![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, “Essential Management Skills for School Executives”. Kindly note that Unity of Command depends totally on the school’s organogram in different establishments. Passing orders or instructions down to cadres lower than Cadre B is unbecoming to any superior. Similarly, Cadre A should pass down instruction only through Cadre B and not directly to Cadre C or D directly. If an employee works under two or more managers, then authority, discipline, and stability are threatened. E.g., orders or instructions from Headteacher to HOD (Academic) or a Subject Teacher under the Principal. Unity of Command According to Fayol, an employee should receive orders from only one manager. Orders or instructions to subordinates who are not directly under them. In another light, Principal or Headteacher should not cross-carpet to give orders So, the sequence should be Supervisors (Cadre D) take orders and instructions directly from Assistant Headteacher (Cadre C), and (Cadre C) likewise takes instruction from (Cadre B), Headteacher. It is necessary to avoid conflicting orders and to ensure. It’s the Assistant Headteacher that the latter is directly responsible to and hence should take orders from. Unity of Command Every employee must receive orders and be accountable to only one superior. This is to avoid clash of interests that could stem from multiple sources of commands.Ĭonsidering the organogram above, and in consonance with unity of command, Headteacher (Cadre B) and Assistant Headteacher (Cadre C) should not be passing orders or instructions concerning an issue to Supervisors (Cadre B) simultaneously. This depicts that a subordinate should be receiving instructions and orders directly only from their N+1 (immediate boss). To minimize confusion and conflict, Fayol argued that it was ideal for subordinates to have one direct superior. Classical organization theory modified.Henri Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management: UNITY OF COMMAND 1 He and his colleagues developed this theory independently of scientific management but roughly contemporaneously. This is less appropriate to certain applications like the Military or areas where rigid command and control is expected.įayol, H. Henri Fayol (29 July 1841 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, mining executive, author and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism. Rather than have employees act like drones it was more preferable to have ‘thinking individuals’ where responsibility could be delegated but accountability retained with Management or the originators of a specific command or order. Henri Fayol (1841 1925) states in one for his 14 principles of Management that Uity of Command principles, in other words one man, one boss, can be applied to. Communications needed to be more flexible and equally support informed decision making processes. It created a Master and Slave environment that was not considered conducive to modern business practice. Within the modern context the ‘unity of command’ theory was seen to stifle creativity and freedom of individual expression. Inclusion of input in the chain of command or decision making process has resulted in more informed and enriched decisions and subsequently less conflict at work. Organizations in the business world have needed to become more flexible resulting in different leadership styles where many are more collaborative and involve both teamwork and group dynamics in the overall decision making process. An order is passed down through the chain of command and each link has only one superior in terms of carrying out and executing the order. The Military are an example that still believe in the concept of Unity of Command. Fayol though that duel commands were a great failing of management and this is what resulted in conflict situations between workers and management. Unity of command states that every worker should have only one immediate superior - he or she is responsible to that person and should ideally receive orders. Since this time more modern conventions no longer agree with Fayol’s theory. He went on to say that violation of this law can result in the undermining of authority and lack of discipline. Fayol stated that with regard to actions or instructions at work this should only come from one superior or boss. It was Henri Fayol (1841-1925) that best exemplified the concept of ‘unity of command’ within the classical organizational theory. Relation of Global Warming and Extreme Weather Condition ![]()
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