Profile of Henri Fayol, a Founding Father of Management

Profile of Henri Fayol, a Founding Father of Management Background and Carrier Henri Fayol was a French industrialist and manager, working in the mine industry and looking for applicable solution to business management. He went to school in Lyon (the second largest city of France) and enrolled at the engineering school of Saint-Etienne (Ecole Nationale des Mines). He received an education as a mine engineer and graduated in 1860 from this school at the age of 19. He was first employed as an engineer at Boigues, Rambourg and Co. In 1874, this company became Commentry-Fourchambault SA or Comambault). It is important to notice he spend all his professional life in the same company experiencing its expansion and knowing well its structure and production methods. Fayol was first remarked as an engineer when he wrote a paper proposing a solution to fire hazard, fire fitting and spontaneous combustion in mine, destructing men and installations. In 1866, he was appointed director of a single mine of Commentry at the age of 25. The company was going through expansion an d added several other mines to the company in other part of France such as Monvicq coal mine and Berry Iron Ore Mine. He became the directors of those mines as well at the age of 31. In the same time, those expansions did not translated in increase of dividend. Quite the contrary, Fayol had to face the fact that Comambault was in dire financial straits. In the late 1880s, the company had failed to pay dividends for at least 4 years. In 1888, at the age of 47 he became the CEO of the Comambault conglomerate. The objective of his mission as a CEO was to make the company viable again which he did. He worked closely with his managers to turn the company around, closing inefficient units, investing in research and technology and expanding the geographical base of the company. In 1908, in a discourse he gave he reminded this episode of industrial history: In 1888, the company Commentry-Fourchambault was on the verge of disappearing in abandoning its plants and in resuming the exhaustion of the mine stocks, when a change of head office came. Since then, the company prospered again. The companys history shows that its fall and rising are uniquely an effect of the administrative process employed. This is with the same mines and the same plants, with the same financial resources, in the same commercial situation, the same board of directors, and the same personal that the company raises again to this moment. Therefore, some administrative methods leave the company to its ruin; other methods give it its prosperity back. Work, experience, knowledge and good will of several thousands of people had been sterilized by some dysfunctional administrative process. And other administrative processes emphasize all its strength. Fayol was head of a very large business with over 10,000 employees, which at the time, was comparable to todays international companies. He remained CEO until his retirement at the end of WWI, in 1918. Before his retirement in 1916, Fayol published his main book Administration Industrielle et Generale in the professional publication called Bulletin de la Socià ©tà © de lindustrie minà ©rale. In 1917, he sets up the Centre for Administrative Studies (CAS) in Paris. His reflections were published as a book only in 1925, the year of his death. This centre was important in diffusing his ideas. It organised seminars and colloquium with industrialists, public sector officials of the French state, engineers, the military, and various academics. The CAS was a platform from which collaboration and further works could be done. From 1921 to 1925, he collaborated to several studies on behalf of the Frenchs public sector. Notably, he produced a study of the Post and Telecom Department as well as the French Tobacco and Match monopoly. Why a founding Father of Management? One remarkable feature about Henri Fayols influence in management is the fact that he is little known compared to Taylor (1856-1915) who lived roughly at the same time. The epoch of the great development of the XIX century industry does not explain why one hits more fame than the other. In 1912, Charles de la Poix de Frà ©minville met Taylor and stated to spread the principles of Taylorian organisation of work. Taylors work dealt with the workshop of manufacturing and Fayols with the mining industry and its general management. One must say that one aspects of the relative slow diffusion of Fayols ideas, is due to timing. In 1916 and 1918, France was dealing with the WWI and its aftermath. Although many of Fayols principles he developed in studies during 1921-25 could have been used for bettering the management of the French state agencies and enterprises were not followed. The reason have to be found in the institutional change of France at the time, whereby France was separating th e church from the state in education, the growth of the public sector, labour union and large businesses correlated with the rise of professional managers and the interest in technology development. My view is that, for ideological reason, when the French state was trying to reinforce itself (by establishing national system of education, nationalisation of companies (train system, post telecom, etc.) but also vis-à  -vis the threat of Germany), Fayols pragmatic criticism and suggestion to change the states forms of management were not always welcome. The reinforcement of the state own industry and the regulation of market by state agencies went well until 1986. That is in the large part, the reason why the French themselves did not consider Henri Fayols work the convenient resource to deal with the management of the Frenchs state agencies and industries. The US business school considered Henri Fayols works worth teaching their undergraduates. It only since the last 10 years (around the end of the 1990) Frenchs scholars have been studying back their own