preview

Essay about Comparing Fayol and Mintzberg’s Theories on Management

Decent Essays

Management is a vague term which throughout the years many scientists have attempted to define. Is it the objectives of management or the roles one undertakes as a manager that best describes the work of managers? This is a question posed since 1971, when Henry Mintzberg established his contemporary theory on Management roles, which evidently differed to Henri Fayol’s 1949 classical theory on Management Functions. Fayol identifies five elements of management- planning, organising, co-ordinating, commanding and controlling all of which he believed were necessary to facilitate the management process. In comparison Mintzberg considers management activities to fall within three broad groups- interpersonal, informational and decisional which …show more content…

Or the objective of the memo could be to command the subordinates to work harder as output may have been low last month and as a result there will be a competition running for the most productive ‘worker of the month’. As in the case just illustrated the function of the task is more subjective as opposed to the role undertaken to carry out the task. Therefore Mintzberg’s statement is supported as the functions can indeed be vague. However, although there was not a strong link between management functions and roles in the previous example, there are many which exist. Lamond’s (2004) article agrees that the theories appear to be in conflict as ‘...Fayol’s focus on what managers should do if they lived in an idealised state... Mintzberg’s concerns with what manager’s actually do, given on the demands they experience day-to-day’. But, Lamond argues, ‘they represent two sides of the same coin’ (Lamond 2004) implying that fundamentally both theories are true. A manager engaged in the interpersonal role of leadership may oversee the training of new employees. This task can clearly be understood in terms of several of Fayol’s functions. As the manager unifies and encourages employees, he/she is also ensuring everyone is clear on their job responsibilities and warrants all is going

Get Access