Henri Fayol\'s Five Management Theories.

¶ … Henri Fayol's five management theories. The author explores each component of the theories and applies them to examples of how they apply in today's workforce environment with a focus on electronic engineering. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

Management styles are an ever evolving art and science combination that is looking to improve the quality of relationships between management and employees. While it is important to continue reaching for improvement it is also important to hang onto the tried and true theories that have been developed over the years. One of the most successful theories of management is the Henri Fayol functions and principles of management theory. His theory includes five management theories. In the field of electronic engineering it is important to have sound and organized management structure. The use of the five management theories developed by Fayol are still instrumental in successful management within this field.

In the planning of any management program it is important to use organization and consistency so that the program will be successful. In Henri Fayol's theory there are five important elements that include (Fayol's functions of management (http://www.projectalevel.co.uk/business/fayol.htm):

Planning - Setting objectives, strategies etc.

Organizing - Managers setting tasks and organizing staff.

Commanding - Giving orders to staff so jobs are completed.

Coordinating - Management must ensure that there is consistency throughout the business.

Controlling - Making sure all individuals fit in with the plan (Fayol's functions of management (http://www.projectalevel.co.uk/business/fayol.htm)."

One of the reasons that this set of theories works well in the field of electronic engineering is the developer, Henri Fayol was a French engineer. He began his engineering career in the mines and years later after he retired he published his works about administrative management roles and processes. It was this published work that gave him his recognition (Fayol (1841-1925) Functions and Principles of Management (http://www.bola.biz/competence/fayol.html).

Fayol believed that these management strategies could be applied to any kind of business or management structure and organization.

Each of the five steps serves a purpose.

Step one is to forecast and plan. This provides an examination of the future. If it is a restaurant business, it might forecast the number of future customers that it anticipates. If it is an engineering firm it might involve forecasting and predicting not only the number of jobs that will be contracted in the next year, but also what types of jobs they will be.

Once the forecast has been completed a plan of action can be developed and implemented.

The second step is to organize. Organization is a key element to any successful management technique. Organization is a broad-based term that entails not only the planning of paperwork, but also the human resource needs currently and in the future.

Being sure to hire qualified people in the numbers needed to handle the forecasted work is an important element of the theory according to Fayol. In the field of electronic engineering this means not only hiring enough engineers but also enough support staff to handle the incoming calls, and issues that are not directly related to engineering but also necessary steps to completing the jobs.

Organization also includes the procurement of needed materials to complete the job. Again, this does not only apply to the obvious, such as electronic equipment but also all of the support materials needed that can include office equipment, paper products and other items that will allow the department to function.

The third part of the equation involves commanding. In current management positions the duty to command may be taken at face value and rejected. Recently management has moved to a team approach instead of having a command approach. It is still important however, to have a team leader and that leader is usually in a management position. While the word command can be formidable it can also mean to delegate. Delegation of duties is an important element of any successful management program. The ability to effectively delegate responsibilities focuses on the strengths of each team member and allows them to handle the areas that they have strengths in.

In the field of electronic engineering this can include assigning different steps of the process to different engineers or engineering assistants.

In addition to delegating the things that need to be done to complete the job it is important to have check points to know that the various delegated assignments are being completed on time.

Coordinating is the fourth step in the process that Fayol developed. Coordinating has to do with making sure there is consistency throughout the company for each project. In the field of engineering this means understanding the project at hand, what will be needed to complete that project, the time line that the project needs to follow and who will be reported to during various stages along the way.

There can be many different engineering projects going on at the same time, and as long as the same coordination and management techniques are being used for each one they will be able to run concurrently and maintain their integrity and quality.

The final step in the five theory plan is controlling. This pertains to the management of the human resources. It is important to have team members that work well together and also are educated and knowledgeable in the field of electronic engineering for the theory to work in that field (Fayol (1841-1925) Functions and Principles of Management (http://www.bola.biz/competence/fayol.html).

Proper recruiting and training of employees is essential to the success of any management plan.

The five elements of Fayol's plan revolve around having a leader and having that leader use authority to choose people, delegate chores, command organization and provide consistency throughout the company for the success of the management to be maintained (Henri Fayol (http://www.onepine.info/fayol.htm)