managerial roots. Despite the history of how Fayols ideas come about, one may ask us what is important in them to be consider foundational to management thought. In fact, there is, as any classical management thinker, a basic originality in Fayols proposition on the need of management regarding the dealing of the industry. Fayols Originality To a large extend, all management thinkers and practitioners view the management function as the means to organise technical function of the business toward an optimal economic efficiency. In this respect, Henri Fayol, Frederick Taylor or Alfred Sloan do not differ in their aim. One can find Fayols formulation of the role of management in the industry in a talk he gave in 1900 at the Congrà ©s International des Mines et de la Metallurgie. Fayol makes the following remarks: The technical and commercial services are rather well defined, which is not the case of the administrative services. The way it is built and the attribution it fulfils are not well known, its operations are not immediately clear. It does not visibly built, forge, sell or buy but nevertheless, everybody knows that if it does not work well, the company goes downhill. [Something on] recruitment: It is necessary to link theory and practice in engineers education. But it is about the proportion of each we may differ. Some think one needs to overcharge the programs as well as the lectures given in the engineering schools, other think that we have already reached the limit of theoretical teaching and that one waist our elites youth one or two years that would be better employed in active life. He also make clear in his Book, General and Industrial Management, the difference of skills and attention one needs to deal with engineering work and management work. Fayol drew attention to the need for schools and universities to educate people about administration as a topic of its own right (in conjunction to engineering, and not engineering alone). The point of his reflection on the education needs of the engineers was trying to deal with the qualities required to make a good manager rather than relying on the formal rules of engineering, its aura amongst the bourgeoisie to provide good job to their kids. For that matter, the list of qualities needed to get effective manager is rather dissimilar to what is required to be an engineer alone: Physical qualities: health, vigor, address (manner of behaving) Mental qualities: ability to understand, judge and adapt Moral qualities: energy, firmness, willingness to accept responsibility, initiative, tact, loyalty and dignity General education Special knowledge: pertaining to the functional context of work, function, technical and so on. Experience: knowledge of work, recollection of lessons from experience. Fayol take the need of education very seriously. He indicates three main sources of issues that can potentially trouble the good education of managers: (a) the problem of industrial concentration, (b) the role of higher technical education and its abuse of mathematics and (c) intellectual curiosity. The problem of industrial concentration Managing great business has always presented great difficulties. To get a grasp of it, suffice to glimpse over the various charges a CEO has to take into account. Those difficulties are inherent to the nature of things and have existed at all time. But what did not exist all the time was the recent industrial development and industrial concentration which increased considerably the proportion of big deals and show the lack of good CEO. The role of higher education and the abuse of mathematics We abuse mathematics in the belief that more one knows it, more one is able to govern businesses. Also, [we are in the belief that] their study, more than anything else, develops and makes the judgement correct. Those are mistakes which cause serious issues to our country and which seems to me useful to fight. () A long personal experience taught me that the use of higher mathematics is worthless in business management, and that engineers, pitworkers or steelworkers almost never use it. I firmly believe that elementary mathematics contribute to form your judgement, as all other branches of general culture. I nevertheless do not believe that an intense higher mathematical culture, imposed without necessity to future engineers has the same effect. The excessive culture of any kind of science is unhealthy to both the physic and the intellect. The studies of mathematics do not make exception. Studied at length with intensity, it leaves intact only the well balanced brains. One sees transcending mathematicians without common sense and we see numerous men of common sense who are not mathematicians. Intellectual curiosity You are not prepared to take the direction of a company, even small. School did not give you the administration, commercial and accountancy notions you need to be a CEO. Even if school would have provided them, you will still lack practice and experience that can only be acquired by the contact of men and things. () one asks you to bring with you your diploma, reflection, logic and a spirit of observation and dedication to the accomplishment of your task. Work to complete your professional knowledge, but do not neglect general instruction. Directors inspiring high esteem and admiration never stopped, you will see, to learn through constant effort. () You belong to the intellectual elite, so you should not be uninterested in news, you should be aware of the general ideas agitating modern society in all domains. One sees that Fayol saw that the engineering education (such as he received with its predominance of mathematics) did not answer the challenge one is facing when dealing with organisation and human matters. He saw in management the field of practice and reflection that was needed in the domain where engineering, although provide efficient techniques for dealing with materials, was unable to address the human aspects. It does