Dabbawala - Exemplifying and Epitomizing Henry Fayols General Management Principles

Abstract

Dabbawala has been a much narrated case study in Logistics Management. The paper strongly opines that the success of the Dabbawala lies in their attitude and ideology. The paper takes a different view to as a Case study to learn General Administrative Management. This case study digs into the philosophy and practices of the Dabbawala and thereby infers what fetches them 6 Sigma certification, what makes Richard Branson travel with them in a jam packed train, what makes Prince Charles invite them for marriage. The paper initially talks about their modus operandi, and then enumerates the achievements and highlights of Dabbawala. The paper then tries to understand the psychological aspects about their organization and puts forth 21 learning for general administration of organization. Their attitude, approach and discipline are beyond just praising, actually one must learn from them. The paper recommends organizations to follow these 21 practices as a means to implement most of the 14 principles of Administrative Management and explains the rationale for saying so. Although Henry Fayol has developed the Administrative Management and its 14 principles, the Dabbawala have unknowingly exemplified & epitomized most of them in practice, and they have much more in store to learn from.

Keywords: Dabbawala, Six Sigma, General Management, Henry Fayol

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