Henri Fayol

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Henri Fayol (Istanbul, 29 July 1841 Paris, 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, director of mines, and management theorist, who developed independent of the theory of Scientific Management, a general theory of business administration[1] also known as Fayolism. He was one of the most influential contributors to modern concepts of management.

Biography
Fayol was born in 1841 in a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey, where his father, an engineer, was appointed superintendent of works to build a bridge over the Golden Horn,[1] (Galata Bridge). They returned to France in 1847. Fayol studied at the mining school "cole Nationale Suprieure des Mines" in Saint-tienne. When nineteen years old he started as an engineer at a mining company "Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambeau-Decazeville" in Commentry. He became director in 1888, when the mine company employed over 1000 people, and held that position over 30 years until 1918. By 1900 the company was one of the largest producers of iron and steel in France and was regarded as a vital national industry.[1] In 1916 he published his experience in the book "Administration Industrielle et Gnrale", only a few years after Frederick Winslow Taylor had published his theory of Scientific Management.

Work
Fayolism
Fayolism is one of the first comprehensive statements of a general theory of management:[2], developed by the Fayol. He has proposed that there are five primary functions of management[3] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. planning organizing commanding coordinating controlling

Controlling is described in the sense that a manager must receive feedback about a process in order to make necessary adjustments. Fayol's work has stood the test of time and has been shown to be relevant and appropriate to contemporary management. Many of todays management texts including Daft (2005)[4] have reduced the five functions to four: (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) leading, and (4) controlling. Daft's text is organized around Fayol's four functions.