Principles of Management

Principles of management are often discussed or learned using a framework POLC which is planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Where organizations are concerned, management plays an important role. A manager’s primary goal is to solve problems and give optimized solutions. Henri Fayol bestowed people with administrative responsibilities with 14 principles of management, which are still used as a guide to manage organizations. The following principles of management are discussed below.

Principles of Management

1. Division of work

A manager should not burden any employee although work overload may lead to lack of efficiency. If the work is divided among employees, everyone will be specialized in that particular task. Specialization will make workers efficient and ultimately output will be increased.

2. Authority

Authority is the ultimate power to control and manage employees. Managers become able to order workers under them. It not only provides power to them, but makes them responsible as well. If a manager has more power than duty, he or she is more likely to be violent. He will become irritated if he has more responsibility than authority.

3. Discipline

It is obligatory for all employees to respect and follow the rules that are made to run the organization in a smooth way. There will be no slacking or breaking of laws in any organization. The staff must adhere to the organization’s laws. Good supervision and impartial judgment are required to maintain discipline.

4. Unity of Command

A group of employees should have only one supervisor, because multiple orders from different supervisors create confusion. To put it another way, a subordinate has only one superior to answer to. It leads in the prevention of dual subordination, which creates a problem in managerial functions.

5. Unity of Direction

The entire staff of the organization should follow the same work plan in order to achieve the desired goal. Moreover one manager must oversee all operations with the same goal, and he must follow a single strategy. For example, only one manager is responsible for all marketing activities such as advertising, sales promotion, pricing policy, and so on. For all marketing activities, he must use only one strategy.

6. Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest

The interests of individuals or a group of workers should not be given preference over the general interest that runs the organization. Person interests should be given less priority, while the public interest should be given the utmost importance. The company will totally collapse if this does not happen. The interests of a person or a party should not be allowed to disrupt the organizational objective.

7. Remuneration

The remuneration should be adequate and equitable for all workers according to their services. A good remuneration policy is necessary if a company needs productive employees and top results. Both employers and employees should be satisfied with this approach.

8. Centralization

Decision making should be given to a higher management as subordinates can follow the orders easily. There is no such thing as a fully centralized or decentralized organization. If full centralization is achieved, subordinates would be unable to carry out their responsibilities. Similarly, if the company is fully decentralized, the superior would have no power to regulate it.

9. Scalar Chain

Usually the chain of command is known as the scalar chain which identifies the superior and subordinate relationships in the organizational structure. Every employee must be made clear where he or she stands in the process of decision making, because it helps maintain balance in the authority. Instructions flow downward through the chain of command, while responsibility flows upward, according to the unity of command theory.

10. Order

Every resource of the organization should be at its right place and used at the right time. Men and women, money, materials, and other resources must be placed in an orderly manner. The right people and materials must be in the right place at the right time. Misplacement can result in misuse and instability.

11. Equity

Managers must treat their subordinates with kindness and they should remain fair to all workers. When engaging with employees, a manager should treat all employees with kindness and fairness. Kindness and fairness are combined in equity. It instills in employees a sense of loyalty and commitment to the business.

12. Stability of Tenure of Personnel

Personnel planning should be given priority in order to tackle employee turnover and there must be replacements available to fill vacant positions. Employees must be given enough time to settle into their new employment, even though it takes a long time. Time is required for an employee to learn his job and become successful.

13. Initiative

Employees who are responsible to start a task should be given appropriate freedom to take their decisions and carry out plans. All levels of staff should be encouraged to take action without regard for authority or discipline. Initiative should be encouraged by management. Employees are satisfied as they take initiative, and the company succeeds.

14. Esprit De Corps

The organization must take steps to promote the team spirit and unity that will help workers to carry out the tasks easily.

The classical view of management or classical management theory made it very clear and productive. On one hand scientific management defines how to increase productivity by performing the work better and on the other hand, bureaucratic management emphasizes the structure of the organization. Getting these two at the same time enables organizations to earn more benefit by clearly defined instructions and job descriptions.

Scientific management tells managers to divide tasks according to time-and-motion studies, while through bureaucratic management division of labor makes it clear for every employee what he or she has to perform. On the other hand administrative management views also clear the distribution of jobs and responsibilities in step by step systematic manners, which allows being on track always while analyzing the whole situation. Today, almost all organizations are following this classical view of management, because they clearly define the objectives and all operate under a hierarchy of positions and step by step process.