A Perceptual study of POSDCORB 

©Asheesh Kamal, Creator and Author

LIS Cafe (Library & Information Science and Computer Applications For Educated youths)

Kamal, Asheesh (2020). A perceptual study of POSDCORB, Published on LIS Cafe website.

In this paper you’ll learn about :

·      Introduction

·      What is POSDCORB?

·      POSDCORB stands for?

·     Steps of POSDCORB

·       Organisational structure

·       Importance of POSDCORB

·       Example of POSDCORB

Introduction

POSDCORB is an acronym widely used in the field of Management and Public Administration that reflects the classic view of Organizational theory.It appeared most prominently in a 1937 paper by Luther Gulick (in a set edited by himself and Lyndall Urwick). However, he first presented the concept in 1935. Initially, POSDCORB was envisioned in an effort to develop public service professionals. In Gulick's own words, the elements are as follows: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Co Ordinating, Reporting and Budgeting.

      In his piece "Notes on the Theory of Organization," a memo prepared while he was a member of the Brownlow Committee, Luther Gulick asks rhetorically "What is the work of the chief executive? What does he do?" POSDCORB is the answer, "designed to call attention to the various functional elements of the work of a chief executive because 'administration' and 'management' have lost all specific content."

According to Gulick, the elements are:

Planning

Organizing

Staffing

Directing

Co-ordinating

Reporting

Budgeting

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.

 POSDCORB stands for?

It was the American political scientist Luther Gulick and the British management consultant Lyndall Urwick who elaborated Henri Fayol‘s management ideas in their management paper Notes on theory of Organisations, which they published in 1937.

Steps of POSDCORB

This essentially refers to the various steps or stages involved in a typical administrative process. POSDCORB can be explained in detail below:

1. Planning: This essentially refers to establishing a broad sketch of the work to be completed and the procedures incorporated to implement them.

2. Organizing: Organizing involves formally classifying, defining and synchronizing the various sub-processes or subdivisions of the work to be done.

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.

4. Directing:  This entails decision making and delegating structured instructions and orders to execute them.

5. Coordinating: This basically refers to orchestrating and interlinking the various components of the work.

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.

7. Budgeting: Budgeting involves all the activities that under Auditing, Accounting, Fiscal Planning and Control.

Organisational structure

According to Gulik and Urwick, the design of an organisation is very important. A poorly-organised structure leads to dysfunctional departments and, by extension, organisation. This is why different activities must be grouped together in the right way, so that departments can be created, each with their own specialisms. If tasks overlap, this is indicative of an illogical, wasteful and inefficient design. There must also be clarity about responsibilities and hierarchical layers.

 

Importance of POSDCORB

Every business needs to have systematic framework in ensuring there is maximum output, minimum wastage and higher margins. POSDCORB is one such method in management where workforce and employees can be managed in a way which would be beneficial for a company. This concept helps organizations to break down the work into multiple processes and help in getting maximum value out to each employee. These steps and stages of POSDCORB help the HR team to deliver to the needs of a company.

Example of POSDCORB

Consider a multinational starting an exercise involving a good number of employees in the workforce. As per POSDCORB, the planning stage would be doing the thorough research about the number of people needed, team size, work type etc. Organizing and staffing stages would be the HR department making a list of people i.e. supervisors and subordinates who would could execute this role. One this is done, as per POSDCORB directing would be giving instructions and ensuring implementation of the plan as per the requirement. To ensure a better two way communication, coordinating plays a pivotal role. Once all this done, the different ways of reporting are done which ensures accountability and responsibility of the team. Finally, the budget to be allocated is studied. In this way, POSDCORB can be used for better management.

Introduction

POSDCORB is an acronym widely used in the field of Management and Public Administration that reflects the classic view of Organizational theory.It appeared most prominently in a 1937 paper by Luther Gulick (in a set edited by himself and Lyndall Urwick). However, he first presented the concept in 1935. Initially, POSDCORB was envisioned in an effort to develop public service professionals. In Gulick's own words, the elements are as follows: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Co Ordinating, Reporting and Budgeting.

      In his piece "Notes on the Theory of Organization," a memo prepared while he was a member of the Brownlow Committee, Luther Gulick asks rhetorically "What is the work of the chief executive? What does he do?" POSDCORB is the answer, "designed to call attention to the various functional elements of the work of a chief executive because 'administration' and 'management' have lost all specific content."

According to Gulick, the elements are:

Planning

Organizing

Staffing

Directing

Co-ordinating

Reporting

Budgeting

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.

 

POSDCORB stands for?

It was the American political scientist Luther Gulick and the British management consultant Lyndall Urwick who elaborated Henri Fayol‘s management ideas in their management paper Notes on theory of Organisations, which they published in 1937.

Steps of POSDCORB

This essentially refers to the various steps or stages involved in a typical administrative process. POSDCORB can be explained in detail below:

1. Planning: This essentially refers to establishing a broad sketch of the work to be completed and the procedures incorporated to implement them.

2. Organizing: Organizing involves formally classifying, defining and synchronizing the various sub-processes or subdivisions of the work to be done.

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.

4. Directing:  This entails decision making and delegating structured instructions and orders to execute them.

5. Coordinating: This basically refers to orchestrating and interlinking the various components of the work.

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.

7. Budgeting: Budgeting involves all the activities that under Auditing, Accounting, Fiscal Planning and Control.

Organisational structure

According to Gulik and Urwick, the design of an organisation is very important. A poorly-organised structure leads to dysfunctional departments and, by extension, organisation. This is why different activities must be grouped together in the right way, so that departments can be created, each with their own specialisms. If tasks overlap, this is indicative of an illogical, wasteful and inefficient design. There must also be clarity about responsibilities and hierarchical layers.

 

Importance of POSDCORB

Every business needs to have systematic framework in ensuring there is maximum output, minimum wastage and higher margins. POSDCORB is one such method in management where workforce and employees can be managed in a way which would be beneficial for a company. This concept helps organizations to break down the work into multiple processes and help in getting maximum value out to each employee. These steps and stages of POSDCORB help the HR team to deliver to the needs of a company.

Example of POSDCORB

Consider a multinational starting an exercise involving a good number of employees in the workforce. As per POSDCORB, the planning stage would be doing the thorough research about the number of people needed, team size, work type etc. Organizing and staffing stages would be the HR department making a list of people i.e. supervisors and subordinates who would could execute this role. One this is done, as per POSDCORB directing would be giving instructions and ensuring implementation of the plan as per the requirement. To ensure a better two way communication, coordinating plays a pivotal role. Once all this done, the different ways of reporting are done which ensures accountability and responsibility of the team. Finally, the budget to be allocated is studied. In this way, POSDCORB can be used for better management.