Introduction
Leadership and management are important assets of a firm that should not be ignored if the organization intends to achieve any success in its activities. These two aspects define the success of the firm. Currently, the world is becoming very competitive. In order to survive in this competitive world, firms have to embrace effective leadership and management principles. According to Moyles (64), firms that are successful today are those that have realized the secret of embracing good leadership and management skills.
For example, Apple Inc and the Virgin Group of companies have managed to get where they are because of embracing good leadership and management principles. Effective leadership and management strategies in their firms have made these two companies penetrate widely in the market. As Mitchell (34) points out, firms are what they are due to the leadership and management skills in their daily activities. This research paper focuses on the key significant Fayol management principles, the key points in Stauffacher’s espoused leadership principles, and their relevance in life today.
Significant Fayol management principles and their relevance
Effective management principles are vital for any firm aspiring to succeed and maintain its position in the world market today. The 14 management principles, as given by Henri Fayol, can elevate an organization to very high levels if applied effectively. The first four management principles include the division of labor, authority and responsibility, discipline, and unit of command. I have worked with the Coca-cola Company, and I saw the management effectively integrate these four principles, and that is why they are successful today.
The division of labor in a firm allows an employee to work best in the area of specialization to yield effective results. For example, a construction engineer can only work in the field of engineering and not in the field of front office management. The authority and responsibility involve the need for a firm to have people in charge of offering orders. These offer directions to the employees. The third principle that deals with discipline encourage the workers in a firm to realize that their efforts are very vital for the success of the organization.
This principle allows penalties, fines, or punishments to be applied where necessary in order to maintain discipline in an organization (Mitchell 54). For example, a worker who falls in the line of duty should receive a penalty for the failure. The next principle is the unity of command that advocates that workers or employees should have only one boss or manager. Having many managers in a workplace may result in inefficiency in the production as employees would be receiving different and confusing orders.
Another very important management principle is the unity of direction. This principle is important as it states that the entire firm should work towards achieving a common goal in a similar direction. This avoids conflicts of interest in a firm for the effective achievement of the firm’s goals and objectives. The sixth Foyal’s principle deals with the Subordination of individual interests to the general interest. It is crucial for a firm to ensure that the employees are paid for their work.
For example, a worker working for more than the normal working hours should be paid for overtime. This way, the seventh principle that concerns remunerations will be fulfilled. The next two principles have a close link. The centralization principle ensures that there is a balance of centralization and decentralization of plans that are executed by the relevant authorities, while the hierarchy (scalar chain) advocates for the observance of the line of authority from the lower to the higher levels of management. For example, in the Apple Inc company, each employee knows what and who to report to in case there is a need to pass information. Moyles (54) argues that this is very important as it keeps all the levels of management informed.
According to Coleman (65), the principle of order and that of equity goes hand in hand. The returns of any firm depend a lot on how the management can observe order and equity. Workers should be treated equally without any biases, and the working materials should be availed at the appropriate time. Equity in a firm helps in avoiding any form of discrimination that may arise within the working environment. The turnover rates in a firm should be highly discouraged by adhering to the principle of stability of staff for a firm to maintain productive employees. The next principle, which is the initial principle, allows the workers to freely engage in extra activities of their choice to encourage creativity and innovativeness.
This can greatly help the employees come up with better ideas to increase production in a firm. Finally, the principle of esprit de corps sums it all. This principle advocate for the need for a firm’s management to encourage peaceful coexistence among the workers, teamwork, and enthusiasm in their roles for efficiency. Motivated employees are very productive. A firm should come up with ways of rewarding the best performing employees by, for example, offering a percentage of salary increments. This will encourage the workers to increase their efforts in carrying out their tasks.
The Key points in Stauffacher’s Espoused Leadership and their Relevance
Management and leadership are important (Mitchell, 23). One cannot talk of management without leadership. According to Stauffacher, the leadership context provides the leaders with purpose, direction, and motivation. The purpose aspect is important as it enables a leader to reason and know the importance of doing something, while the direction aspect provides the goals and objectives.
Motivation, according to Stauffacher, provides the leader with the responsibilities and accountability in leadership. This scholar has outlined a number of leadership principles that are important for successful leadership. According to this scholar, there is a need for a leader to have self-knowledge and seek improvement in order to become pro-efficient in the assigned area of work. Knowing oneself helps a leader to know the weak areas that require to be addressed for better performance. A leader should be ready to seek and accept responsibility. This will help a leader to deliver quality leadership services to the relevant people.
The other principle that is also important is being able to make sound and timely decisions. According to Mitchell (45), a leader should be able to make timely and independent decisions in case of a need for the benefit of the subjects. The leader should set an example or act as a role model in the area of jurisdiction. Three years ago, I was chosen as the youth leader in my county. I had a habit of bullying young boys and girls, but because of the responsibility bestowed upon me, I had to change from this behavior to be a role model for the youth. This decision was guided after reading gaining knowledge about leadership principles (Mitchell 23).
Another principle is the ability to know one’s subordinates and looking out for the welfare. For example, while I was in college, I saw our class representative apply this principle so many times. One day a fight broke between two students, and instead of celebrating like any other student, he got into the battle and separated the two. For example, a manager in a firm should know the individual workers that he is supposed to direct.
He should be ready to provide a good environment for the employees and keep them informed over all the relevant information concerning the workplace, encouraging teamwork among the employees to enhance efficiency in their duties. According to Stauffacher, a leader should use the organization’s consistency with its capabilities, and ensure that the allocated tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished.
For example, it is the duty of a supervisor in a processing zone to ensure that workers play their roles in the line of production to avoid poor production in the firm. A leader should develop a sense of responsibility and accountability in their subordinates, holding them responsible for what they do and fail to do. Penalties should be imposed on the workers who fail in their areas of duty to encourage efficiency in the firm.
Conclusion
The Principles of leadership and management are very important to a firm. Most successful firms use the above principles of leadership and management to know the direction to which the firm should take in order to achieve the intended objectives. These principles can as well be used to check the economic performance of a firm and project towards future performance. As stated earlier, these principles should not be ignored if a firm intends to survive in the current competitive world market. Through the above-discussed principles, all the stakeholders in a firm are able to realize what is expected of them and collaborate in working towards achieving a common goal.
Works Cited
Coleman, Marianne, and Derek Glover. Educational Leadership and Management: Developing Insights and Skills. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2010. Print.
Mitchell, Margaret, and John Casey. Police Leadership and Management. Annandale, NSW: Federation Press, 2007. Print.
Moyles, Janet R. Effective Leadership and Management in the Early Years. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2006. Print.