What I learnt from Awolowo

By David Iornem

Last week, I was reading Obafemi Awolowo’s book entitled “My Early Life” and I came across a passage, which reconfirmed a philosophy that I have tried to practice. But the way Chief Awolowo brought home the meaning of that philosophy is so dramatically striking that it gave me greater insight into the matter. I wish to share this insight with readers in the hope that they too will learn from this great Master and sage, called Awolowo. I reproduce Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s words here for your reading pleasure and education.

“There were two books which helped me to evolve a philosophy of life to which, with some modifications which my own experiences dictate, I still cling. The first book was “The Human Machine,” which was a free gift to anyone who took a correspondence course with Bennett College, Sheffield. (Readers may wish to know that Chief Awolowo never went to any university. His two degrees – Bachelors of Commerce and Bachelors of Laws were studied privately on his own just like Professor Chike Obi who also studied at home for his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mathematics). 

The book was a collection of terse, powerful articles, loaded with the practical and well-tested doctrines of applied psychology. These articles had been previously published under the serial title of ‘The Human Machine’ in the well-known weekly journal, John Bull. The second book was written, if I remember rightly, by an American author, and its title was It’s Up To You. The philosophy of the latter book is very simple but also very true and fundamental. I will state it in a nutshell; and here I am speaking from memory as I no longer have the book. Take a jar; put in it small beans as well as big beans, making sure that each of the big beans is heavier in weight than each of the small beans. Put the big beans at the bottom of the jar and the small beans at the top; shake the jar and, behold! the small  beans rattle to the bottom and the big beans shake to the top. Repeat the process as often as you wish, and the result will be the same. Now, the world is like a mighty jar, and all of us in it, in our different theatres of operation, are like beans with varying sizes and weights. In normal circumstances, each of us is where he is because of his size and weight.

By means of favouritism and nepotism, or of some other deliberate and iniquitous tinkering with the contents of the jar, some beans which are small in size and weight may get to the top and stay there for a time, but they are sure to rattle to the bottom sooner or later. Said the author in words, which I vividly remember: “Nobody can fool the jar of life” The sine qua non for anyone who wants to get to the top, therefore, is to increase his size and weight in his particular calling, that is, mentally, professionally, morally and spiritually. Getting to the top, is one thing and remaining there is another. To maintain your place at the top you must make sure that you do not at any time shrink in size or lose in weight. But evaporation as well as wear and tear take place all the time; and unless these are constantly replaced, the man who gets to the top by dint of his own specific size and weight is also sure to rattle. I am a firm believer in this philosophy. It only remains for me to add that I also believe that the essence of this philosophy is applicable to political or economic organization as it is to an individual.”

       I have seen proof of this passage in the life of many persons. You may steal today and think you have succeeded. You may rig an election, or even shoot opponents and take away the ballot boxes containing votes and forcefully declare yourself or criminal associates as authentic winners. You may cheat at the exam and think you have succeeded. But don’t fool yourself. When the time of reckoning comes, the one who worked hard is he who will remain someone to reckon with. The words of elders are, indeed, the words of wisdom.

ETHICAL ISSUES INHERENT IN HENRI FAYOL’S FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

By 

David Iornem

PhD, MSc, MCIM, FIMC, FCIM, FIPFM,

FNIMN, DipM, DMS, CMC, MBIM, M.CAM, FCMA,FAICL MSPMC, MMS, rpa, D.Litt.

 

Objectives

At the end of this presentation, participants should be able to:

1. List the functions of management as espoused by Henri Fayol.
2. Discuss the inadequacy of Fayol’s theory.
3. Relate the reformations suggested by other management scholars.
4. Define ethics.
5. Relate ethics to the manager’s role.
6. List ethical issues inherent in a manager’s role.
7. Suggest ways of handling ethical dilemmas in a management function.

 

Fayol’s Functions Of Management

Henri Fayol (1841–1925) a French geologist and mining engineer, who became a great teacher of administration was the first scholar to break down management into definable functions. He believed that management consisted of a set of principles, which were capable of definition and universal application. (Rees and Porter, 2003:47) He listed those functions as:

1.    Planning

2.    Organising

3.    Commanding (or Directing)

4.    Co-ordinating

5.    Controlling

What did Henri Fayol mean by these functions? According to Peretomode (2003:23) and Iornem (2000:83) the various functions could be explained as follows:

1. Planning: This is the function of management concerned with analysis and forecast of the future, using the insight and information obtained to make decisions on what is to be done, by who and when to do it, determining and preparing all the resources required to achieve management goals. The planning function is also concerned with the process involved in directing the organisation. Commonly, the planning process ends up with a document specifying standards of performance which then serve as benchmarks to measure success or otherwise of the organisation.

