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Departmentalization Theory

Luther Halsey Gulick was an influential theorist in organization and administration in the early 1900s. He developed the theories of departmentalization and POSDCORB. Gulick's departmentalization theory proposed that work can be divided into departments based on four principles - purpose, process, persons, and place. POSDCORB is an influential framework for management composed of the functions of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting. Gulick's theories of departmentalization and POSDCORB formed the basis for principles of scientific management and administration.

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387 views18 pages

Departmentalization Theory

Luther Halsey Gulick was an influential theorist in organization and administration in the early 1900s. He developed the theories of departmentalization and POSDCORB. Gulick's departmentalization theory proposed that work can be divided into departments based on four principles - purpose, process, persons, and place. POSDCORB is an influential framework for management composed of the functions of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting. Gulick's theories of departmentalization and POSDCORB formed the basis for principles of scientific management and administration.

Uploaded by

Christopher Glenn Santos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Departmentalization Theory &

Ten Principles of Organization

Christian Buban Tuazon Dr. Rain M. Blanco


PhD-EM Student BulSU GS Professor
Who is Luther Halsey Gulick?

Luther Halsey Gulick, gave significant


leadership and promotion to the playground
and recreation movements of the early 1900s.
With most of his time involved in the fields of
physical education and hygiene, he liked to
take ideas and thoughts, develop them further,
put an organization together to bring the ideas
to fruition, and then turn the leadership over to
others while he moved on to another set of
ideas.
Theory of Departmentalization

The theory of departmentalization addresses


itself to the problem of bases on which work
may be divided and departments created.
Luther Gulick, identifies four of them
through which the problem of assignment may
be solved. These are identified as purpose,
process, persons, and place which are
popularly known as the 4p’ s of Gulick.
Theory of Departmentalization
In the first place the work may be divided
on the basis of the major purpose or
function. Here one has to identify the
major functions and goals of organization
and create departments for each one of
such functions. Gulick emphasizes on the
self-containment of the organization and
low coordination costs involved as
advantages of this base.
Theory of Departmentalization

Secondly, process or skills


specialization is suggested as an
alternative to purpose of this basis is
accepted then all work based on similar
process or skills should be grouped
together since it involves use of same
knowledge, skills and processes.
Theory of Departmentalization

Specialization of work according to the


clientele served is the third of the bases
propounded by Gulick. Here he
mentions the specialized skills that
members of such department develop in
serving the particular groups.
Theory of Departmentalization

But this principle is not only inadequate


for universal application, but
coordination between such
organizations becomes difficult on
account of overlapping and duplication.
Gulick also considers territory or place
as another base.
Theory of Departmentalization

Here all functions performed in a given


area are clubbed together and
departments created. This base may be
fruitfully used for the intensive
development of any area. The members
of such departments also become area
specialists.
What is POSDCORB?
POSDCORB is an acronym which
means Planning, Organizing, Staffing,
Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and
Budgeting which was first coined in a
paper on administrative management
that was written for the Brownlow
Committee by Luther Gulick and
Lyndall Urwick. POSDCORB can be
used as a systematic framework for
efficiently executing business processes
in a company or by an individual.
Steps of POSDCORB
1. Planning
• This essentially refers to establishing a
broad sketch of the work to be
completed and the procedures
incorporated to implement them.
• Planning is the first and most
important step in POSDCORB as it
sets the overall structure of the process
with activities and timelines.
Steps of POSDCORB
2. Organizing
• Organizing involves formally
classifying, defining and
synchronizing the various sub-
processes or subdivisions of the work
to be done.
• It makes sure that the activities and
timelines in the first step of planning
are refined and organized further so
that right people can be staffed to
execute these tasks.
Steps of POSDCORB
3. Staffing
• This involves recruiting and selecting
the right candidates for the job and
facilitating their orientation and
training while maintaining a favorable
work environment.
Steps of POSDCORB
4. Directing
• This entails decision making and
delegating structured instructions and
orders to execute them.
• Directing is an important step in the
POSDCORB cycle as it makes thing
happen by giving clear objectives to
teams and individuals.
Steps of POSDCORB
5. Coordinating
• This basically refers to orchestrating
and interlinking the various
components of the work.
Steps of POSDCORB
6. Reporting
• Reporting involves regularly updating
the superior about the progress or the
work related activities. The
information dissemination can be
through records or inspection.
Steps of POSDCORB
7. Budgeting
• Budgeting involves all the activities
that under Auditing, Accounting,
Fiscal Planning and Control.
• POSDCORB - Meaning, Importance, Steps & Example | MBA Skool
• POSDCORB theory by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick – Toolshero
• Luther Gulick (pgpedia.com)
• The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Luther Gulick (hoophall.com)
• Luther gulick, public administration and
• classical management: International Journal of Public Administration: Vol 21, No
• 2-4 (tandfonline.com)

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