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Management Principles

Introduction

Management is a process of accomplishing organizational goals. It comprises of

interrelated social and technical functions and activities pulling together people and

other resources in a formal organizational setting in the achievement of these goals.

Management principles are developed guidelines and set timelines used to organize

staff, maintain organizational structure, delegate authorities and establish policies and

procedures in a view of implementing the vision of the organizations. Henry Fayol, a

Frenchman coal mining engineer, developed fourteen management principles that form

the basis in which today’s organizations are managed effectively. Fayol’s management

principles help managers to make crucial decisions towards the accomplishment of

individual and organizational objectives. Apparently, management and leadership go

hand in hand in the process of running an organization. Stauffacher, describes

leadership as an interpersonal role of an individual to influence and provide purpose,

direction, motivation and support of other people in the achievement of a mission.

Leadership is the most essential element of the management process. However, it is

knowledge, skills and experience that culminate into a leader’s effectiveness. The

objective of this paper, therefore, bases argument on existing literature and discusses
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the relevance of Fayol’s management and Stauffacher’s leadership principles in

contemporary organizations.

Fayol’s Management Principles

Fayol identified fourteen General Principles of Management from his long

experience in industry (Anupkumar 5). Fayol derived these principles from five basic

elements of management. The first element, which he identifies as forecasting and

planning, implies that a manager needs to look ahead, examine and make future

provisions for an organization. The second element is organizing. This is very similar to

planning, despite of being a rigorous process that puts together all the elements

systematically to accomplish the overall plans of an organization. Command is the third

function. This element ensures execution of all drawn plans. The fourth element of

management is control. This is concerned with ensuring that every step conforms to set

procedures governing task performance. Lastly, Fayol describes co-ordination as a

crucial factor in the survival of an organization. The importance of co-ordination is to

make sure that all the elements of management work together harmoniously to

accomplish a common objective (Anupkumar 3). However, in order for the five elements

of management to work effectively, Fayol’s fourteen management principles come into

play. This paper discusses some of Fayol’s most essential management principles in an

organization.

Division of Labour

This principle holds that effective performance requires division of tasks into

individual units, assigning them to specific workers (Rodrigues 880). Focus on single

tasks enhances employees’ experience in their areas of specialization. It also ensures

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increased productivity and better results whilst using the same workforce. However,

Fayol warned that division of work has certain limits. Despite the successfulness of the

individual units, the processes and interrelationships between management functions

must be congruent for a meaningful production process (Durr 19). The concept of

division of labour is unavoidable in many contemporary organizations, since production

processes are extremely dynamic. Therefore, the application of specialization in job

design remains a valid approach to management.

Authority and Responsibility

This principle holds that authority and responsibility go hand in hand. All leaders

in an organization have the right to authority. They require authority in order to carry out

managerial responsibilities. A good leader, in this context, is the one who infuses the

courage to accept responsibility into those around him (Anupkumar 5). Fear and

assumption of authority lead to destruction of good leadership qualities. Authority and

responsibility seek more employee participation and group empowerment that

eventually culminate into self-managed work teams with powers of making their own

decisions to control activities within their framework (Rodrigues 881). Companies that

rely on employee participation and empowerment programs improve the effectiveness

of production.

Discipline

According to Fayol, discipline in an organization is a way of obedience, respect

for authority and conformity to laid rules. Employees must remain obedient and

respectful to the rules governing an organization (Rodrigues 881). Provision of good

supervision at all managerial levels improves the level of employees’ discipline. There is
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need to provide employees with clearly defined rules and appropriate procedures

regarding their conduct in the organization. Employee’s behavioral performance

significantly affects individual and organizational performance. Some employees having

individualistic characteristics tend to seek primary control by influencing the social and

behavioral tendencies of colleagues at work with an aim of attracting good appraisals

and performance rewards. Such behaviors tend to be incongruent with the set

disciplinary rules and procedures of any organization. Therefore, there is need to

create formal control systems comprising of rules, norms and behavioral standards to

guide, motivate and appraise employees’ behavioral performance (Rodrigues 882).

