In the modern world, it is impossible to imagine public organizations without competent management. For this, management principles are applied as the most general and universally applicable rules prescribing how leadership should be exercised and the organizational structure in firms and institutions of any type, regardless of their purpose. These principles have been formulated to guide managers in choosing the most effective strategy to achieve the organization’s goals. They are often referred to as the universal principles of general management or commandments of traditional (“classical”) management theory.
Health managers today must engage in introspection to build highly effective value-based care teams. Health care providers must apply management techniques and training to deliver interprofessional care. This review draws on the management of a healthcare organization, particularly The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, on Fayol’s public administration theory. The essay focuses on applying Fayol’s thesis and principles to the structure of hospitals, culture, and delivery services, such as external and internal delivery services and patient and physician privacy.
Fayol was the first to propose considering management activity as an independent object of research and identified five main elements that constitute management functions: planning (foresight), organization, management, coordination, and control. In his works, he was one of the first to attempt to develop general principles of management and analyze the various responsibilities, the fulfillment of which is the essence of the activities of the head of the company.
Fayol’s theory consists of two parts: management functions and management principles. Functions answer what the manager does, and guides answer the question of how he does it (Hatchuel & Segrestin, 2019). There are only five functions: planning (forecasting), organization, coordination, command, and control. Fayol laid the foundation for the structural-functional approach, so named because levels of management described all functions. Later, Fayol identified 14 principles of management, which he structured into main and secondary ones. The relevance of the application of Fayol’s theory lies in the fact that, based on this theory, hospitals can build a high-quality management system based on the proposed principles.
Thus, the principles and functions outlined by Fayol apply to The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. The children’s hospital implements all management functions established by Fayol. The planning of actions related to the activities and work of structural units (such as doctors and nurses) is expounded in the hospital plan (Khorasani & Almasifard, 2017). This plan is being followed, which allows the hospital to operate smoothly. Control over the activities of all organizational structures is executed. Thus, the hospital constantly increases its productivity and identifies shortcomings. The company’s culture focuses on motivation as a function responsible for stimulating employees to achieve a corporate goal.
The intrinsic factor that influences health care delivery is the culture of the organization. Organizational culture and administrative policies can impact the delivery of health services at the local level (Mercer et al., 2018). The medical center culture is not just about patients; it is also recognized as student-friendly. The environment fosters teaching in laboratory technology, radiology, pharmaceuticals, and medical office administration, in addition to medical students and nurses. External healthcare delivery includes essential structural characteristics such as the range of services provided and the management structure implemented in the hospital through principles such as “Delivering as One.” At The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, workers should only work according to a single plan to achieve one goal.
However, Fayol’s theory does not apply to all industries and hospital settings. Thus, hospital regulations cannot always withstand such a principle as a discipline and the need to comply with the rules established within the organization. For example, workers neglect the field to achieve a positive outcome in emergencies requiring urgent care. Even though discipline is overlooked in the interests of the child’s life, it undermines the established management of the organization.
The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne analysis can be correlated according to the experience of providing services to clients. One of the most critical factors, in this case, is the implementation of the principle of subordination of interest in the company (Heller & Harrison, 2021). Thus, the employees of The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, when admitting and treating patients, always put the image and mission of the hospital above their interests. For example, in the case of surgical interventions, doctors are guided by all the hospital’s instructions, despite their attitude.
Moreover, when providing services to clients, the organization observes the principle of centralization. In this way, all requests for staff work received by the hospital are processed by the center of the structure (Acob et al., 2018). This approach helps to reduce customer dissatisfaction and strengthen the staff’s system work. The principle of reward is also essential in the organization. In case of overtime, the hospital pays a salary increase to the staff. This encourages doctors and nurses to provide better services to the client.
Thus, Fayol’s theory applies to the work of government agencies and hospitals, in particular to the structure and operation of The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. Most of the management principles and functions described by Fayol improve the organization of patient admission and hospital operation. In this case, the organization provides a decent workplace for the staff and a high-quality service for all customers. Not all the principles of the described theory apply to the hospital. However, many of them improve the structural performance of the medical facility.
Reference List
Acob, J. R. U., Nugroho, H. S. W. & Martiningsih, W. (2018) ‘Nurse managers’ utilization of Fayol’s Theory in nursing’, Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development, 9(11), pp. 413-418.
Hatchuel, A. & Segrestin, B. (2019). ‘A century old and still visionary: Fayol’s innovative theory of management’. European Management Review, 16(2), pp. 399-412.
Heller, N. A. & Harrison, D. (2021). ‘The application of management and leadership theory to healthcare’, International Journal of Research in Business and Management, 3(1), pp. 6-12.
Khorasani, S. & Almasifard, M. (2017). Evolution of management theory within 20 century: A systemic overview of paradigm shifts in management. International Review of Management and Marketing, 7(3), pp. 134-137
Mercer, D., Haddon, A., & Loughlin, C. (2018). ‘Leading on the edge: The nature of paramedic leadership at the front line of care’. Healthcare Manage Rev, 43(1), pp. 12-20.