Henri Fayol's 14 Principles: Foundations of Modern Management

Henri Fayol's 14 principles of management serve as the foundation for modern organizational practices. These principles provide a comprehensive framework for effective management, addressing critical aspects such as division of work, authority, discipline, unity of command, and esprit de corps. Fayol emphasized the importance of clear communication, equity, and centralization to foster efficiency and harmony within an organization. This topic explores each principle in detail, showcasing how they remain relevant and adaptable to contemporary business environments, offering insights for leaders to build well-structured and high-performing teams.

1. HENRI FAYOL’S
14 Principles
of Management

2. HENRI
FAYOL

3. 1.
DIVISION OF WORK
:
Work should be divided among individuals and groups to
ensure  that effort and attention are focused on special portions
of the task. Fayol presented work specialization as the best way
to use the human resources of the organization.
Specialization allows the individual to build up experience, and
to continuously improve his skills. Thereby he can be more
productive

4. 2.
AUTHORITY
:
The right to issue commands, along with which must go the
balanced responsibility for its function.
The concepts of Authority and responsibility are closely related.
Authority was defined by Fayol as the right to give orders and
the power to exact obedience. Responsibility involves being
accountable, and is therefore naturally associated with authority.
Whoever assumes authority also assumes responsibility.

5. 3.
DISCIPLINE
:
Employees must obey, but this is two-sided: employees will only
obey orders if management play their part by providing good
leadership.
A successful organization requires the common effort of workers.
Penalties should be applied judiciously to encourage this
common effort.  
   

6. 4.
UNITY OF COMMAND
According to this principle, a subordinate (employee) must have and receive
orders from only one superior (boss or manager).
Workers should receive orders from only one manager .
Ambiguity/confusion should be avoided by receiving commands from only
one person/manager

7. 5.
UNITY OF DIRECTION
:
The entire organization should be moving towards a common objective in a
common 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.

8. 6.

SUBORDINATION
OF INDIVIDUAL
INTERESTS
TO THE GENERAL INTERESTS
:
The interests of one person should not take priority over the interests of the
organization as a whole.
The interest of one individual or one group should not prevail over the
general good. The individual interest should be given less importance, while
the general interest should be given the most importance
Hence, management must see that the goals of the firms are always
paramount

9. 7.
REMUNERATION
:
Payment is an important motivator although by analyzing a number of
possibilities
Many variables, such as cost of living, supply of qualified personnel, general
business conditions, and success of the business, should be considered in
determining a worker’s rate of pay.

10. 8.
CENTRALIZATION
: (Or
Decentralization)
Fayol defined centralization as lowering the importance
of the subordinate role. Decentralization is increasing
the importance. The degree to which centralization or
decentralization should be adopted depends on the
specific organization in which the manager is working.
It is always present to a greater or lesser extent,
depending on the size of the company and the quality
of its managers. 

11. 9.
SCALAR CHAIN
:
The chain of command, sometimes called the scalar chain, is the
formal line of authority, communication, and responsibility within
an organization.
Managers in hierarchies are part of a chain like authority scale.
Each manager, from the first line supervisor to the president,
possess certain amounts of authority. The President possesses the
most authority; the first line supervisor the least. Lower level
managers should always keep upper level managers informed of
their work activities. The existence of a scalar chain and adherence
to it are necessary if the organization is to be successful.  

12. 10.
ORDER:
A place for everything and everything in its place’ the right man in the right
place. There should be an Order for material/things and people in the
organization. A company should maintain a well-defined work order to have a
favourable work culture. The positive atmosphere in the workplace will boost
more positive productivity.
Order for things is called Material Order and order for people is called ‘Social
Order’. Material Order refers to “a place for everything and everything in its
place.”
Social Order refers to the selection of the “right man in the right place
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

13. 11.
EQUITY
:
All the employees or workers of the organization must be treated fairly, equally
and Impartially as possible. While dealing with the employees a manager should
use kindliness and justice towards employees equally. Equity is a combination of
kindness and justice.
In running a business a ‘combination of kindliness and justice’ is needed.
Treating employees well is important to achieve equity

14. 12.
STABILITY OF TENURE OF
PERSONNEL:
Retaining productive employees should always be a high priority of
management. Recruitment and Selection Costs, as well as increased
product-reject rates are usually associated with hiring new workers.
 
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

15. 13.
INITIATIVE
:
Management should take steps to encourage worker initiative, which is
defined as new or additional work activity undertaken through self
direction.  
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.

16. 14.
ESPIRIT DE CORPS
:
Esprit de Corps means “Team Spirit”. Therefore, the management should
create unity, co-operation, and team-spirit among the employees
Management should encourage harmony and general good feelings among
employees.
Management must encourage team spirit and unity so that it brings out
mutual loyalty and feeling of pride
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.”

17. EXAM
QUESTIONS
Chapoz Rams Ltd. was engaged in business of clothing manufacturing and selling its
products under a popular brand. The demand for their product was increasing. In order
to keep the market share in short run, the company directed its existing workforce to
work overtime but this resulted in many problems. Due to increase pressure of work the
efficiency of workers declined. Sometimes workers worked under more than one
superior. The departments which were producing one product were asked to produce
more than one type of products. This resulted in lot of overlapping and wastage. The
workers were becoming indiscipline. This spirit of team was also reducing. Workers
were feeling cheated and their morale was declining. The quality of their products
started declining and market share decreased. With the context of this case answer the
following questions:
•Identify and clearly explain any four principles of management (out of 14 given by
Henry Fayol) being violated in above case
•What steps would you recommend to be taken by this company for reinstating its
reputation?

18. EXAM
QUESTIONS
It is said that management is pervasive and a distinct process. Justify it
with strong arguments and clear examples
Elaborate the common qualities you expect in a successful manager?
Explain the ‘Decisional Roles’ of a manager
It is held that behavioral view point of management goes beyond the
traditionalists’ mechanical view of work. Describe how and explain any
four lessons we learn from behavioral view point Describe silent features
of a business environment

19. EXAM
QUESTIONS
Identify three (3) basic management skills and explain the major sources
of these skills. Do managers at all levels require these skills? Explain
giving examples
Briefly explain any three basic elements of directing

20. A&M Academy believes in holistic development of students and
encourages team building through a mix of curricular, co-curricular and
sports activities. On its founders day a stage performance had to be put
up. A committee of ten perfects was constituted to plan different
aspects of the function. They all decided to use recycled paper for
decoration. There was an essence of unity and harmony and all
members supported each other. With mutual trust and belongingness
the program was systematically planned and executed. In fact, the
function was well organized. Arafa, one of the perfects realized that
unknowingly the group had applied one of the principles of
management while planning and executing the program. He was so
inspired by the success of the function that he asked his friend Dr.
Mjaka to apply the same principle in their business. His friend replied
that he was already using this principle. However, Dr. Mjaka ask Arafa to
be very cautious while applying principles of management as neither of
those principles provide any readymade, straitjacket solutions to all
managerial problems nor they are not rigid prescriptions, which have to
be followed absolutely

21. Required
In context of the above case:
a)Identify and explain the principle of management applied for the
success of the program.
b)Describe any two features of management highlighted in the above
para.
c)Describe coordination as one among importance of organizing in
relation to the above story
d)Why do principles of management not provide readymade, strait
jacket solutions to all managerial problems?