HENRI FAYOL: BIOGRAPHY, MANAGEMENT THEORY, PRINCIPLES, OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS - DUDAS - 2025

Henry Fayol (1841-1925) was a French engineer and researcher known for having formulated the Classical Theory of Management. This theory, also known as Fayolism in honor of its author, became the basis of modern methodology in organizations and companies.

His business management model, along with other ideas on the subject, appeared in his book, Industrial and General Administration, published in 1916. In this work, Fayol explained his thoughts on the principles of administration and its functions. In addition, it also made fourteen points that should govern the principles of administration.

Henry Fajol - Source: Unknown author / Public domain

The author, born in Constantinople, now Istanbul (Turkey), into a French family, studied in the country of origin of his parents. Upon completion, he began working at the Commentry-Fourchambault Company, a mining and metallurgical company. Fayol continued his entire life in the same company, reaching the position of CEO.

His theory of administration is based on three main aspects: the division of labor; the measures that are applied in the administrative process; and in formulating the appropriate technical criteria to guide the administrative function. He was also the creator of several terms related to his specialty that are still being used today.

Biography

Henry Fayol was born on July 29, 1841, in Constantinople, the current Turkish city of Istanbul. His family was of French origin and wealthy.

Henry and his family returned to France in 1847, where Henry received an education commensurate with his good social standing. The first studies were carried out at the Lycée de Lyon and, later, he continued them at the National School of Mines located in Saint Etienne. At age 19, in 1860, Fayol obtained his degree as a mining engineer.

Start of his career

Henry Fayol started working in 1960 at a prestigious French mining and metallurgy company: the Commentry-Fourchambault Company. His first tasks were related to the extraction of coal and the processes used to melt iron.

The Commentry-Fourchambault Company was the only company that Fayol worked for in his entire life. At first, his role was that of an engineer, but his good work allowed him to rise over the years.

Among the tasks that gave him the most prestige within the company during the first years was to develop various improvements and alternatives to prevent and fight the usual fires that occurred inside the mines.

Management and direction

Fayol was promoted to manager in 1866 and, from that position, undertook a series of changes that allowed a significant increase in the profitability of the company. This job earned him a further promotion in 1888, the year in which he was appointed director.

Despite the good results of the measures taken by Fayol as manager, in 1888 the company was going through serious financial difficulties. This had caused, for example, that it was three years late in the payment of dividends that corresponded to its shareholders.

It was in this situation that Fayol took over as CEO of the company. His first objective was to improve his economic condition to ensure the viability of the company.

Company revitalization

As CEO, Fayol began taking steps to achieve his goal. The first were the closure of one of the foundry plants and the centralization of the production of another plant, which managed to generate an economy of scale.

In addition to these, Fayol was in charge of obtaining new coal deposits in three strategic French locations: Gondreville, Saint-Lager-Bressac and Decazeville

These measures, together with some others related to business management, caused Fayol to succeed in his mission to revitalize the company. Part of the strategies that he applied formed part of the theory on the administration that he would publish years later.

Fayol's actions allowed the company to survive and improve its results. Today it remains one of the most important steel companies in France, forming part of the Creusot-Loire.

Paris Congress of the Industrial Mining Society

Before even being named director of his company, Fayol had already made a name for himself as an engineer. This allowed him to be invited to present a work at the Paris Congress of the Industrial Mining Society held in Paris in 1878. The report presented dealt with the alteration and spontaneous combustion suffered by coal when exposed to air.

His last years of life were dedicated to theory. Fayol dedicated his time to disseminating his management principles, based on his experience and research in the field of business administration.

Personal life

Henry Fayol passed away on November 19, 1925, in Paris. His death was due only to his advanced age, 84 years, since he did not suffer from any type of serious illness.

The administration theorist had been married to Marie Céleste Adélaïde Saulé, with whom he had three children.

Management theory

The theory on the administration in force until that moment was called scientific. This put the emphasis on the work carried out by the workers. On the contrary, Fayol's classical theory placed as the most important point the structure and functions that the organization should have in order to be more efficient.

The objective of both theories was the same: to get organizations, especially the industrial company, to increase their efficiency.

As noted, the classical theory was exposed by Henry Fayol in 1916. The mining engineer published it in his best-known book: Industrial and General Administration.

His work was based on a global, universal and synthetic approach to the company. To develop the theory, he started from a structural conception of the industrial company, a vision that displaced the old analytical conception of Frederick Taylor, the promoter of scientific theory.

In summary, the model proposed by Fayol for administration was based on three different aspects: the application of the administrative process; the technical principles to guide the function of said administration; and the division of labor.

For this theorist, the function of the administration is only directed to the social body, that is, to the personnel of the company. The others, for their part, are focused on raw materials and machinery

Frederick taylor

Frederick W. Taylor was the main precursor to the scientific theory of management. Source: wikipedia.org

The main influence that Fayol had to develop his theory were the works of the American Frederick Taylor, creator of Taylorism. He had developed the so-called scientific theory, based on organizing work with scientific methods.

Taylor added to this scientism a positivist vision. The American studied the facts in practice and conducted various experiments. With the results, he decided to focus on the factory's own production plant. His Taylorism was characterized by the division of the works that were carried out in the production process.

Another difference between the two theories was the context of the time. Taylor, in devising his theory, took into account the Industrial Revolution and his work had an impact during the second phase of it. Fayol's theory, for its part, influenced the final stages of that revolution.

On the other hand, Fayol was a staunch defender of free enterprise. The French was totally against the State intervening in any way in the economy.

