Waterloo, Ia Case Study

Henri Fayol’s principles of organizational structure

1. Authority and Responsibility

-Authority =“the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience”

-Responsibility means ensuring accountability

-the two are related so whoever has authority also has responsibility

-Form of gov’t=strong mayor-council form, mayor and members of city council are elected, but mayor is elected separately. Under this form, the Mayor has administrative authority and the authority to appoint and dismiss without approval. Given the form of gov’t, the mayor has the ultimate authority and responsibility, but A&R should also be delegated among the department heads as well. For example, in the purchasing department, the purchasing manager will hold authority and responsibility for approving and overseeing all purchases being made. For the financial department, the Chief Financial Officer will hold authority and responsibility for all employees in financially related jobs.

2. Unity of Command

-the idea that subordinates should only be given orders by one supervisor

-Within the finance department, all financial issues will be directed to the CFO. This can unify command within the department because everyone dealing with anything financially related will always report to the CFO, no one else. The CFO, city clerk, and the purchasing department will all report to the Mayor, establishing an overall unity of command for these specific departments. The departments that should remain independent from the Mayor, in order to keep decisions unbiased, are the finance committee and internal audit and they will report to the city council, establishing unity of command on that side.

3. Unity of Direction

-states that the entity as a whole should work towards a common objective and thus move in a common direction

- While the city of Waterloo should have encompassing goals, each department should also have specific goals that will allow that particular department to contribute towards...