Henri Fayol was a French industrialist and manager, working in the mine industry and looking for applicable solution to business management. He went to school in Lyon (the second largest city of France) and enrolled at the engineering school of Saint-Etienne (Ecole Nationale des Mines). He received an education as a mine engineer and graduated in 1860 from this school at the age of 19. He was first employed as an engineer at Boigues, Rambourg and Co. In 1874, this company became Commentry-Fourchambault SA or Comambault). It is important to notice he spend all his professional life in the same company experiencing its expansion and knowing well its structure and production methods. Fayol was first remarked as an engineer when he wrote a paper proposing a solution to fire hazard, fire fitting and spontaneous combustion in mine, destructing men and installations. In 1866, he was appointed director of a single Continue reading
Management Basics
Formalization – Meaning, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Formalization is the process of creating structures that govern operations within an organization. In a formalized organization, work activities are often controlled by a set of accepted rules and procedures. In addition, a formalized structure has a hierarchical and clear reporting structure that runs from bottom to top. To a large extent therefore, a formalized organization is managed through several levels of supervision. The extent of formalization, however, varies from one organization to another and is mainly determined by the size of the organization. As opposed to informational organizational structures where individuals are esteemed higher than the job positions, a formal organizational structure is made up of rules that unmistakably state how work should be done at the various levels in the hierarchy. Since rules that guide the holder of a position are static, no confusion arises when the holder of the position changes. This thus implies that the transition Continue reading
Impacts of Strategic Change on Organziations
Businesses usually face the complicated process of alternating culture, leadership, values, and structure while executing strategic change. However, no matter how complex these means are, they are performed mainly to advance the company’s strategy to thrive in the future. In other words, strategic changes tend to be conducted in terms of meeting the latest trends in the industry to remain equal with rivaling businesses of a similar sphere. Thus, before implementing such alternation, it is vital to analyze the possible impacts on the other parts of the company operating. Firstly, it is significant to start changes when the business is thriving and not in a crisis. Specifically, any alternations take a considerable amount of effort and funds; hence it might be impossible to perform them with the deficiency of at least one factor. Every employee should be involved in the process of a proper transformation execution and not only top Continue reading
The Application of Power in Organizations
Personal power is power that resides with an individual, regardless of his or her position in the organization. Someone usually exercise personal power through rational persuasion or by playing of followers identifications with him or her. An individual with personal power often can inspire greater loyalty and dedication in followers than someone who has only position power. The stronger influence from the fact that the followers are acting more from choice than from necessity and thus will respond more readily to request and appeals. Of course the influence of a leader who relies only on personal power is limited, because followers may freely decided not to accept his or her directives or orders. The distinctions between formal and informal leaders are also related to position and personal power. A formal leader will have, at minimum, position power. And an informal leader will similarly have some degree of personal power. Just Continue reading
Process of Team Building
Team building attempts to improve effectiveness of the team by having team members to concentrate on: Setting goals and priorities for the team. Analyzing how team’s goals and priorities are linked to those of the organization. Analyzing how the work is performed. Analyzing how the team is working, and Analyzing the relationships among the members who are performing the job. The process of team building is a collection of steps which lead to a specific change in the approach among people, to make effective teams. Various steps of team building process are not one-shot action, rather, they are repetitive and cyclical. 1. Problem Sensing There are a number of ways in which problems of a team can be obtained. Often the team itself defines which aspects of team building it wishes to work on. This problem can better be identified in terms of what is hindering group effectiveness. At this Continue reading
Morale – Definition, Characteristics and Significance
Morale is the term usually applied to armed forces during wartime and to sports and athletic teams. It refers to team spirit and co-operation of people for a common purpose. Its importance has been realized by the management only in recent years. It is felt by the management that if the morale of the employees is high, production would be higher and vice-versa. Meaning and Definitions of Morale Morale represents the attitudes of individuals and groups in an organization towards their work environment. Morale is an indicator of the attitude of employees towards their jobs, superiors and their organizational environment. It is a collection of the employees attitude, feelings and sentiments. Various definitions of morale are; Flippo has described morale “as a mental condition or attitude of individuals and groups which determines their willingness to co-operate. Good morale is evidenced by employee enthusiasm, voluntary confirmation with regulations and orders, and Continue reading