The Classical Theory Of Administration: What It Is And What Are Its Key Ideas
There are many ideas that have been proposed for organizational management, but the classic one is one of the most important and widespread.
Below we will compile the most important data to be able to have a global understanding of everything related to these studies, to know the reason for their origin and what are the fundamental principles on which they are based. classical management theory
The classical theory of administration is a thesis proposed by the French mining engineer, Henri Fayol, as a method of organizational management This theory was proposed in 1900. Fayol’s objective was to achieve a notable improvement in the efficiency of the different administrative processes involved in production within a company.
One of the keys to achieving this purpose was to eradicate or at least reduce to the minimum possible all the possible misunderstandings that could arise in each phase of all these processes and that in the end would result in a minimization of the use of resources, including of course the time and labor required
Henri Fayol tried to promote the classical theory of administration by trying to transmit these concepts and practices directly to those responsible for management in different industries, so that they could implement said methodology in their corresponding organizations. Thanks to these ideas, they would soon see an improvement in the efficiency of the entire system.
To understand the keys to the classical theory of administration, we must first look at the historical moment in which it emerged. It was about France at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. This was a country that had just gone through the metamorphosis of the revolution and had completely changed the social order. The bourgeoisie had established itself as the predominant class while the working class was the basis of the emerging industry.
Fayol stated that the key to achieving maximum productivity was to adequately control the activity of workers through impeccable management That is where the classical theory of administration comes in, a system that is suitable both for the organizations themselves and for the State institutions themselves and even for the management of domestic economies.
What Henri Fayol pointed out with this method is that it was essential to make a forecast of the situations that the entity was going to face throughout its activity and prepare a plan in line with that scenario, so that, when the time came , you would simply have to continue with the planned plan instead of improvising or making bad decisions and having to rectify later.
Thanks to this simple but effective approach, The organization would be prepared for a whole range of situations in advance and therefore uncertainty and waste of company resources would be reduced In the event of a certain incident, you would only have to review the planned scheme to know how to act quickly and efficiently, without wasting time or more resources than essential.
The principles of this theory proposed by Henri Fayol
To develop the classical theory of administration, Henri Fayol established fourteen points that every organization had to comply with if it wanted to obtain the benefits of this thesis. Below we will see each of them.
1. Division of labor
Within an organization there are many tasks to perform and most of them require specialization. Therefore, It will be necessary to have adequate personnel to be able to carry out each part of the production process making each member of the staff the specialist in their specific task.
In this way it is much more efficient than if the same person has to be in charge of very different activities that require training in each of the fields involved. It would be inefficient and even unrealistic to expect a worker to be an expert in each and every one of the processes carried out in the company.
2. Authority and responsibility
The second point proposed by classical management theory has to do with authority and responsibility. Fayol stated that The presence of a leader who was responsible for the work of all his subordinates was essential and represent an authority for them.
In line with the previous point, discipline would be a fundamental element for workers to assume the authority that their bosses represented for them. Likewise, This discipline would make them carry out their tasks in the most appropriate way to achieve the objectives of the worker himself, his team and, ultimately, the entire organization.
4. Command unit
For the classical theory of administration, unity of command was also an essential requirement. Fayol considered that power, ultimately, had to be represented by a single person because if there was more than one, there was a risk of falling into non-unanimous decisions, differences in criteria and, ultimately, a series of issues that would weaken the authority we talked about before and that would impact the efficiency of the organization.
5. Steering unit
Not only a unity of command is required, but also of direction. That is to say, Each member of the company will have their own tasks and responsibilities, but all of them must inevitably follow the same line , in the same direction. If a task is causing harm to another department, it is because it is not well planned and therefore it is subtracting efficiency from the production processes.
6. Subordination of individual interest to the general
Fayol, in his classic theory of administration, stated that the general interest is what must always prevail when making decisions for the company, to the detriment of individual interest. In other words, When faced with a decision in which one option favors one or a few and another that favors more people or processes in the organization, the second alternative should always be chosen
7. Remuneration
The seventh point of the program of classical management theory talks about remuneration as a form of employee motivation Therefore, said salary must be fair and appropriate to the task carried out by it. But in addition to money as such, other elements can be used to complement the worker’s payroll and make him feel valued and motivated.
8. Hierarchy
Although other previous points already anticipate this point, Fayol wants to make it clear that hierarchy is essential for a good implementation of the classical theory of administration. Positions and responsibilities must be clear from the beginning Each employee must know to whom he answers and must know that he is subordinate to said person, who in turn will be subordinate to another, until reaching the unit of command.
Likewise, that unity of command that we were talking about must also translate into a centralization of authority in a few people, distributed among the different departments in a hierarchical manner. It is observed that All points of classical management theory are related to each other and they need each other to achieve the ultimate goal, which is improving efficiency.
10. Order
Order must prevail in the distribution of spaces and tasks in the organization. If two departments perform complementary tasks and interact regularly, it is logical that they be placed as close as possible to that there is no waste of time when communicating with each other
11. Equity
The treatment of all components of the company must be governed by equity, according to classical management theory. This It does not mean that everyone has to receive the same remuneration, for example, since not everyone carries out the same tasks But between two people who perform similar functions, effectively, the compensation should be the same, unless other variables come into play that determine otherwise.
12. Stability
The structure of the organization must be as stable as possible If there is a high turnover and new people must constantly learn the ways of proceeding, the company’s production will be slowed down, therefore affecting efficiency.
13. Initiative
Within the hierarchy and the rules to be met, it is good that there is a certain initiative when carrying out activities within the organization. This proactivity will be a good indication of the good work of the employees and should be valued as such
14. Team spirit
The last point of classical management theory is none other than team spirit. Each and every one of the members, each one in their position, are part of a whole and as such they must be considered.
