HOW FAYOL 'S 14 PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
ARE USED IN A MILITARY ENVIRONMENT
By
Mark Culligan
"The process of coordinating and integrating work activities so that they are completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people".
(Henri Fayol "General and Industrial Management."(1916))
Introduction
Management is a very complex field. Not only must managers pay attention to what is best for the organization, but they also have to do what is best for their customers. At the same time, the manager must satisfy the need of their employees. Henri Fayol developed fourteen principles of management in 1916 that organisations are recommended to apply to order to run properly. This paper will show how some of Fayols
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· Initiative. The army is a very good organisation for allowing its personnel to use their initiative. All soldiers are told and trained to use their initiative, as this is one of the qualities their superiors are looking for when considering a person for promotion and career progression.
· Espirit de Corps. Harmony among soldiers and teamwork are a major factor of a soldier, each one feels and participates as a team and are very good at " watching each others back".
"One 's only rival is one 's own potentialities. One 's only failure is failing to live up to one 's own possibilities. In this sense every man can be a king and must therefore be treated like a king".4
Conclusion
Most successful organisations in recent times have some if not all of Fayol 's fourteen principles, for example; in the 1920 's Alfred P.Sloan the executive head of general motors reorganised the company into semi-autonomous divisions, corporations undergoing reorganisation still apply "classical organisation" principles very much in line with Fayol 's recommendations.5
The military environment in which this essay is based on has no exception to the fourteen principles, even thought being mainly a
A leader unwilling to sacrifice individual goals for the good of the unit cannot convince other unit members to do so. The mission suffers with potentially devastating effects. While personal goals often coincide with Army goals, there is no room for personal agendas at the expense of the institution or the American people. It is a standard in the hierarchy of military customs and courtesies that the leader must display to his subordinates that he is willing to put in extra effort, sacrifice personal time, and show initiative and motivation in order to achieve the same from his Soldiers.
Army leaders must balance the link between the Army’s culture and it’s climate and institutional practices. When there is a proper balance it has a huge impact on the mindset of the Army’s Soldiers. Their actions or inactions impacts the five key attributes of the profession, and the four fields of expertise, and have long term effects on the Army’s culture and climate. These actions influence Soldiers’ perceptions that they are serving professional who have answered the call of service to the republic, it is important that Soldiers understand that their role is a calling and not just a job.
Henri Fayol was an Engineer and French industrialist. He recognizes the management principles rather than personal traits. Fayol was the first to identify management as a continuous process of evaluation. Fayol developed five management functions. These functions are roles performed by all managers which includes planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Additionally, he recognizes fourteen principles that should guide management of organizations.
The Army ethic defines the moral principles that guides the Army in the conduct of their missions, performance of duty, and all aspects of their lives. The Army ethic is the heart of the shared professional identity, it is the essence of who we are, why and how we serve the American people.
first thing I am going to talk about in this essay is the seven army values and the importance of them to the army. In the US army we are taught to live by the Seven Army Values. They are broken down to us in the acronym “LDRSHIP”. Loyalty “Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. constitution, the Army, and other soldiers. ” Duty “ Fulfill you obligations. ” Respect “ Treat people as they should be treated . ” Selfless Service “ Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates above your own. ” Honor “ Live up to the army values.” Integrity “Do what is right legally and morally. ” and Personal Courage “ Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral). ” We are all drilled on these seven army values from day one of basic
first thing I am going to talk about in this essay is the seven army values and the importance of them to the army. In the US army we are taught to live by the Seven Army Values. They are broken down to us in the acronym “LDRSHIP”. Loyalty “Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. constitution, the Army, and other soldiers. ” Duty “ Fulfill you obligations. ” Respect “ Treat people as they should be treated . ” Selfless Service “ Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates above your own. ” Honor “ Live up to the army values.” Integrity “Do what is right legally and morally. ” and Personal Courage “ Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral). ” We are all drilled on these seven army values from day one of basic
His 14 universal principles of management, listed in Table 1.1, were intended to show managers how to carry out their functional duties. Fayol’s functions and principles have withstood the test of time because of their widespread applicability. In spite of years of reformulation, rewording, expansion, and revision, Fayol’s original management functions still can be found in nearly all management texts. In fact, after an extensive review of studies of managerial work, a pair of management scholars
Self-less Service leads to teamwork and encompasses discipline and is most effective when all soldiers can expect and give mutual
As stewards of our profession, commanders ensure that military expertise continues to develop and be passed on to aspiring professionals through operational development. It is during this developmental phase that Professional Soldiers put their knowledge and skills to the test. Operational Army units certify and recertify their Professional Soldiers through repetitive and realistic training events including the Combat Life Saver Course, platoon live fires, and exercises at the National Training Center. In the course of these challenging and realistic experiences, the Army’s operational units develop Soldiers and leaders prepared to maintain high standards, discipline, and operational readiness. Operational development and adaptability will continue to drive changes in Army doctrine, organization, leadership, and education as we enter the post-war era. Without this kind of development, the Army could not maintain a well-disciplined professional fighting force.