not mean that management was a sort of humanism but the normal counter-part of the rationalisation of an organisation (private or public) having in mind that one needs to take a special attention to the question of human organisation if one wants an industry to function. Fayols Administrative Theory As a result of his experience and of a continuous reflection on the way to make corporation work best, in situation of change, he reckons one needs to establish an administrative theory which takes into account: The need of projections. It demands to establish a system of yearly projections for the long term objectives and monthly projections for special activities in the company fitting the global planning. The role of projection for the personal is to be able to assess what has been achieved as people go on working. To fight bureaucracy by facilitating the face to face relations, avoiding the multiplicity of hierarchies which increase the irresponsibility of the directors. Also one needs to stability in hierarchy and the possibility to reward or penalize the use of power. Pragmatism has to be applied in the division of labour by controlling decisions to be always balanced with the situation. The need to use control managers to be able to take decisions rapidly before it turns to be catastrophic. In the general literature in management, Fayol is often seen as the top-down manager that worked out the tools of governance to the distribution of task. In fact, his main focus was not to formalise the tools of decision making in a simple chart to follow. Fayols point was that an organisation could not be managed with a simplest view concerning both the function of the organisation and its human components. And for that matter, it is first necessary to consider the organisation, not simply from the tasks analysis view following technology application the industry, but as an integration of several key functions. In other words, Fayol invites us to grasp at once the complexity of the management of business organisation by taking into account the following functions: Techniques (production, transformation), commerce (business and sales), finance (capital management and research), security (protection of goods and persons), accounting (balance sheet, inventory, factory price, statistics, etc) and administration (foresight, organisation, command, coordination and control). Donald Reid (in his paper on Fayol called Fayol: From Experience to Theory) make clear that Fayol, as a practitioner, did accumulate a number of industrial and managerial experience before putting his ideas on paper. He kept copious notes of his observations, having a particular interest in organisational failure and the nature of responsibility and authority among key decision makers. In 1861, Fayol write in his notebook an example of management failure. In one mine, he saw that all work had to be stopped because of an injury to a working horse. The mine manager was absent and the stable manager had no authority to obtain the replacement of the injured horse. In the case of the horse replacement, it was the inability of the company structure to deal with this technical problem that causes inefficiency. Fayol did identify that authority was required to overrun narrow conception of decision making that did not keep the final objective in mind. Fayol was able to overrun the absence of the stable manager in order to get things done. In this case, one sees that authority is neither authoritative nor working without the flexibility demanded by the condition of the situation (the production of coal in this case). In his work, General and Industrial Management, he reviewed all aspects of management involved in the running of a business. Concerning the authority, he came with a list of principles: Unity of command Hierarchical chain of command Separation of powers (authority, subordination, responsibility and control) Centralisation Order. But he did not concentrate only on authority since his interest was about the functioning of the industrial business in its entirety. Since most of the problems he encountered were not technical in the sense of related to engineering skill; but mostly managerial, he came to the conclusion that one needed a certain element of creativity in the managerial practices in order to accommodate industrial realities. For example, he gave the possibility of experienced workers to become supervisors of work groups. In developing working teams with the authority to act and make decisions in the mines, it improved both motivation and effectiveness. The objective was to make them responsible for quality and the timing of work. He observed that all employees are involved in the administration of the business to a greater or lesser degree. In his book General and Industrial Management, he draws a comprehensive perspective of all his experience. One may call this a general theory. But it is clear that in Fayols words, it is an attempt to generalise the sum of experiences he has observed in managing Comambault in order to deliver a compendium of his ideas that could transcend industry and organisational types. One sees that in keeping the area of management large (from the decision making, the work relationship as well as the selection of human resources) Fayol identified the following principles of management (see text 1 of the reading list): Division of work specialisation of labour Authority the right to direct the work of others but requiring commensurate responsibility for actions and performance Discipline obedience and respect for the organisation and fellow workers Unity of command one superior rather than many in contrast to F W Taylor Unity of direction one agreed plan of action leading to focus and coordination of effort Subordination of individual interest to the general interest Remuneration to incentivise and make employees more valuable Centralisation to achieve the right proportion of centralised and decentralised decision making to optimize personnel Scalar chain the chain of authority from top to bottom, allowing also for lateral communication and decision making (the gang plank) Order people and resources in their appropriate place Equity equitable employee relations based on respect and kindliness Stability of tenure of personnel to assist in resources planning Initiative encouraging energy and zeal throughout the organisation Esprit de Corps building a sense of belonging and team work

