Henri Fayol was one of the first theorists to claim/believe that Management was an acquired skill and was a key figure in the turn-of-the-century, Classical School of Management theory. He outlined five main functions of managers which were based on a much broader 14 Principles of Management

The Functions of a manager were:

1. To Plan
2. To Organise
3. To Command
4. To Co-ordinate
5. To Control

and these were based on the premise of the principles of management:

1. division of labour
2. authority
3. discipline
4. unity of command
5. unity of direction
6. subordination of individual to common goal,
7. remuneration for effort
8. centralisation
9. chain of command
10. order
11. equity
12. stability
13. initiative , and
14. team spirit

Looking at both these groupings in greater detail.

1 Division of Labour was quite simply the belief that specialisation encourages continuous improvement in skills and the development of improvements in methods. He didn't believe in the modern ideas of multi-skilling. To him this would have been in effect multi "getting by"

2 Authority was the RIGHT to give orders and the power (this is very different from authority-later notes on French & Raven) to exact obedience. He believed without authority then managers could not manage and anarchy would ensue with workers doing as they pleased.

3 Discipline involved the idea that no slacking or bending of rules would be allowed. Rules were in place for a good reason and to alter or deviate from them, showed a weak manager and an undisciplined workforce. In practice this involved - standards, consistency of action, adherence to rules and values

4 Unity of command was in fact a very simple concept. Fayol firmly believed that each worker should have only one boss and should be clearly aware of who that was. This generalisation still holds - even where we are involved with team and matrix structures, although it is much more difficult in practice. The basic concern of having more than one boss is that tensions and dilemmas may arise.

5 Unity of direction was also a relatively simple concept. Fayol believed that the organization should have a single plan of action to guide managers and workers towards common goals. It should be a simple fact that if everyone is "pulling" in the same direction then the goal will be achieved faster, more effectively and efficiently.

6 Fayol believed that the common good (of the organisation) should override any individual's wishes or desires. Fayol's line was that one employee's interests or those of one group should not prevail over the organisation as a whole. Of course often these two interests should overlap, but there may be occasions where this is not the case. Fayol's work - assumes a shared set of values by people in the organisation - a unitarism where the reasons for organisational activities and decisions are in some way neutral and reasonable.

7 remuneration of staff concerns itself with " the price of services rendered. " The general principle is that levels of pay/remuneration/ compensation should be "fair" and as far as possible give satisfaction to both to the staff and the firm.