Fayol's Principles of Management

Henri Fayol, a French mining engineer and administrator, is regarded as the father of modern management theory and general administrative management. Unlike Taylor, who studied the shop floor from the bottom up, Fayol looked at the organisation as a whole from the perspective of top management and formulated 14 general principles of management, meant to be flexible guidelines rather than rigid laws:

1. Division of work — dividing work into specialised tasks so people become more efficient through repetition and focus, applicable to both managerial and technical work.
2. Authority and responsibility — authority (the right to give orders) and responsibility (the obligation to answer for results) must go together; authority without responsibility encourages irresponsible behaviour, and responsibility without authority makes a person unable to deliver.
3. Discipline — obedience, application, energy and outward marks of respect shown by employees, based on fair agreements and, where necessary, sanctions judiciously applied.
4. Unity of command — an employee should receive orders from one superior only, to avoid confusion, conflicting instructions, and divided loyalty.
5. Unity of direction — a group of activities having the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan; this is different from unity of command, which is about one boss per person, not one plan per objective.
6. Subordination of individual interest to general interest — the interest of the organisation as a whole must prevail over the interest of any one individual or group of employees.
7. Remuneration of employees — pay should be fair to both employees and the organisation, and should be able to motivate and satisfy the workforce.
8. Centralisation and decentralisation — the degree to which decision-making authority is concentrated at the top (centralisation) or spread to lower levels (decentralisation) should be balanced according to the situation — neither extreme is ideal for every organisation.
9. Scalar chain — the formal line of authority running from the highest to the lowest rank; Fayol's own "Gang Plank" is a recognised shortcut across the chain, allowing two employees at the same level in different departments to communicate directly in an emergency, provided their superiors are informed.
10. Order — "a place for everything and everything in its place" — applies to both material order (proper arrangement of things) and social order (the right person in the right job).
11. Equity — managers should be fair and kind to employees in applying rules, combining justice with a sense of kindliness.
12. Stability of tenure of personnel — employees need a reasonable time to settle into a new job and perform well; frequent transfers or terminations are inefficient and demoralising.
13. Initiative — employees allowed to develop and carry out their own plans, within limits of authority, are more motivated and engaged than those simply following orders. …