2. Organising: This function involves establishing the organisation’s structure of authority breaking down duties and tasks into related and definable areas, assigning responsibility and building up both human and material resources of the organisation to accomplish its goals.

3. Commanding: This function involves directing of subordinates and making them to do their assigned work. The manager has to make decisions on “who, when and how employees carry out the tasks.

4. Co-ordinating: This involves uniting, harmonising and correlating all activities of the organisation in order to achieve a common goal.

5. Controlling: The organisation’s planning process leads to the establishment of goals and objectives which serve as measures of performance against previously agreed yard-sticks and taking corrective measures in order to maintain organisational focus. At the level of day-to-day operations, controlling involves ensuring that everything is done in accordance with laid down rules and expressed instructions.

Henri Fayol went on to espouse some basic principles that can make the functional approach to function more successfully. It may not be necessary to go into details but suffice it to mention that Fayol theorized fourteen of such basic principles, which he listed as:

1. Division of work
2. Parity of authority
3. Discipline
4. Unity of Command
5. Unity of Direction
6. Subordination of individual interest to the common goal
7. Remuneration
8. Centralisation
9. Scalar chain organisation
10. Order
11. Equity
12. Stability of Personnel
13. Initiative
14. Esprit de corps

Improvements on Fayol’s Functions of Management

The major criticism of Fayol’s Functions of Mangement approach, as other scholars later addressed, was that the classification of functions either ignored, did not emphasize enough or took important concepts such as staffing, motivation and communication for granted. Other than that, Henri Fayol’s theory has stood the test of time. According to Buchele (1977:7) even Fayol later himself added communication as one of the basic functions, just as scholars and public administration experts soon amended Fayol’s classification to the POSDCORD approach (Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Reporting and Budgeting)

Ethical Issues

What are the Ethical Issues in the application of Henri Fayol’s Principles of the Functions of Management? Before answering this question, it is, perhaps, appropriate to first examine what we mean by ethics.

Ethics

Ethics can be regarded as rules of behaviour or moral principles that guide our actions in given situations. (Baran, 2002:390). Everard and Shilt (1979:32) also see ethics as the concern of people for establishing fair rules of conduct.

The word ethics, according to Baran, comes from the Greek ethos, which translates as the customs, traditions, or character that guide a particular group or culture. In our context, we can look at ethics specifically as the application of rational thought by managers, when they are deciding or choosing from two or more competing moral choices.

Ethics are generally a reflection of the ideas of a given culture about what is right or wrong. They exist at three main levels.

The first level is the Metaethics, which, according to Baran are fundamental cultural values concerning issues and questions such as: What is justice? What does it mean to be good? Is fairness possible? It is important for us to philosophically examine these questions to know ourselves. However, as valuable as they may seem to be for our self-knowledge, metaethics provide only the broadest foundation for the kinds of ethical decisions which people are called upon to make on a daily basis. At best, metaethics can, therefore, be only a starting point for moral or ethical reasoning.

The second level is Normative Ethics. These are, by and large, generalized theories, rules, and principles of ethical or moral behaviour. Good examples of normative ethics are the various management codes of ethics or standards of good practice. The Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) has one. The Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) also has one. Chartered accountants and other specialized professional bodies equally have theirs. These are more specific than metaethics to the extent that they relate to real world frameworks within which practitioners can begin to weigh competing alternative courses of behaviour. Even at that there is still a problem because:

         

“Fairness is a metaethic, but journalists’ codes of practice, for example, define what is meant by fairness in the world of reporting, how far a reporter must go to ensure fairness, and how fairness must be applied when being fair to one person means being unfair to another” (Baran, 2002:450).

The third level is the Applied Ethics. This came about as a combination of the metaethics with the normative ethics. This is where the manager applies both the meta  (big) rules and the specific (general industry) guidelines to his or her specific situation.

 

The Need for Ethical Codes

Ethics have attracted the attention of mankind since the days of Greek philosophers – Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle who was Plato’s student was later to disagree with his mentor on the issue of ethics. Whereas Plato held the view that philosopher kings should be allowed to set the rules as they deemed fit in their wisdom, since they were assumed to have special insights into the truth, his student felt that human frailties were too overwhelming for us to give even philosopher kings such freedom.