Stauffacher’s Leadership Principles

Stauffacher defines leadership as the possession of interpersonal roles and

powers to influence other people’s thoughts and behavior with a view of achieving a

common task (Darr 9). Stauffacher’s leadership principles resolutely help in defining the

features of an effective leader. Leaders use these principles to judge their actions

towards both the employees and the organization with a view of accomplishing

performance goals. However, this paper discusses a few of these leadership principles.

As a leader, you should:

Know yourself and seek self-improvement

Stauffacher’s leadership principles help leaders to identify their strengths and

weaknesses through a self-evaluation and thereby, triggering self-improvement.

Leaders should clearly understand their personality and impact on the behavior of

others within an organizational set up (Darr 10). Leaders should carry out self-

evaluations to study the causes of success or failure and seek opinions from friends,
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colleagues and superiors to show them how to improve on the weak areas (Millitary

Leadership Field Manual 35).

Know your subordinates and look out for their welfare

Managers, as leaders, need to understand employees and distinguish the

manner in which they react to different circumstances. This helps them to make

decisions on the best ways to handle different employees and know when they need

supervision (Millitary Leadership Field Manual 36). In addition, managers should put the

welfare of employees for whom they are accountable first before their own welfare.

Employees need the help of supervisors in order to accomplish their tasks. Therefore,

managers should maintain a friendly work environment to enable employees seek

guidance and advice regarding their particular areas of specialization (Darr 14).

Relevance of Fayol’s and Stauffacher’s Management Principles

In Contemporary organizations

Fayol’s management principles are considered the most comprehensive and

form the basis for modern world management systems. Many organizations embrace

division of labor in order to realize increased output (Anupkumar 6). Recently, I worked

for a hotel industry as the overall manager in the catering department. Being a manager,

I had to display a charisma of character as a leader in order to handle my designated

responsibilities effectively in the entire department. To improve on productivity, I defined

a number of chores in the department that helped me to group the staff members into

waiters/waitresses, cooks, assistant supervisor and procurement staff. The placement of

a worker in a particular position highly depended on the qualifications, performance

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behavior and experience of the worker. Eventually, the hotel realized improved

customer satisfaction because of increased efficiency and specialization in duties in the

department. Their attitude towards customers also improved because of the new

disciplinary rules I instilled in them regarding their conduct in the hotel. My responsibility

as a manager assumed Fayol’s management and Stauffacher’s leadership principles.

Studies have revealed that the application of these principles in any organization

improves the performance of both employees and the organization. For instance, most

organizations in the United States rely heavily on the principle of task specialization to

improve organizational performance (Rodrigues 883).

Conclusion

Fayol’s and Stauffacher’s principles form a general contemporary framework for

all managerial institutions. The principles describe the effectiveness of present-day

managers to perform managerial duties in a manner that speeds production, improves

the quality of work and reduces wastage of resources. Research reveals that many

modern organizations do not apply all the fourteen of Fayol’s management principles.

Some of the organizations, however, have intensified the application of some of the

principles. The implementation and maintenance of this managerial framework is often

expensive, as employees need to update their knowledge and develop skills through

education and training. However, implementation is highly depended upon the

organizational structure of a particular institution. In conclusion, the consideration of

implementing the contemporary management and leadership principles as a way of

achieving organizational effectiveness would be of utmost importance.

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Works Cited

Aditya, Anupkumar. Principles of Management: An Analysis of the Contributions of

various thinkers to the field of management and a review of management

practices in five companies. 2005. Print.

Carl A., Rodrigues. Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management Then and Now: A framework

for managing today’s organizations effectively, New Jersey, USA: 2001. Print.

Kurt, Darr. “Introduction to Management and Leadership Concepts, Principles and

Practices,” N.D. PDF File. 15 April 2014.

<http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763742911/42910_CH02_007_024.pdf >

Millitary Leadership Field Manual: Military Leadership, Washington DC: 1990. 5 – 44.

Print.