Going Back in Time 100 Years: "General and Industrial Management" and the Fayolism-Taylorism Dichotomy in France

Abstract

Emerged from the doctrine of Henri Fayol, Fayolism presented itself as a movement in France shortly after the first edition of his contemporary management masterpiece, Administration Industrielle et Generale (General and Industrial Management), which was published in 1916. Thanks to the efforts of a number of French engineers pioneered by Le Chatelier and Freminville, Taylorism stood out as an alternative movement against Fayolism, thus 1920s saw the emergence of a dichotomy in the shape of Taylorists versus Fayolists. However, this came to an end when these two groups reached an agreement in 1925, and Taylorism and Fayolism took their respective places in the history of management thought as two movements which contradict but also complement each other. The purpose of this study is to present a general illustration of the factors that led to the publication of this precious masterpiece and the effects of these factors. In this vein, facts and cases were taken into account through Fayol's perspective and the perspective of the Taylorists in the context of the French social system of the time and particular experiences that Fayol acquired during his career.