Fayol, Henri

(1841-1925)

   engineer, administrator

   Born in Constantinople (Istanbul) in present-day Turkey, Henri Fayol, who is considered a pioneer in management theory, was the first Frenchman to question the nature of management itself. Director general of the Compagnie de Commentry-Four-chambault-Decazeville (1888), he put forth his theories in Administration générale et industrielle (1916), a plan for the administrative reform of business. This program, known as "Fayolism," he believed could be applied to any company; it stresses the need for a hierarchical organization with diverse functions (administrative, technical, commercial, financial, auditing, and controlling) at the center of the enterprise and as the basic role for its administration. Fayol's ideas were influential for much of the 20th century.