Principles of Management

Lesson

Part 1 — what principles are, their nature and significance, and Fayol's fourteen principles.

In this lesson you will

Part 1 at a glance

Concept

What is a principle of management?

A principle of management is a broad, general guideline for decision-making and behaviour. It is not a technique and not a value.

Table comparing a principle and a technique of management: a principle is a broad guideline such as unity of command; a technique is a method such as time study; principles guide how techniques are chosen and used
	Principle of management	Technique of management
What it is	A broad, general guideline for decisions and behaviour	A procedure or method used to do a task
Example	Unity of command: one boss for each employee	Time study: fixing the standard time of a job
Role	Guides the choice and use of techniques	Is applied within the guideline

Diagram

Table of the seven features of the nature of principles of management: universal applicability, general guidelines, formed by practice and experimentation, flexible, mainly behavioural, cause and effect, and contingent, each with its meaning and an imagined example
Feature	What it means	Imagined example
Universal applicability	Applies to every kind of organisation	A temple trust and a car maker both divide work
General guidelines	Guide action; not ready-made answers	Two managers apply equity differently
Formed by practice and experimentation	Grew from managers' experience and tests	A bakery learns from trial batches
Flexible	Adapted to the situation	Strict rules in a big plant, looser in a small one
Mainly behavioural	Aim to influence people's behaviour	Team spirit in a call centre
Cause and effect	Link actions to likely results	Fair pay leads to lower turnover
Contingent	Use depends on the situation	More delegation as a firm grows