Steps for correct administration

Fayol considered it necessary to follow five different steps for the administrative process to develop properly. According to this theorist, the steps are as follows:

- Planning: planning, for Fayol, is the basis of the administrative procedure. It is about carrying out a preliminary work in which all the objectives that the company wishes to achieve are established very clearly. Likewise, the method to achieve those goals should appear.

These plans should be as concrete as possible and consistent with the nature of the organization and its ultimate purpose. If planning is good, business activities will develop harmoniously.

- Organize: includes the administration of all the resources that the company has. Their goal is to make them available to be used efficiently and quickly when needed. These resources can be both human and material.

- Direct: for Fayol, the management must not only take care of the organization and coordination of the company's personnel, but it is a much more complex task.

Among other aspects, management must take into account aspects such as ensuring that employees are motivated or opening an efficient communication channel that is useful to all company personnel.

The person in charge of directing the organization will also have the function of resolving conflicts that may appear. Maintaining a good work environment is essential to optimize production.

- Control: this is to ensure that the general operation is adapting to expectations.

This step means being aware at all times of what is happening inside the organization and that everything flows in such a way that it is possible to obtain the planned results.

- Forecast: this step is essential to ensure the long-term viability of the company. The administrative process must be able to have a vision of the future on the possible scenarios to be able to prepare in advance for them.

14 principles of Henry Fayol

Among Fayol's contributions to business administration, the fourteen principles that he developed in this field stand out. These points became the basis of much of the administrative theories in the 20th century.

The principles formulated by Fayol are a kind of guide about what business leaders should take into account about administrative processes.

1.- Division of labor

For Fayol, the business organization has to be divided into several departments, each one dedicated to a specific task. Thanks to this specialization, there is an improvement in productivity and an increase in efficiency.

2.- Authority and responsibility

Both aspects must always be presented in perfect harmony. Thus, there does not have to be more authority than responsibility, since that gives rise to abuse.

3.- Discipline

Discipline occurs when the company is respected by complying with its rules and obligations. It can be self-imposed by the worker himself or imposed by supervisors, although the first case offers much better results in the medium and long term.

4.- Unity of command

Each worker only has to answer to a specific supervisor. This unity of command prevents clutter and diminishes efficiency.

5- Steering unit

Another important aspect to avoid disorder is that those activities whose purpose is the same are always directed by the same manager. This will be responsible for planning, filtering and making the appropriate decisions about the projects.

6.- Subordination of the individual interest to the general

In any company it is essential that everyone row in the same direction and that they place the common good above the general interest.

7.- Remuneration

The remuneration or salary is the price that the company pays for the services rendered, especially to the workers. The amount paid must be adapted to the job, the accumulated experience and the productivity of the worker.

8.- Centralization

The company must have a management body with few members. It is essential that the decision makers are not too numerous, as this often causes problems and slower reaching agreements.

9.- Hierarchy

Hierarchy is the scale that covers all responsibilities within a company, from the CEO to the last of the employees.

10.- Order

The importance of all processes maintaining order will be reflected in all processes that occur within the company. In this way, an adequate order improves the management of resources and time, the arrangement of materials or the responsibilities of managers or employees.

11.- Equity

Each employee, regardless of the position they occupy or their level within the company, must be treated fairly, fairly. This will mean that your workers show greater loyalty and identification with the company.

12.- Staff stability

Offering job stability to workers, as well as a safe work environment, are factors that improve their connection with the company. This, in turn, helps productivity to increase.

13.- Initiative

Company managers must find ways for employees to show interest and come up with their own ideas to improve projects.

14- Group spirit

The last point contributed by Fayol refers to the departmental structure. In this case, it is about departments, like employees, looking for the best way to cooperate with each other. The appearance of conflicts and divisions should be avoided, since these cause the productivity of the company to suffer.

Others p Ortes Fayol

Fayol's contributions were not limited to his theories to develop administrative systems. The French engineer also dedicated part of his efforts to promoting the formalization of management education.

Fayol, among other things, established the Center for Administrative Studies shortly after publishing his most famous book, in 1916. His intention was for his theories to become popular and reach more people.

In addition to the above, Fayol defended that the administration should be cruel, in his own words, to "all layers of the population."

These initiatives allowed the administration to establish itself as a discipline and professionalize itself.

Main functions in an industrial company

Fayol established in his work a series of functions that he considered fundamental in any industrial company. These functions are as follows:

- Commercial: purchase and sale of products made by the company.

- Techniques: the specific capacity with which any company manufactures its products or offers its services.

- Accounting: those related to costs, balances, inventories and other important accounting records for the operation of a company.

- Security: all related to security within the industry, both that of the staff and that of the facility itself. To increase it, the company must take precautions so that accidents, theft, fires and other similar incidents do not occur.

- Financial: they deal with the economic management necessary for the company to be profitable.

- Administrative: all necessary so that all the above functions can be carried out with the best effectiveness. Fayol put the focus of his work on this role.

School of bosses

Fayol's works were a continuation, with their differences, of those made by Frederick Taylor, considered another of the fathers of modern administration.

Taylor focused on the factories, looking at the production plants. Fayol, for his part, preferred to focus on improving the coordination of the different administrative functions.

This new perspective within the field of administration has been called the "school of bosses." According to this concept, each administrator has to dedicate part of her work to planning the specific activity that corresponds to her within the business organization.

The results of this theory have shown its effectiveness for companies to achieve their objectives. The cause of this success is the improvement of the coordination of efforts of all areas and departments of the company.

Equally important has been the increased capacity to define the professional profiles to be sought for the administration.

References

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5. Edgell, Roger. Henri Fayol (1841-1925). Retrieved from managers-net.com
6. Van Vliet, Vincent. 14 Principles of Management (Fayol). Retrieved from toolshero.com
7. Krenn, Janet. Management Theory of Henri Fayol. Retrieved from business.com