Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fayols Concept Management Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fayols Concept Management Essay Henri Fayol is widely acknowledged as the earliest pioneer and advocate of the task of management Parker and Ritson, 2005 His management theories were first proposed in the early 1900s. Despite many criticisms, Fayol’s theories still form the basis of management practices and teachings in the 21st century. Taking some articles for reference, this essay will mainly analyse the advantages and disadvantages of Fayol’s concept of five functions of management in modern enterprises by some examples. There are about three main parts in this essay beginning with the introduction. And in the main body of this article, based on some academic researches, there are about seven parts discussing the advantages and disadvantages of Fayol’s concept of five functions of management. A conclusion will be made at last. There is no doubt that Fayol is best known for a three-fold contribution to management theory. Among his contributions, the concept of five functions of management i s worth discussing all the time. Fayol identified five key functions of management and these functions of managerial activity are: forecasting and planning, organizing, coordination, command and control. According to Fayol, forecasting involves analyzing the future and drawing a plan of action (Pugh ad Hichson, 2007). And as for organizing, Fayol believed that an organization’s structure was important, as it can facilitate the optimum conduct of its business activities (Pugh and Hichson, 2007). According to Pugh and Hichson (2007), in his original writing, Fayol used the term â€Å"command† to illustrate a manager’s responsibility to lead and direct employees towards the achievement of organizational goals and strategies. About the function of coordination, Fayol made a suggestion that managers should bind together, unify and harmonize all the organization’s activities and efforts. In contemporary management practice, this can be explained into that the m anagers should be responsible for making sure that all the organizational business activities are coordinated to make the employees can unify together within one department or among different departments. The last not the least function of management is control. Fayol recognized the importance of control within an organization and support that it ensures â€Å"everything occurs in conformity with established rules and expressed command†. In the article of â€Å"Fayol-standing the test of time†, McLean (2011) firstly introduced the contents of the five functions of management and stated that in contemporary society, there are some advantages of these functions to development of the enterprises. First, McLean (2011) stated that with the development of globalized knowledge economy, the abilities of forecasting and planning can gain success in the competition. Second, organizing can ask the managers to carry out an appropriate infrastructure, which will optimize the organi zation’s system, resources, procedures, processes and services and enable knowledge to be disseminated to those who need it, when they need it. Third, McLean (2011) also stated that control is one of the most important responsibilities of a manager and under the control of the managers. Under control of the managers, the policies and strategies can be implemented according to plan and within budget, set timescales and allocated resources. Fourth, under the function of command, the managers can develop a thorough knowledge of their employees, which can generate a positive psychological contract that engages employees with their jobs and the organization. What’s more, Fayol’s managerial functions are frequently cited as the inspiration for the contemporary practice of dividing managerial activity (and management textbooks) into the functions of planning, leading, organizing and controlling (Davidson and Griffin, 2000; Lewis, Goodmand and Fandt ,1995).

Vodafone AirTouch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Vodafone AirTouch - Essay Example Vodafone currently has equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 40 countries. It has achieved this status in about three decades with a spate of acquisitions and takeovers. This vertical expansion has never been let up since its formative years and has become its planned positioning strategy in its objective of becoming and possibly remaining number one globally.  Although Vodafone was always on the lookout for expanding its reach and its markets, the opportunity provided to it by the takeover of the US AirTouch was unique. When it took over AirTouch, it automatically acquired AirTouch’s stake in Mannesmann, the largest German telecom operator.  In the corporate world, companies have become marketable commodities. They are seen as commodities in terms of their financial contribution to increasing corporate value on the stock market. Corporates buy one another by way of merger in a friendly mutually agreed environment, or hostile takeovers during corporate wars, to augment their resources, power and market reach. Markets for corporate control create new opportunities for corporate managers to exercise power but they make the relatively little contribution toward improving managerial efficiency. In all cases, the intention is to grow vertically to become global players. It appears that the world is moving towards the eventual division of market share between a few global players in each field of economic activity. Apparently, economies of scale as foreseen and foretold by Adam Smith (1776) have not just come true but are being pursued to the next level. In the Telecom industry to it appears that between five to eight players will eventually control the global markets.  In June 1999 Vodafone bought the number two US wireless operator for 62 billion dollars cash plus stock transaction, the biggest ever deal of its time.  

Competitor Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Competitor Analysis - Coursework Example Extended presence through local branch offices present in 350 locations across US, Canada, Japan, UK, Australia and Hong Kong. Availability through phone 24/7, email alerts and information from schwab.com. Products: Includes brokerage accounts (one brokerage account, one organization account), bank checking and brokerage, individual retirement plans (traditional, roth, rollover, custodial, inherited), annuities, business retirement plans, Schwab personal choice retirement account (PCRA), estate planning (one trust account, one estate account, charitable gift account), college (college savings plan, educational savings account, custodial account) and Charles Schwab bank. Employees and programs used: 13,400 full time employees and growth rate of 11.4%. Has an open corporate culture, various work/life and career advancement programs, employee surveys, rewarding work environment, employee stock plans, open door policy and inclusive corporate culture. Employee programs include Schwab university (in house learning resource), formal mentoring program, Women's Interactive Network (WINS, an employee resource group on women's issues), and VisionQuest (to bring together new hires of Schwab as part of employee orientation). IT platforms for CRM: In Fall of 2007, the company adapted the CRM software of Junxure. This software has been built by financial advisors for financial advisors. The system automates critical processes, thus providing a high level of client service and enhancing profitability and productivity. Issues: In 2003 there were certain instances of late mutual fund trading. The issue was fixed by upgrading systems and processes. Gartmore Company background: This independent fund management company has 30 years of experience and works with a strong focus on asset management. Its offices are located in Tokyo, Boston, Madrid and Frankfurt. During 2006 to 2007, the organization received over 40 awards and also the Gold standard award for fund management. The organization operates through investment specialists who work in small teams. Clients and client relationship: Services both retail and institutional clients. Customers are classified and serviced on the basis of their locations in UK, Europe and Japan. In these regions they are further classified as private customers, professional advisors and institutional customers. Products: Offers an array of products and services like the Gartmore Cautious managed fund for pension savers, cash fund, corporate bond fund, China opportunities fund. Emerging markets opportunities fund, European growth fund, European focus fund, global focus fund and a range of MultiManager funds. Its products are classified in distinct categories like Gartmore OEICs (Open Ended Investment companies), Gartmore SICAV (Luxemborg based fund range) and Gartmore Investment trusts (includes a generalist worldwide trust, fledgling trust, European specialist trust and a range of trusts concentrating on smaller firms). Employees: Committed to long term success of employees, such that many of their senior employees are now company owners. IT platform for CRM: The organization has licensed Financial fusion Server SWIFT libraries. This platform provides solutions to retail and e-financial service companies. The Financial Fusion's message broker technology and SWIFT libraries will also translate internal messaging to SWIFT format messaging. This will facilitate Gartmore for application integration and