Henri Fayol a prominent management theorist

Henri Fayol a prominent management theorist

Introduction

Henri Fayol was a famous management theorist and commonly known as father of modern management. He was an engineer in mining sector and he has served French industry for a longer period of time. He was born in Istanbul (1841). His was highly interested in development of management; therefore he introduced quality concepts related to functions of management and principles of organization. Fayol was the first individual who laid the base of management as an entirely distant body of knowledge and through various attempts he tried to inform people about the importance of management. He developed administrative management theory that can be used by the organizations in managing its resources both tangible and intangible.

His ideas and concepts related to management have become an integral part of the modern management philosophy and there are various other theorists such as Frederick W. Taylor and many more who took help from the foundation of management that was laid by Fayol in developing new concepts for the modern operational management and theories. Claude George (1968) stated that the main difference among Taylor and Fayol was this that Fayol considered management processes from the top till bottom, while Taylor considered it from bottom to top. In view of Fayol, the top management has the authority to control, manage and organize the middle and lower level of management. According to Fayol by using this approach of management unity of command will be established within an organization. Fayol have always insisted that if proper and scientific forecasting methods are used in managing an organization, the result will definitely be satisfactory. He always emphasized on knowledge base skill and not personal talent.

Discussion

Contributions of Henri Fayol in Management Field

There are various contributions of Henri Fayol in the field of management. He was the inventor of modern management concepts and has proposed five important functions of management that is followed by all the organizations of the world. Those functions are as follows:

Planning,

Organizing,

Commanding,

Coordinating, and

Controlling

Planning

It is an initial step in management process in which plan is developed keeping in view of the strategic objectives and goals. The managers of the organizations have the responsibility to plan out a framework that will help in achieving the overall mission and purpose of an organization's existence (Breeze, 1985).

Organizing

Organizing is a step in which resources that are required for achieving the planned objectives and goals are organized in an effective way. Management of workforce along with the alignment of activities that are needed to be covered are practically handled at this level. The role of managers is of great importance as they can better organize tasks and activities in an effective way as they have skills, knowledge and experience.

Commanding

It is an important function that is done by the managers to make his or her subordinates do what is required. The manager is kept responsible to guide them and lead them towards the final destiny or ...