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Introduction
Along with Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henry Fayol (1841-1925) is considered a seminal author in the classical school of management ([59] Wren, 1994). After 30 years of an eminently successful career as a practitioner, Fayol devoted the remainder of his life in promoting his theory of administration ([16] Fayol, 1949). He argued that all industrial undertakings precipitate activities that can be categorized into six groups: technical, commercial, financial, security, accounting and management. Fayol's work focused on the latter category, management. For Fayol, management was not so much that of devising systems and methods for increasing the velocity of throughput as it had been for scientific management. It was the orderly arrangement and integration of the production, sales, financial, and accounting functions of the organization. Thus, Fayol's management function was a way of identifying management as something apart from technical activities but essential to getting economy from their integration.
Fayol was perhaps the first to note the need for management education ([62] Wren, 2003; [4] Brodie, 1967). To Fayol, the reason for the absence of management education was the absence of theory. From these premises, Fayol used his experiences and observations to propose a comprehensive theory of administration (management) that included a description of managerial functions as well as 14 principles designed as guides to thinking and practice. To Fayol, principle was the code that represented the sum total of truths at any given moment. Metaphorically, the code was the lighthouse, which enabled managers to get their bearings, but it could only help those who knew the way towards the port. Besides, Fayol also proposed that managers must plan, organize, command, coordinate and control in order to effectively implement his 14 principles.
Fayol's principles of management provided and continue to provide a general management perspective for practicing managers and an instructional tool for academicians teaching in the field of management. His notion of a principle was not rigid since "there is nothing rigid or absolute in management affairs, it is all a question of proportion" ([16] Fayol, 1949, p. 19). Likewise, Fayol did not regard his list of principles as fixed. Rather, Fayol believed that the actual number of principles was arbitrary and his original list non-exhaustive:
Every rule or managerial procedure which strengthens the body...