classical management theory

classical management theory

the body of theory mainly associated with French mining engineer and manager Henri Fayol (1841-1925) but also with English army Colonel Lyndall Urwick (1891-1983). Common to all members of this school was an attempt to extrapolate from their practical experiences in management roles in large organizations a set of rules about how to manage effectively and efficiently Fayol defined MANAGEMENT in terms of forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. To this end, management should function according to a set of principles which were valid whatever the ORGANIZATION'S environment and goals. These included the principle of UNITY OF COMMAND, a clear HIERARCHY and JOB SPECIALIZATION. Fayol's analysis could be viewed as the first attempt to generate a theory of management and can be seen as a prescriptive version of Weber's ideal type of BUREAUCRACY. Compare CONTINGENCY THEORY.