The foundations of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory

Abstract

Among modern scholars and students there is an increasing distance between the fundamental thoughts of early management writers and contemporary, often secondary, accounts of how these pioneers developed their ideas. This shortcoming can be remedied by seeking original sources from when a pioneer’s ideas were being formulated and from the context within which this occurred. We examine examples of how others have furthered our understanding of management history by the discovery and translation of pioneering writings and present a rare, out-of-print translation and a previously untranslated and unpublished presentation from the French pioneer, Henri Fayol. These presentations to his colleagues in the mineral industry reveal Fayol’s early reflections as they would later evolve into his classical book, Administration Industrielle et Générale.