Introduction
Contemporary managerial reality is based largely on a universalist logic. This vision rests on the convergence of organizations towards a single and universal management model proclaimed to be the “one best way”. This involves Fayol’s famous “planning, organizing, commanding and controlling” and its multiple derivatives, which are based on the Taylorist and Fordist models that we can sum up in the formula “command, control and execute”.
This prototypical model of traditional business is called into question in current and future contexts. In fact, the percentage of employees who feel disengaged from business never ceases to rise. According to a Capgemini study in 20141, the figure has risen to 40%. According to a study by Gallup2, the score is 80%. These figures lead us to question the foundations and practices of organizational management.
In fact, among Fayol’s principles, it is command and control that are strongly challenged in their application. With the major principles remaining stable in their broad lines over a century, new models of management must innovate in every dimension while particularly taking account of developments in society, themselves accelerated by the digital revolution. These upheavals have provoked many organizations to question their mode of management, moving from a traditional pyramidal organization to an agile structure. It is now necessary to have employees who are reactive and autonomous and who possess adaptive capacities.
In this ...