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Luther Gulick 's Theory Of Organization

Satisfactory Essays

Hammond, T. H. (1990). In Defense of Luther Gulicks’s Notes on the Theory of Organization. Public Administration. 68(1), 143-173.
Question
How important is Luther Gulick’s approach to the foundation of Public Administration?
Methods
Gulick mentioned the implication of organizing by purpose, process, persons, or place. This theory had been adopted by Thompson (1967), Mintzberg (1979), and Hammond (1986). Hammond demonstrated how Gulick’s different methods of departmentalization proves that an organization structure could affect the organizations decision making. Also highlighting that the structure of an organization will always affect the outcome of an organization. Gulick’s outlook on alternative methods included long-term implications and short term decisions. He believed that organization by process worried more about how things are done instead of what is accomplished. Chandler (1962) and Williamson (1975) highlighted that Gulick would agree that the product-line division is the best fit structure. Rourke (1969), Lowi (1969), and McConnell supported Gulick theory on the difficulties of democratic control and how it does correlate when it comes to coordinating social policies. The article concludes that Gulick’s essay was a little ahead of it time but it presented an extraordinary perceptive on public administration. Gulick essay was looked at as the future research because of his hypothesis and observations. Gulick highlighted the need for development of statistical

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