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The Administrative Principles of Management

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The administrative principles of management, created in the early 20th century by French industrialist Henri Fayol, changed the way that many view management. Fayol’s principles focused mainly on the management teams of businesses and helped establish a top to bottom hierarchal system to produce a more structured organization (Brunsson, 2008; Yoo, Lemak, & Choi, 2008; Fells, 2000). This essay will focus on four of the 14 key principles of administrative theory – unity of command, subordination of individual interest for the interest of the organization, esprit de corp. and remuneration – and analyze how they have been applied in a leading New Zealand company, Pumpkin Patch Limited (Ltd.) (Samson & Daft, 2009, p.64; Wren, Bedian, & …show more content…

Although it has been adapted from Fayol’s original idea, subordination of individual interest of general interest, it is still present in Pumpkin Patch Ltd.
In a company that is downsizing, and even when it is not, Esprit de Corp is a principle that plays a major factor in contemporary organizations today. Esprit de Corp is when a business creates, and maintains, employee harmony, unity and morale (Fells, 2000; Rodrigues, 2001). This allows for a happy working environment, and a happy employee means that they are more likely to achieve productivity and efficiency outcomes. Pumpkin Patch Ltd. has adapted this to fit their family environment that they feel the company has (Pumpkin Patch Limited, n.d.). The company believes in a balance between work, leisure and flexibility as well as providing an in-house kindergarten for employees’ children (Pumpkin Patch Limited, n.d). This, although fairly minor, is a prime example of how contemporary businesses have adapted one of the founding principles of management and adapted it to fit their organization. As well as this Pumpkin Patch have organized their business into teams such as the information technology (IT) team and the design team who are an integral part of the organization in helping attain their goals and aims ( Brookes, et al., 2008). As Pumpkin Patch has consistently produced profits, apart from the

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