Introduction
Management is a vital role of the HR department that ensures that an organization has what it takes to accomplish its goals and objectives. It comprises interrelated social and technical functions and activities that pull people and other resources together in a formal organizational setting in the effort of facilitating the achievement of the goals.
Management principles refer to some strategically developed guidelines and set timelines that are used to organize staff, maintain organizational structure, delegate authorities, and/or establish policies and procedures in the view of implementing the vision of any organization.
Henry Fayol, a Frenchman and a coal-mining engineer, developed fourteen management principles that form the basis for today’s effective organizational management. Fayol’s management principles help managers in terms of making 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.
On the other hand, 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 the mission.
Leadership is an essential element of the management process. However, acquaintance, skills, and experience culminate into an effective manager. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to discuss Fayol’s management and Stauffacher’s leadership principles. Besides, it shows the relevance of these concepts in contemporary organizations.
Fayol’s Management Principles
Fayol identified fourteen universal doctrines of management from his long experience in the industry (Anupkumar 5). Fayol derived these ideologies from five fundamental aspects 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 the organization. The second element is organizing.
This concept is very similar to planning, despite the fact it being a rigorous process that puts together all the elements systematically to accomplish the overall plans of an organization. The command is the third function. This element ensures the execution of all drawn plans. The fourth element of management control, which is concerned with ensuring that every step conforms to the set procedures that govern task performance. Lastly, Fayol describes co-ordination as a crucial factor in the survival of an organization.
The importance of coordination is to make sure that all elements of management work together harmoniously to accomplish a common objective (Anupkumar 3). However, for the five elements of management to work effectively, Fayol’s fourteen management principles come into play. This paper also discusses some of Fayol’s most essential management principles in an organization.
Division of Labor
This principle holds that an effective performance requires division of tasks into individual units by assigning them to specific workers (Rodrigues 880). Focusing on a single task enhances employee experience in his or her area of interest. It also ensures increased productivity and better results whilst using the same workforce.
However, Fayol warned that the 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 (Darr 19). The concept of division of labor 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 the authority to carry out managerial responsibilities. In this context, a good leader is the one who infuses courage to accept responsibility into those around him or her (Anupkumar 5).
Fear and assumption of authority lead to the 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 the laid rules. Employees must remain obedient and respectful to rules that govern an organization (Rodrigues 881). Provision of good supervision at all managerial levels improves the level of employee discipline. There is a need to provide employees with clearly defined rules and appropriate procedures regarding their conduct in the organization.
Employee behavioral performance significantly affects individual and organizational performance. Some employees who have individualistic characteristics tend to seek primary control by influencing the social and behavioral tendencies of colleagues at work with the 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 a need to create formal control systems that consist of rules, norms, and behavioral standards to guide, motivate, and appraise employee 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 determining the qualities of an efficient manager. Leaders use these principles to judge their actions towards employees and the organization with a view of accomplishing performance goals. However, this section discusses a few of these leadership principles.
Knowing oneself and seeking Self-improvement
Stauffacher’s leadership principles help leaders identify their strengths and weaknesses through self-evaluation as a way of triggering self-improvement. Leaders should clearly understand their personality and its impact on the behavior of others within an organizational set up (Darr 10). Leaders should carry out self-assessments to study the causes of success or failure while at the same time seeking opinions from friends, colleagues, and superiors to show them how to improve on the weak areas (Vuono 35).
Knowing one’s Subordinates
As leaders, managers need to understand employees and distinguish the manner in which they react to different circumstances. This effort helps them make decisions on the best ways to handle different employees and/or know when they need supervision (Vuono 36).
In addition, managers should put the welfare of employees to whom they are accountable first before their own welfare. Employees need the help of supervisors to accomplish their tasks. Therefore, managers should maintain a friendly work environment to enable employees to seek guidance and advice regarding their particular areas of specialization (Darr 14).
The relevance of Fayol and Stauffacher’s Management Principles in Contemporary organizations
Fayol’s management principles are considered the most comprehensive concepts that form the basis for modern world management systems. Many organizations embrace the division of labor in order to realize increased output (Anupkumar 6). Recently, I worked for the hotel industry as the overall manager in the catering department. Being a manager, I had to display charisma as a leader to handle my designated responsibilities effectively in the entire department.
To improve productivity, I defined a number of chores in the department that helped me group the staff members into waiters, cooks, assistant supervisors, and procurement staff. The placement of a worker in a particular position highly depended on the qualifications, performance, behavior, and experience of the worker. Eventually, the hotel realized improved customer satisfaction because of increased efficiency and specialization of duties in the department.
Their attitude towards customers also improved because of the new disciplinary rules that 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 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/or reduces wastage of resources. Research reveals that many modern organizations do not apply all the fourteen of Fayol’s management principles. However, some of the organizations have intensified the application of some of the principles.
The implementation or maintenance of this managerial framework is often expensive since employees need to update their knowledge and develop skills through education and training. However, implementation is highly depended on the organizational structure of a particular institution. In conclusion, the consideration of implementing contemporary management and leadership principles as a way of achieving organizational effectiveness needs to be of utmost importance.
Works Cited
Anupkumar, A. 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. Web.
Darr, K. Introduction to Management and Leadership Concepts, Principles and Practices. Web.
Rodrigues, C. “Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management Then and Now: A framework for managing today’s organizations effectively.” Management Decision 39.10(2001): 880-9. Print.
Vuono, C. Military Leadership. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1990. Print.