What Are the 14 Principles of Management by Henri Fayol?

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on Apr 27, 2022 01:12 PM IST

Good management is required by any organization that desires to be efficient and achieve its objectives. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, often known as the POLC framework in management, are the four essential responsibilities of management. There would be little to no structure and concentration in an organization if these were not in place. Henri Fayol's 1916 work, "Administration Industrielle et Générale," contains a fundamental theory on management principles. These concepts provide a foundation for what we call "excellent management" by emphasizing managerial skills over technical talents.

What Are the 14 Principles of Management by Henri Fayol?

History of the 14 Principles of Management

The father of modern management theory is Henry Fayol. During the height of the French Industrial Revolution, he worked as an engineer for the Compagnie de Commentary-Fourchambault-Decazeville mining firm, rising through the ranks to become a manager. The faltering business thrived under his leadership.

He published "Administration Industrielle et Générale" in 1916, in which he recounted his experiences managing a workforce. This formed the groundwork for administrative philosophy and the 14 Management Principles. These concepts became one of the earliest examples of treating management as a legitimate profession by emphasizing administrative rather than technical skills.

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What Is the Importance of the 14 Principles of Management?

Henri Fayol was one of the first to draw attention to the distinction between technical and managerial abilities. He emphasized that "manager" is a profession in and of itself, requiring study, teaching, and development. Consider a team with the highest technical talents in the world but no established management procedures. Skills without direction are bound to yield ineffective results.

You don't have to be a good manager to have good technical skills. For planning, forecasting, decision-making, process management, organization management, coordination, and control, you'll also require a variety of non-technical abilities. All of these skills are taught in the 14 management principles to help managers understand how to run a business efficiently.

Henry Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management

The 14 management principles of Henry Fayol look at an organization from the top down to assist managers to get the most out of employees and run the firm smoothly. Let's take a closer look at them and figure out what they mean.

1. Division of Work

The first management principle is founded on the idea that by assigning a specific task to an employee, they will become more efficient and skilled at it. This is in contrast to a multi-tasking culture, in which one employee is given a large number of duties to complete at the same time. Examine each employee's present skill sets and assign them a task that they can master to effectively implement this approach. In the long run, this will help them become more productive, skillful, and efficient.

2. Authority

This principle emphasizes that a manager must have the appropriate authority to ensure that his or her staff follows his or her orders. If managers lacked authority, they would be unable to do any tasks. This power, however, should be accompanied by accountability. There should be a balance between authority and accountability, according to Henri Fayol. Employees will become upset if there is more authority than duty. The manager will be irritated if there is more responsibility than authority.

3. Discipline

This notion asserts that any organization's success depends on its ability to maintain discipline. Managers must create a culture of mutual respect to have disciplined employees. A set of organizational norms, principles and structures should be in place and followed by everyone. In any company, breaking regulations or laziness should not be tolerated. To accomplish this, good supervision and impartial judgment are required.

4. Unity of Command

This principle states that in the organization, there should be a clear chain of command. Employees should be clear about who's orders they should obey. Only one boss should issue commands to an employee, according to Fayol. When an employee reports to two or more bosses, authority, discipline, and consistency are jeopardized. Furthermore, this will result in a management structure breakdown and employee burnout.

5. Unity of Direction

This principle asserts that work should be organized such that people work together toward a common goal, following a single plan, and reporting to a single management. If you have a variety of marketing tasks, such as advertising, budgeting, and sales promotion, for example, you should have one manager that oversees all of them. Different sub-managers can be assigned to different duties, but they should all work toward a shared goal under the supervision of a single primary person in control of everything.

6. Collective Interest Over Individual Interest

This principle emphasizes that the team's overall interests should take precedence over individual interests. Individual interests should not be allowed to destroy the organization's goals. The group will implode if someone goes renegade.

7. Remuneration

Employees should be paid fair compensation for the work they do, according to this notion. Any company that underpays its employees will have a hard time motivating and retaining good employees. Financial and non-financial incentives should be included in this remuneration. To motivate staff, there should also be a mechanism in place to recognize good performance.

8. Centralization

The consolidation of power in the hands of the authority and the use of a top-down management method are both examples of centralization. This authority is distributed to all levels of management in decentralization. No organization can be entirely centralized or decentralized in today's world. People at the bottom have no authority over their obligations due to complete centralization. Similarly, complete decentralization implies that the organization will be controlled by no higher authority. To use it successfully today, a balance of centralization and decentralization is required. The degree to which this equilibrium is accomplished varies from one organization to the next.

9. Scalar Chain

A clear chain of communication between employees and their superiors is referred to as a scalar chain. Employees should be aware of their position in the organization's hierarchy and who to contact in a chain of command. To put this into practice in the workplace, Fayol recommends drawing up an organizational chart so that employees can understand the structure clearly.

10. Order

This idea states that resources (manpower, money, materials, etc.) should be placed in the appropriate location at the right time in an organized manner. This guarantees that resources are used properly and systematically. Misuse and disorder in the organization will result if any of these resources are misplaced.

11. Equity

Kindness and justice are combined in equity. This idea emphasizes that managers should treat their subordinates with kindness and justice. Employees become more loyal and dedicated to the company they work for as a result of this.

12. Stability of Tenure of Personnel

According to this theory, a business should strive to reduce personnel turnover while increasing efficiency. It is unrealistic to expect a new employee to quickly adapt to an organization's culture. To become efficient, they must be given ample time to settle into their employment. Job security should be provided to both existing and new employees, as insecurity can lead to inefficiency. Because it costs time and money to educate new employees, there should be a clear and effective system for dealing with vacancies when they emerge.

13. Initiative

According to this notion, all employees should be encouraged to take initiative. Employees are driven and appreciated when they have a say in how they accomplish their jobs. Organizations should pay attention to their employees' problems and encourage them to develop and implement improvement strategies.

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14. Esprit de Corps

The term "esprit de corps" refers to a sense of belonging to a group. This principle argues that management should endeavor to foster staff unity, morale, and cooperation. The organization's team spirit is a huge source of strength. Employees that are happy and motivated are more likely to be productive and efficient.