Principles of Management

About this unit

This unit studies the broad guidelines that help managers take decisions and act. It covers the meaning, nature and significance of management principles, the fourteen principles given by Henri Fayol, and the scientific management approach developed by F. W. Taylor along with its techniques. These two thinkers form the base of classical management thought and are frequently tested through case situations.

Key ideas

• Principles of management are general guidelines, not rigid rules.
• They are universal, flexible, mainly behavioural, cause-and-effect based and contingent.
• Fayol gave 14 principles, including division of work, unity of command and scalar chain.
• Taylor's principles: science not rule of thumb, harmony not discord, cooperation not individualism, and development of each person to greatest efficiency.
• Techniques of scientific management include functional foremanship, standardisation, method study, motion study, time study, fatigue study and the differential piece wage system.

How to prepare

• Memorise all 14 principles of Fayol with a one-line example of each, and learn what happens when each is violated.
• Learn the eight specialists under functional foremanship.
• Practise identifying principles and techniques from short case descriptions.