He, therefore, advocated ethical rules to guide rulers. Plato believed that if one knew the good, then he would do it. But Aristotle took the notion of weakness of the will seriously.

This, by and large, is the position held in the marketing communication and media industry. If freewill is allowed, the urge to outwit competitors, the urge to make more profit, and the urge to cut corners is likely to lead even good marketing communication and media practitioners to engage in practices that can debase the profession and harm society. Ethical Codes at this level concentrate on legality, truthfulness and fairness. At a higher level, we can see this factor being the major rationale for constitutions of nation states.

Advantages of Ethical Codes 

Bowie (1982:90-93) has outlined five key advantages for the institutionalization of Ethical Codes of Conducts in the business.

·         Ethical Codes provide more permanent and stable guides. Decisions are not left to the idiosyncrasies of the person on seat at the time. Personalities do not count.

The rules as already stated are the reference point.

·         Ethical Codes are guidance in ethically ambiguous situations.

·         Ethical Codes serve as a control and check against the autocratic power of employers. If an employer wants a professional to do something that is unethical, it is easy to point to the rules that forbid it.

·         Ethical Codes help to specify the Social Responsibilities of a business, thus contributing to bringing about order out of chaos.

·         The development of Ethical Codes, which are essentially voluntary self-regulation, is in the best overall interest of the profession.

Unethical business activities normally lead to increased government regulation of business activities normally lead to increased government regulation of business activities, thus taking the initiative out of the business community.

To these one can add:

• Ethical Codes enhances the confidence of the public at large in advertising and marketing (International Chamber of Commerce, 1998).
• Ethical Codes safeguard an optimum of freedom of expression for advertisers and marketers.

Inherent Ethical Issues in Henri Fayol’s Functions of Management

In the performance of the functions of management as espoused by Henri Fayol, it can be said that ethical issues cannot be avoided since choices are involved and since values are self-evident in most management decisions. The following areas of management decision have been selected to highlight the ethical issues that are the concern of this theme:

1. Division of Work: Managers have a duty to divide up the work, assign duties and to delegate to others. Managers who decide to show favoritism in carrying out this function are in breach of the ethical rules.
2. Discipline: In disciplining employees, managers must be just and fair in their dealings. Disciplinary actions that are taken out of hate or victimization also breach ethical rules.
3. Staffing: In the employment of personnel, there is the need to be transparent, fair and just. Employment on the basis of favoritism is unethical. Equally, promotions based on considerations other than clearly laid down merit requirements are unethical. Sexual harassment in the work place (i.e. sex for promotion, sex for pay rise, sex for interesting work) should be avoided by managers.
4. Subordination of Individual Interests to the Communal Goal: Managers who pursue selfish agenda in the performance of their duties are in gross breach of ethical rules. Taking bribe to award contracts to companies in which a manager has private fiduciary interest, using company time and other resources to do private work or private practice are all clearly against the common goal of the organisation.
5. Remuneration: Managers should be fair and just in remunerating their staff.
6. Esprit de Corps: Managers should support colleagues, the staff and the organisations they work for. The question often arises as to the limit of this esprit de corps. Is it right for a manager to collude or condone the actions of his peers, or actions of his employer even if such actions offend decency? What is the limit of esprit de corps?

Ethical Issues are Unlimited

These ethical issues as discussed above are not exhaustive. There are many other ethical issues such as money laundering, cooking of company trading records, false claims in advertising, deceptive packaging, immoral presentation in advertising copies and so on, and so forth. The list is endless. The intention here is to demonstrate the presence of ethical issues in the content of a manager’s job. Socrates once said that people do bad because they are ignorant of what is good. Even though that proposition is debatable, the truth remains that managers whose attention are drawn to the need to beware of their ethical responsibilities in the performance of their job can no longer plead ignorance. That is the purpose of this submission.

 

 

REFERENCES

1. Buchele, Robert B. (1977) The Management of Business and Public Organisations, McGraw-Hill, Tokyo.
2. Baran, Stanley (2002) Introduction to Mass Communications, Media Literacy and culture, Mayfield Publishing Company, London.
3. Bowie, Norman (1982) Business Ethics, Prentice – Hall, England Cliffs, New Jersey.
4. Fayol, Henri (1949) General and Industrial Management, Trans. Constance Storrs. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London.
5. Iornem, David (2000) How to Start and Manage Your Own Business, JVC Press, Kaduna.
6. Peretomode, V. F. (2001) Educational Administration: Applied Concepts and Theoretical Perspectives, Joja Educational Research and Publishers Ltd, Lagos.