Contemporary Management

Asforthe word ‘management’, there has been long debate about its meaning. For our purpose, we take the perspective of the functions that managers

Critically discuss the extent to which Fayol's classical analysis of the management function has largely been made redundant by the more recent empirical studies of what managers actually do, such as that favoured by Mintzberg.

The different approaches to management have been changed, fine tuned and discarded over the years. In the coming paragraphs we will take a look at the contemporary approaches. We will examine how they compare to each other as well as if they can be utilized in the three types of environments; internal, competitive and macro environment.

To Matthew and Nicholas, students of business, and Meghan, a student of the arts. G. F.

Although it has not always been recognized as management, management has been around since the beginning of human kind. Management functions can even be seen in the Bible. In the book of Daniel, Daniel is seen using the four management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

In my explanation of the four management functions, I will explore how they apply to my organization, my supervisor, and my position. The planning, organization, leading, and controlling aspects of management are what I will discuss in this paper.

The task: Henri Fayol presented his analysis of the management function in 1916 and it has largely been

1. Evaluate the classic management functions and their relationship to each other, including the extent to which they may or may not be interrelated.

A direct relation is made with these four functions and that of the purpose of management. By using them to their advantage, a good manager can handle any situation that comes to his attention, while a manager that doesn’t have a sound understanding may waver in his decision-making.

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a theorist who believed in a theory which was based on how management interacts with the performance of a business. Management theory is defined as ‘bringing change in actual behaviour’ (chapter 2 article). In this modern day, many businesses rely on Fayol’s Classic theory to manage staff effectively. Fayol introduced the idea of splitting crucial activities that firms carry out on a day to day basis into 6 separate groups (technical, commercial, financial, security, accounting and management). However, out of those activities, Fayol believed that managerial activities within organisations, whether they are big or small, where senior jobs are present, most important. (Henri Fayol article 1949) He came to the conclusion that within the managerial sector, there are five elements. This included, planning, organisation, command, coordination and control. These were listed in his book General and Industrial Administration (1916) (Henri Fayol article 1949). This essay is going to explore different interpretations of management and specifically comparing classical theorists such as Fayol and Taylor as well as humanist theorists such as McGregor and finally, empirical theorists such as Luthen. This essay will also analyse Fayol’s theory and how it has been criticised over the years.

Since Fayol left his general manager office, separated management from business operation and studied it, management has become an independent subject. A number of academics and entrepreneurs are desirous to find what management is and how to be a successful manager. Therefore, through varied approaches, many different views about management has been appearing such as Fayol’s function theory (1949) which based on his owe managing experience and Mintzberg’s 10 roles theory (1973) which came from observing five chief-executive officers. Furthermore, Mintzberg regarded Fayol’s theory as “folklore”. It seems that Fayol’s theory has been made redundant by Mintzberg’s study. The purpose of this paper, however, is to present that

Henry Fayol was working in France at a mining company as an engineer who later became the director of the company when it employed more than 1,000 people. He came up with the theory of management functions from his observations and experience while working in the company. He also established and published 14 important principles of management. However, Henry Mintzberg dismissed Fayol’s management functions claiming that managers nowadays apply little planning or not at all, hence, their work is unpredictable (Bateman, 2012). Mintzberg came up with three broad categories of managerial roles. These two theories are seen as competing views where one seems to be the base of the other.

The final function of management is leadership. “Great leaders get extraordinary things done in organisations by inspiring and motivating others towards a common purpose” (Schermerhorn et al 2011, p.316). Management is no longer just

Henri Fayol (1841-1925), was ‘’famous for the classical school of management, which emphasises command and control’’. (Robinson, 2005) He is deemed to be one of the founders of general management; also referred to as the administrative theory and later on becoming known as ‘Fayolism’.

The traditional views of a manager's functions are as an administrator working on short-term goals within the current systems and structures. The manager focuses upon making that which exists as efficient as possible. The four functions of management as planning, budgeting, organizing, and controlling resources and problem solving. These managerial activities, they assert, are most appropriate when organizations are basically stable and relatively predictable. On the other hand traditional view of a leader' functions are of one who takes a long-term, big picture, perspective and endeavors to initiate change for the improvement of the organization. When organizations need to adapt and change to new circumstances then leaders who challenge, motivate and inspire