Any organization is ,in fact, a hierarchy. Someone has to be above you and there's bound to be someone below. But the question is that do we really need to have a hierarchy for smooth working conditions? The answer that comes to my mind is "yes". In an organization you need to have someone who'll issue orders and someone who will follow them. The higher you go up the hierarchy the more you will notice that as you go up the less becomes the number of people. This is because if there are too many people to giving out orders there is bound to be some heat as every one would want their orders to be given top priority. If one person gives orders and the rest follow the result be a smoother flow of information and higher productivity. If every one works on the same level there is never going to be any equilibrium and the work would be done in a haphazard manner.
Virtual Teamwork
15 years ago
3 comments:
I agree that you need a hierarchy to run a group, organization, company, or community. What I think is important about this hierarchical system is that it understands its role, and is willing to defer to key personnel for the accomplishments of its goals. The leadership in this system would need to understand the culture and goals of the organization. If the leader is coming up from within the ranks, then the organization will be sure to either respect or question the promotion of this individual to become the new leader.
The organization needs to set a course for elevating individuals in the organization to be considered worthy of this leadership position. Career paths grooming the individual to be well versed in the operations of the organization will be key. The organization will see up close and personal the type of individual this person is. In addition to working with this potential leader, the organization will see the potential for leadership and the generation of new ideas and philosophies.
This system of creating leaders within an organization is vital to the success of the entire company.
I also agree with Affan's statement about the need of organization hierarchy. Somebody at the top should be defining the vision and communicate it. And other people should be executing and implementing this vision. However it seems that over the years, many companies have reduced the number of layers of management. This "de-layering" or "hierarchy flattening" movement has allowed companies to be more flexible and respond to the market demand faster. Hierarchy can prevent companies to be proactive. By reducing the number of layers in hierarchy, messages get communicated directly to employees which in turn allows employees to be more responsive.
I believe that a hierarchy, understood as the structure which gives the company authorial form, is important. It becomes more complicated when the organization grows. The larger the organization, the more layers there are, and the more difficult it is to facilitate smooth communication. And as zamoradesign pointed out, there is a need to defer to key personnel when necessary. IT is also important to construct appropriate criteria for advancement within the heirarchy (experience, seniority, potential/talent....). Some of these work better than others.
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