Fayol (1963) - (Booth, 1993)

Management > Crisis Management > Lectures > Independent Research > Taylor > Fayol

Classical Management Theory - Fayol (1963): Administrative Management

Writing on helping management preventing and dealing with crises, Fayol argued that there were six interdependent areas of activity in a firm which needed to be monitored: Technical, commercial, financial, security, accounting and managerial. If any of these areas were ignored then crisis was inevitable. All six areas needed to be evaluated in terms of planning, organising, command, co-ordinating and control.

Fayol agreed with Taylor that there should be a division of labour, with clear, centralised authority and discipline. He believed in the subordination of individual needs for those of the group and that employees were to be respected in order to keep up morale.

Unfortunately, both Taylor and Fayol suffered from “cultural myopia”. Their styles worked in normal conditions, but failed during crises and in different business cultures. In addition, the studies focus too much on the internal workings of a firm, assuming that they are closed systems, and ignore the external environment, which can greatly affect a business.

Content Theory - Kreitner (1986)

Content Theory - Deming (1984): Quality

Deming's points of management continued