| Intro | Developer of Fayolism |
| Known for | Mining engineer who developed Fayolism |
| Was | Economist Businessperson Entrepreneur Engineer Writer Geologist Scientist |
| From | France |
| Type | Business Engineering Finance Literature Science |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 29 July 1841, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire |
| Death | 19 November 1925, Africa (aged 84 years) |
| Star sign | Leo |
Henri Fayol (29 July 1841 – 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, mining executive, author and director of mines who developed general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism. He and his colleagues developed this theory independently of scientific management but roughly contemporaneously. Like his contemporary, he is widely acknowledged as a founder of modern management method.
Biography
Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Constantinople (current Istanbul). His father (an engineer) was in the military at the time and was appointed superintendent of works to build Galata Bridge, which bridged the Golden Horn. The family returned to France in 1847, where Fayol graduated from the mining academy “École Nationale Supérieure des Mines” in Saint-Étienne in 1860.
In 1860 at the age of nineteen Fayol started working at the mining company named “Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambault-Decazeville” in Commentry as the mining engineer.
He was hired by Stéphane Mony, who had decided to hire the best engineers from the Saint-Étienne Mining School.
Fayol joined the firm as an engineer and trainee manager.
Mony made Fayol his protege, and Fayol succeeded him as manager of the Commentry Mine and eventually as managing director of Commentry-Fourchambault and Decazeville.
During his time at the mine, he studied the causes of underground fires, how to prevent them, how to fight them, how to reclaim mining areas that had been burned, and developed a knowledge of the structure of the basin. In 1888 he was promoted to managing director. During his time as director, he made changes to improve the working situations in the mines, such as allowing employees to work in teams, and changing the division of labor. Later, more mines were added to his duties.
In 1900 Fayol became a member of the Comité Central des Houillères de France, member of the board of the Comité des forges and administrator of the Société de Commentry, Fourchambault et Decazeville.
Eventually, the board decided to abandon its iron and steel business and the coal mines. They chose Henri Fayol to oversee this as the new managing director. Upon receiving the position, Fayol presented the board with a plan to restore the firm. The board accepted the proposal. When he retired in 1918, the company was financially strong and one of the largest industrial combines in Europe
Based largely on his own management experience, he developed his concept of administration. In 1916 he published these experience in the book Administration Industrielle et Générale, at about the same time as Frederick Winslow Taylor published his Principles of Scientific Management.
Work
Fayol’s work became more generally known with the 1949 publication of “General and industrial administration”, the English translation of the 1916 article “Administration industrielle et générale”. In this work Fayol presented his theory of management, known as Fayolism. Before that Fayol had written several articles on mining engineering, starting in the 1870s, and some preliminary papers on administration.
Mining engineering
Starting in the 1870s, Fayol wrote a series of articles on mining subjects, such as on the spontaneous heating of coal (1879), the formation of coal beds (1887), the sedimentation of the Commentry, and on plant fossils (1890).
His first articles were published in a French Bulletin de la Société de l’Industrie minérale, and beginning in the early 1880s in the Comptes rendus de l’Académie des sciences, the proceedings of the French Academy of Sciences.
Fayolism
Fayol’s work was one of the first comprehensive statements of a general theory of management. He proposed that there were five primary functions of management and fourteen principles of management
Functions of management
In his original work, Administration industrielle et générale; prévoyance, organisation, commandement, coordination, controle, five primary functions were identified:
The control function, from the French contrôler, is used in the sense that a manager must receive feedback about a process in order to make necessary adjustments and must analyze the deviations. Lately scholars of management combined the commanding and coordinating function into one leading function.
Principles of management
While Fayol came up with his theories almost a century ago, many of his principles are still represented in contemporary management theories.
Publications
Books, translated
- IN 1930, Industrial and General Administration. Translated by J.A. Coubrough, London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons.
- 1949. General and Industrial Management. Translated by C. Storrs, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London.
Articles, translated, a selection
- 1900. “Henri Fayol addressed his colleagues in the mineral industry 23 June 1900.” Translated by J.A. Coubrough. In: Fayol (1930) Industrial and General Administration. pp. 79–81 (Republished in: Wren, Bedeian & Breeze, (2002) “The foundations of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory”)
- 1909. “L’exposee des principles generaux d’administration”. Translated by J.D Breeze. published in: Daniel A. Wren, Arthur G. Bedeian, John D. Breeze, (2002) “The foundations of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory”, Management Decision, Vol. 40 Iss: 9, pp. 906 – 918
- 1923. “The administrative theory in the state”. Translated by S. Greer. In: Gulick, L. and Urwick. L. Eds. (1937) Papers on the Science of Administration, Institute of Public Administration. New York. pp. 99–114
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