Henri Fayol’s theory was almost a century old and was originally written in French. Further review on several journal articles has led to an overview background of Fayol’s working life which provided the foundation that conceptualized his theory. According to Wren (2001), Fayol was appointed as the Director in a mining company, Decazeville, where he succeeded to turnaround the company to become profitable. Fayol was the first person to classify the functions of a manager’s job. Fayol (1949; as cited in Wren, 2001) identified five key functions in managerial works.as planning, organising, command, coordination and control. Planning consists of any managerial work that involves setting goals and coordinating actions to
Administrative theory is a theory that emphasizes the perspective of senior managers about the guidance to design an organization as a whole. Generally, it is a formalized administrative structure which is relevant to their responsibilities. Therefore Henri Fayol, a French mining engineer and executive has summarized his management experiences which is known as Fayol’s Fourteen Principles of Management. His intention was on how managers should accomplish their managerial duties. Henri Fayol discussed the fourteen principles which is Division of work, Authority, Discipline, Unity of Command, Unity of Direction, Subordination, Remuneration, Centralization, Scalar Chain, Order, Equity, Stability, Initiative and Esprit de corps. These
Henri Fayol, a French coal mine director, is most notably known for his contributions to the five main functions of management that are described in detail in his book entitled “Administration Industrielle et Generale” (Norma, n.d.). Henri Fayol’s management idea is that there are 14 principles of management that can be drilled down into five components that should be used to control and plan production. Fayol’s ideas were introduced into textbooks in the 1950’s and since then the five main points have been drilled down, by other authors, to four main components of management. Those four main points are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, which is also called the P.O.L.C. process. Staffing was removed as a main function in management.
Fayol (1841-1925), is credited with being the first individual to write down and advance a formal statement of management principles and elements. Fayol stated that a firms organizations performance was less dependent on its leaders’ technical abilities then their managerial abilities (Wren & Bedeian, 2009). Fayol published a list of management principles including: forecasting, unity of command, separation of powers among distinct departments, hierarchical transmission of orders, and centralization/decentralization. (Wren & Bedeian, 2009).
Fayol identified 14 principles of management which he wanted to be applied flexibly. Here are Fayol’s 14
By the time Henri Fayol had finished his theory, General Industrial Management, in 1916, which was based on his reminiscence as a successful turnaround of a major mining company from depths of failure; he set out to illustrate management as being a separate entity to other jobs within an organisation as he would say although “technical” and “commercial” “function” were “clearly defined”, “administrative” education was lacking. In his theory he introduced his five duties a manager had to follow to be called effective: plan, organise coordinate, command, and control and added to this fourteen principles he felt managers should use as reference to conduct the five duties. However Fayol was very much an idealist his theory was based on what a complete manager should be like and gave the view of managers taking control from behind a desk, yet critics, most influential being the academic Henry Mintzberg, who released his work in 1973, were more realists and saw a manager life as chaotic, involved and interactive, arguing what Fayol was portraying is not possible, and outdated.