The Advantages Which Henri Fayol Theory Management Essay

Frederick Winslow Taylor is an American mechanical engineer known as “the father of scientific management because he worked to improve the efficiency in industries by basing his claims on experiment he carried out at steel manufacturing company, where he introduced his four philosophies.

Firstly to replace working skills by “rule of thumb” and determine the most efficient way to perform specific task and everyone doing same task should use same method. this has advantages because the performance of workers can be evaluated fairly and they can be promoted or paid according to their productivity. However some employees claim that this could lead to boredom and it ignores individual strengths of some workers as same method is not best for all, (Taylor, F. W., 1911)

Secondly instead of assigning workers to do any kind of job, managers should match workers to their job or task based on their capability and motivation. Then train them to work at maximum speed and specialize in tasks. For example in garment factory a group could specialize in cutting cloth, another will do sewing and the other will do packing. In that group employees are given different task as well example in sawing department one staff will attach sleeve and the other will attach collar and the line goes on until the whole garment is finished. Another advantage is as workers are paid according to their performance. They will work hard, productivity would be more then the labour usage and management’s efficiency would improve, this will maximise their profit. The disadvantage is that this philosophy can not be used in all organizations such as where intellectual ability is required, (Inkson& Kolb,2002).

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
Find out more about our Essay Writing Service

Third one is time studies or time management. Workers performance should be monitored instructed and supervised to ensure that they are using the most efficient ways of working. In this aspect Taylor states that suitable tools, resources and workers will produce best work output. For example when workers are doing laborious work such as lifting gravel, then right size of shovels to match he size of workers should be provided. This will increase efficiency. However some philosophers claim that this will result in redundancies as fewer workers can complete the task. This results in strikes and other forms of industrial action by dissatisfied workers ,(Inkson& Kolb,2002).

Fourth philosophy is to distribute work between managers and workers so that the managers utilise their time to plan and train the workers which will allow the workers to perform their tasks efficiently or speedily in less time consumed. This division of allows efficiency and effectiveness because the workers are able to receive clear instructions and work accordingly. There is clear accountability and division of authority and obedience. However this does allow workers to give their ideas and opinions of work performance and some excellent information could be wasted. It also alienates workers from the organization and they do have a feeling of belongingness to the company, (Taylor, F. W., 1911).

Taylor’s theory mostly applies to manufacturing companies but not universally.

502 words

B)

Herni Fayol father of Management discovered Administrative Management (classical theorists). Fayol concentrated on the senior management of an organisation and concluded that there were 6 essential business activities. These areas were; technical, commercial, financial, security, accounting and managerial. Further on Fayol describes the process of management to be universal and he also distinguishes between five elements of the process which were being performed by all managers at all the levels of organization. Those five elements are, planning & forecasting, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling. In real business these elements do exists in organizations.

The main objective of Fayol was to identify management how separate set of functions could be performed by the managers in an organization. The skills and abilities required by the managers to run the organization is truly dependent on the skills and qualification they possess.

The advantages which Henri Fayol theory indicated are

Firstly, division of work amongst the workers, work should be divided so that the workers are specialized in a particular job and it also increases the efficiency. Secondly, there should be a balance of authority and responsibility amongst the managers and workers. Thirdly, a certain level of discipline should be amongst the workers for the smooth running of the organization. Fourthly, he said proper salary should be given to the employees so that both the organization and the employees benefit. It makes employees happy to work. Fifth, centralization of work should be done, some of the work to be centralised and also some work should be decentralized several internal and external factors. For e.g. some big companies has their call centre in India, Fiji, China etc. this is done so that the labour is cheap and those work which are complicated to be centralised and are performed under expertise.

Furthermore, he also emphasised on fairness, kindliness and justice to all employees of the organization. By this practice it promotes a friendly atmosphere between superiors and subordinates. He derived the idea of arrangement of materials i.e. everything should be properly placed and there should be a place for everything. The spirit of loyalty and devotion unites the members of an organization. If the employees are loyal and devote their time towards the betterment of the organization then the management will also look afters its employee’s welfare and well-being.

However, there are some of the drawbacks in Fayol’s theory. Some of the disadvantages are that he divides business activities in six categories and their management into five functions and the implementation of these functions into fourteen principles. Another one is that the work becomes informal when it comes to equity, where the workers are treated fairly and kindly. It also does not pay adequate attention to workers. The managers order materials without consulting the workers in charge of the job. No proper consultation is being done. Some theorist call this as inconsistent, very open policy and inadequate to use in organizations.

Despite the criticism by other theorists Henri Fayol’s theory is still practised in some of the organizations and it is also a contributing factor for the growth of the organizations.

CASE STUDY

A)

The business name is Flame Grillers, small size restaurant which will be serving healthy, African style food and the location of the restaurant will be located at 20 Great North Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland. There are several reasons for formation of the business.

Firstly, due to economic reason. This means the wellbeing and stability of the owner’s financial capability to operate the business without taking financial benefit from banks and other financial institution. Here in this case the owner wishes to invest $25,000.00. The owner has done a market survey and he is optimism enough to start up the business.

Secondly, social reasons are that the number of people living in that particular area. The survey states that the area is dense in populated and the nearby areas and the combination of people staying in that location. Basically, the trade mark of the restaurant specializing in African style food will attract many residents who have the habit of having dinner out.

Thirdly, personal reasons is that the owner is a chief chef. He will be opening this business so that he can achieve his five year goal that is having 3 restaurants in with a combined annual profit of $100,000 to $300,000.

B)

Important Management strategies illustrated in this case study are setting up goals, feasibility study conducted to achieve the goal, identify right type business which will achieve the goal, outlining the future needs of the business which needs to be introduced in the market and make profit.

The role of the owner of this business is to do the market research, have the best design selection for the restaurant furniture, sitting arrangement, the opening and closing hours of business (in this case the restaurant will open 7 days a week from 11.00am to 11.00pm).

The functions include the financial well- being, the effect of the products on health of the customers and the staffs. The impact that the business practices and choices have on the environment and the high quality of attitude, fairness, understanding, generosity between management, staffs and vendors (customers).

The efficiency of the business indicates that it will provide lighter, healthier foods at moderate to low prices. It will also have 3 categories of products for the customers. Those would be table services, take-out/ takeaway and delivered to home or office. This indicates that order could be made in advance through telephone or fax so that the customers don’t have to wait if they are running short of time.

The restaurant will have 20 seats and customers have their choice as to where they would like to sit to enjoy their meals.

The chief chef will be the owner himself who has more than 20years of experience as he had owned similar business in overseas. The business will also employ personnel’s with high qualification and a competitive wages and salaries will be given to all employees with benefit packages to key personnel only.