Models of Organized Crime Executive Summary Essay

There are two types of organizations within the criminal justice field they are bureaucratic and patron-client organizations. The bureaucratic organization is an organization that enforces the law. However, the patron-client organization chooses to break the law. There are many differences between the groups, but there are a few things that they have in common. This paper will describe the difference between the main models of organized crimes and explain why the models are necessary for understanding crime. Models of Organized Crime Executive Summary The patron-client organization is an association of criminal clients who exchange material and assemble a successful system between the main bosses and prominent political figures. The organization is structured using its hierarchy system that contains one main boss, an underboss, an advisor, Captain, and members (Lyman and Potter, 2007). The organization has a tight bond between the members that exhibits loyalty to each other. As a result, the boss provides protection to their members. The main boss delegate duties to the underboss. The underboss then provides that information to his captains. The captains have members who carry out the tasks also known as doing their dirty work. These commands allow the bosses to stay clear of law enforcement evade apprehension and continue to conduct business as usual. (Lyman and Potter, 2007) Bureaucratic and Patron-client Organizations Bureaucratic organizations are more formal than the patron-client  organization. The bureaucratic structure consists of tougher rules and regulations, and no decisions exist without prior approval. In the patron-client organization, decisions can be made by other members as long as it benefits the organization. Bureaucratic organizations hold the administrators responsible for financial troubles. The patron-client organization holds everyone financially responsible because it involves all members of the success or failure of the organization (Lyman and Potter, 2007). Similarities and differences Criminal organizations resemble the same comparisons. The main purpose is for law enforcement to understand the development of these organizations. According to Mallory (2007) Expert psychologists, sociologist, and criminologist basis models on supporting research, statistics, facts, and information gathered. The information collected focuses on the organizational structure, purpose, cause, members, and its clientele. Each model has incorporated detail specific unique features. Why the models are necessary for understanding organized crime Models are of importance because it recognizes the organization by providing a wide-range of information. This information is very useful to law enforcement because it allows them to invent new strategies of how to deter, prevent, detect and arrest these individuals involved in these organizations. (Lyman and Potter, 2007) The patron-client and bureaucratic organization has one main purpose that is profit. This organization whether legal or illegal has similarities and differences. The structure in both primarily exists with one person in charge of monitoring the success of the organization. These models provide useful information the same as theories. (Lyman and Potter, 2007) Law enforcement uses these tools to allow them, to protect assets while detecting, preventing, apprehending, and deterring the individual’s wrongdoers or a highly developed criminal organization. (Lyman and Potter,  2007) Organized crime is considered as a legitimate institution that makes it harder for its members to be caught by law. Although these organized crime units are sworn to secrecy, police enforcement is continuously looking for ways to apprehend and take down these organizations. References: Lyman, D., & Potter, G. (2007). Understanding Organized Crime (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Mallory, S. L. (2007). Understanding Organized Crime. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Ford Motor Company Case Analysis - 1230 Words

Company Summary: The Ford Motor Company is one of the most largest and profitable U.S. automakers in the world. Today the company headquarters operates in the Motor City, located in Dearborn, Michigan. The Ford Corporation was found by Henry Ford back in 1903, after a disagreement with his financial investors. He then decided to pursue his passion for owning his own business. The Ford Company designs and manufactures durable automobiles, automotive components, and systems. This corporation is still the longest family ran company in the world, after 11 decades. Ford automaker distribute vehicles over 6 different continents which include: North America, Europe, South America, The Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Ford is ranked # 8 on the Forbes 100 list, and makes net income of over 144 billion dollars a year in revenue sales. Who They Are: Ford Motor Company is the leading global supplier of superior performance, reliable, top of the line vehicles, in the automobile industry. The automaker is a big contributor to economic growth, because the company employs about 187,000 workers, and has 67 functioning plants worldwide. The corporation also provides financial service options for their customers through their own credit financing company, Ford Motor Credit. This service provide customers with financing, for buying or leasing vehicles. It also assist in financial support for the dealerships, in order to keep daily operations running as smoothly as possible.Show MoreRelatedFord Motor Company Written Case Analysis2381 Words   |  10 PagesTABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. Case Question 2-8 2.1 Define and discuss Fords business-level strategy. 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What Are High-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in Education

Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) is a concept popular in American education. It distinguishes critical thinking skills from low-order learning outcomes, such as those attained by rote memorization. HOTS include synthesizing, analyzing, reasoning, comprehending, application, and evaluation. HOTS is based on various taxonomies of learning, particularly the one created by Benjamin Bloom in his 1956 book, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Higher-order thinking skills are reflected by the top three levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy:  analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Blooms Taxonomy and HOTS Blooms taxonomy is taught in a majority of teacher-education programs in the United States. As such, it may be among the most well-known educational theories among teachers nationally. As the Curriculum Leadership Journal notes: While Bloom’s Taxonomy is not the only framework for teaching thinking, it is the most widely used, and subsequent frameworks tend to be closely linked to Bloom’s work.... Bloom’s aim was to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating, rather than just teaching students to remember facts (rote learning). Bloom’s taxonomy  was designed with six levels to promote higher-order thinking. The six levels were: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. (The taxonomys levels were later revised as remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, revising, and creating.) The lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) involve memorization, while higher-order thinking requires understanding and applying that knowledge. The top three levels of Blooms taxonomy—which is often displayed as a pyramid, with ascending levels of thinking at the top of the structure—are analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These levels of the taxonomy all involve critical or higher-order thinking. Students who are able to think are those who can apply the knowledge and skills they have learned to new contexts. Looking at each level demonstrates how higher-order thinking is applied in education. Analysis Analysis, the fourth level of Blooms pyramid, involves students use their own judgment to begin analyzing the knowledge they have learned. At this point, they begin understanding the underlying structure of knowledge and also are able to distinguish between fact and opinion. Some examples of analysis would be: Analyze each statement to decide whether it is fact or opinion.Compare and contrast the beliefs of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington.Apply the rule of 70 to determine how quickly your money will double at 6 percent interest.Illustrate the differences between the American alligator and the Nile crocodile. Synthesis Synthesis, the fifth level of Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid, requires students  to infer relationships among sources, such as essays, articles, works of fiction, lectures by instructors, and even personal observations.  For example, a student might infer a relationship between what she has read in a newspaper or article and what she has observed herself. The high-level thinking of synthesis is evident when students put the parts or information they have reviewed together to create new meaning or a new structure. At the synthesis level, students move beyond relying on previously learned information or analyzing items that the teacher is giving to them.  Some questions in the educational setting that would involve the synthesis level of higher-order thinking might include: What alternative would you suggest for ___?What changes would you make to revise___?  What could you invent to solve___? Evaluation Evaluation, the top level of Blooms taxonomy, involves students making judgments about the value of ideas, items, and materials. Evaluation is the top level of Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid because at this level that students are expected to mentally assemble all they have learned to make informed and sound evaluations of the material. Some questions involving evaluation might be: Evaluate the Bill of Rights and determine which is the least necessary for a free society.Attend a local play and write a critique of the actor’s performance.Visit an art museum and offer suggestions on ways to improve a specific exhibit. HOTS in Special Education and Reform Children with learning disabilities can benefit from educational programming that includes HOTS. Historically, their disabilities engendered lowered expectations from teachers and other professionals and led to more low-order thinking goals enforced by drill and repetition activities. However, children with learning disabilities can develop the higher-level thinking skills that teach them how to be problem solvers. Traditional education has favored the acquisition of knowledge, especially among elementary school-age children, over the application of knowledge and critical thinking. Advocates believe that without a basis in fundamental concepts, students cannot learn the skills they will need to survive in the work world. Reform-minded educators, meanwhile, see the acquisition of problem-solving skills—higher-order thinking—to be essential to this very outcome. Reform-minded curricula, such as the Common Core, have been adopted by a number of states, often amid controversy from traditional education advocates.  At heart, these curricula emphasize HOTS, over strict rote memorization as the means to help students achieve their highest potential.