Management
Of Henri Fayo’s fourteen principles of management, the four most directly related to my management style are the ones that seem most critically interrelated. Consider principle number four of unity of command. One cannot help but note the words, ‘who is in charge here, of this project’ are the words every manager least likes to hear from a subordinate. The problems of not having a distinct chain of command, with accountability for accomplishing a specific project are evident not simply in business organizations. The problems of lack of unity in the command structure manifest themselves in the current difficulty of reorganizing the U.S. military and secret service organizations of the FBI and CIA into more efficient chains of command, where information can be shared and yet policy can be effectively implemented. There must always be according to Fayo’s number four principle, a unity of command, where for any action whatsoever, an employee should receive orders from one superior only. This directly relates to principle number five, of unity of direction. There should be one head and one plan for a group of activities serving the same objective. This critical so no effort is wasted, and also individuals are more willing to realize number six, whereby there is a subordination of individual interest to general interests. There must be, even in business, an idealistic effort to realize a communal goal, rather than a selfish attitude focused rapaciously on mere personal advancement. This is also conducive, the realization of a ‘higher’ but clear objective in the command of someone with clear accountability to keep about company order, or principle ten. For social order to prevail there must be an appointed place for every employee and every employee must be in his appointed place.
Question
Ethical violations are interesting to compare in light of the previous questions principle of eleven, of equity. For all personnel to be encouraged to carry out their duties with devotion and loyalty to the organization and its ideals and specific goals, people must be treated with kindliness. A sense of equity results from combination of kindness and justice. Equity excludes neither “forcefulness nor sternness,” merely fairness. This can be seen with a of ‘time theft’ where individuals use work hours for personal matters without making note of this on their time sheets. If the management personnel feel apt to take long, leisurely lunches, however, management cannot entirely blame the lax morals of subordinates, when do the same in violation of corporate ethics and emulation of the corporate management’s own time theft. When laws are enforced uniformly, and prohibitions extended uniformly, individuals are more apt to obey these laws, thus all members of the company must to rules about recording their time.
