not applicable due to dynamics in management of organizations today. The hierarchy concept has also been criticized and it is seen as outdated. According to Henry Fayol communication was only vertical, but in the modern businesses this has changed. There are both vertical and horizontal communication as well as upward and downward communication. This is because the employees are important in the success of the organization and can provide relevant ideas which can help to improve the performance of the organization (McLean 2011). This has forced today’s managers to practice both upward and downward communication. It also helps to motivate the employees as they feel part of the management of the organization thus feel recognized. Context of management situations for Fayol’s concepts Henry Fayol’s concepts have been applied in a wide range of situations in organizations today. To start with, Henry Fayol identified various managerial functions in an organization. These functions of managerial include planning and forecasting, organization, control, coordination and command. These are the key functional sections of the management which should be considered (Parker & Ritson 2005). This concept has been applied in organizations where there are no clear defined functions and there is conflicting roles. These management functions can be applied there to improve the management of the organization. The concept of remuneration has been applied in organizations where there is low employee morale. Henry Fayol found out that employees’ morale is affected by the remuneration they receive. An organization can improve the morale of the employees by compensating them well in terms of remuneration to improve their morale as practiced by Henry Fayol (Rodrigues 2001). When the management wants to improve the performance of the organization, the managers can design an effective remuneration strategy which will help to compensate employees well thus improve their morale. It has been applied to improve the performance of organizations. The principle of centralization has been applied in organizations which want to earn quantity discounts. An organization can decide to centralize its purchasing function so that all the materials and products can be purchased by a single department which is the procurement department (Pryor & Taneja 2010). This concept helps an organization to enjoy economies of scale which will lead to low cost of production. In addition, the concept of initiative has been applied in learning organizations. This principle implies that an organization should have managers who are able to receive new ideas and implement them for the better management of the organization. All managers are expected to have the ability of learning new ideas and implement them. This concept has enabled many organizations to improve their performance through learning (Rodrigues 2001). The employees as well as the managers are encouraged to practice continues so as to improve their skills which will also lead to improved performance of the organization. The classical theory of management has been also applied in organizations which have new projects to undertake. This theory enables the employees in an organization to develop better ways of achieving goals. This is done by practicing teamwork and democratic style of leadership which helps to improve the management skills of the employees. Conclusion Henry Fayol made various contributions to the management of organizations in early times. He observed many problems which faced organizations and conducted some research and came up with the framework for managing organizations. Some of his contributions include division of work, authority, discipline, order, scalar chain and unit of command among others. These principles formed the framework for solving the management problems which faced many organizations. However, the contributions of Henry Fayol have been criticized by other gurus and managers in the current society. They argue that the morale of the employees cannot be achieved by mere remunerations since there are other factors which contribute to morale of the employees. The authoritarian model of management has also been criticized since many organizations are involving employees in decision making. The main theories which were developed by Henry Fayol include behavioral theory, administrative theory and classical theory. The impacts of these concepts are that they help the managers to improve, promote harmony in the organization and allocate duties effectively while these concepts helps to promote the morale of the employees as well as improving their management skills. In this regard, therefore, the fourteen principles have been criticized, although they formed the basis for improving the management of organizations. References Brunsson, KH 2008 ‘Some Effects of Fayolism’, International Studies of Management & Organizations, vol. 38, no. 1, Spring, pp. 30-47. Crainer, S 2003 ‘One hundred years of management’, Business Strategy Review, vol. 14, issue 2, pp. 41-49. McLean, J 2011 ‘Fayol – standing the test of time’, British Journal of Administrative Management, Spring, pp. 32-33. Parker, LD & Ritson, PA 2005 ‘Fads, stereotypes and management gurus: Fayol and Follett Today’, Management Decision, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 1335-1357. Parker, LD & Ritson, PA 2005 ‘Revisiting Fayol: Anticipating Contemporary Management’, British Journal of Management’, vol. 16, pp. 175-194. Pryor, MG & Taneja, S 2010 ‘Henri Fayol, practitioner & theoretician – revered and reviled’, Journal of Management History, vol. 16, issue 4, pp 489-503. Rodrigues, CA 2001 ‘Fayol’s 14 principles of management then and now: a framework for managing today’s organisations effectively’, Management Decision, vol. 39, issue 10, pp. 880-889. Spatig, L 2009 ‘Rediscovering Fayol: Parallels to Behaviouralist Management and Transformational Leadership’, Northwest Business Economics Association Proceedings, pp. 196-199. Wren, DA 2001 ‘Henri Fayol as strategist: a nineteenth century corporate turnaround’, Management Decision, vol. 39, issue 6, pp. 475-487. Read More