No employee has more than one manager to order him and no manager can order an employee who is not his subordinate. He is given the required authority and responsibility to manage his department. Having a three-way authority system in the company facilitates expansion and growth. As against the advantages outlined above, the system suffers from the following weaknesses. General Manager. The first and foremost advantage of line organization is that it is very simple to understand and implement in the organization and hence there is no need to give extensive training to employees about the structure of the organization as all employees will know that flow of authority will be in a line and that too from top to bottom so there is Then each of his subordinates, who may himself be holding superior position in relation to sub-subordinates placed under him, makes decisions within the scope of his authority, and passes them on to the sub-subordinates. List of the Advantages of a Line of Credit. The advantages are noted below. Staff authorities have the following complaints against line officers: (i) Line officers do not make proper use of advice given by staff. B. outsourcing. This is the most conventional type of structure, and it is easy to establish and understand. Staff managers are placed in charge of vital issues that are best handled by a single, highly specialized individual, or in which a formal chain of command would simply hinder productivity and efficiency. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. For example, human resources, accounting, public relations and the legal . In this type of organisation, the whole unit is divided into different departments that are convenient for control purposes. Line organisation is easy to operate and less expensive. It is extremely difficult for one person to handle activities of diverse nature. Each foreman is supposed to take his orders from the production manager and is accountable to him for planning and execution of the work assigned to him. The authority is given with reference to the assignment of task. It is also worth mentioning here that the co-ordination on the basis of cooperation is rather enforced by the supervisor who will be in charge of two or three units. Content Filtration 6. This branch addresses a lack of expertise in a typicalline organizational structure. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. For this purpose, a department head is appointed for each department. Employees are expected to work on the same tasks without upskilling or learning about other aspects of the business. Line managers can work more efficiently with staff managers handling specialized functions. Simplicity: Line organisation is simple to establish and can be easily understood by the employees. 6. Report a Violation 11. The top-down approach helps streamline communication. There are both advantages and disadvantages of line organization. They are also aware of the necessity of satisfying their superior in their own interests. Advantages of Line Organization. Lundy, It is characterised by direct lines of authority flowing from the top to the bottom of the organisational hierarchy and lines of responsibility flowing in an opposite but equally direct manner.. Demerits 5. Advantages of Line Organisation: ADVERTISEMENTS: Line organisation offers the following advantages: (a) It is simple to operate and easy to understand. Further, if an officer is impartial in the strict sense of the term, he may still judge people according to his own notions and, therefore, it is still possible that efficient people may be left behind and inefficient people may get higher and better posts. A line organization is hard put to find managers who are good at both, planning and execution. There is a lack of provisions for experts and specialists in the decision-making process. Fixed responsibility: Duties and responsibilities are clearly defined for each individual with reference to the work assigned to him. military, vertical, scalar, departmental organization. The higher management can help improve line and staff structure by well-defined job roles and considering suggestions of functional officers. about B2B Account-Based Marketing: How to Grow Sales? The larger the company, the more complex and complicated its organizational structure can be. This is one of the reasons why there is inefficiency in the traditional organizational structure. Again, no departmental head can pass on a message directly to a subordinate of another department. A line organization is the oldest and traditional form of organizational structure. Only one person is in charge of a department or division. Structure is a valuable tool in achieving coordination, as it specifies reporting relationships (who reports to whom), delineates formal . All other types of organization structure have mostly been either modifications of this organization. Teamined.com is a meeting room for employer and employee that will help you build positive employer branding or get your dream job. (i) Heavy Burden of Work- Since the departmental head has to look after all the activities of his department, he is over burdened with work. Opportunities for Advancement. (ii) Line officers reject the advice without giving reasons. If a decision making process involves the consultation of a number of persons then there are likely to be delays in deciding things. One of the advantages of the line organization structure is simplicity. The allocation of work will also help in fixing responsibility of various individuals. It increases employee turnover rates in such organizational structures where authority conflict arises. Under this organisation, activities on any one level are the same. It also allows quick decisions and efficient coordination. Since they are to take decisions with regard to every aspect of business, the quality of decisions may suffer. It does not involve a large number of people. Each level of management has equal rights. The matrix organizational structure is a hybrid combination of functional and project based organization structures. Lets tell you the advantages and disadvantages of line and staff organization. This can be effective when organizations are short on time. Line organization enables the staff to work more toward the execution of tasks. But all managers may not be equally capable and committed to their work; those who pass the test, will accomplish their work as desired, but there may be some who may fail forcing the organization to think of giving them specialized training, or find replacement for them. Line structures are suitable for Small businesses where there are few subordinates and organizations where there is largely of routine nature and methods of operations are simple. Flexibility: This system is flexible in the sense that it is subject to quick adjustments to suit the changing conditions. Matthew was a floor manager at a local restaurant in Wales. Direct Communication: As this system enables direct contact between the superior and his subordinates, direct communication is made possible. Every person is in charge of all the persons under him and he himself is accountable to his superior only. In simple words when you are driving a car and the brake of the car is not working then you know that it is you who has to handle this situation as you are in the driver seat a and you cannot escape the situation in the same way in case of line organization the top management has to face and solve the problems as they cannot rely on others for solving the problem. Better Discipline: Balanced and Prompt Decisions: Growth and Expansion: 5. Quick decisions and their implementation help to get the benefit of business opportunities. If the top executives are not capable, the enterprise will not be successful. Two types of managerial authority are granted by an organizational structure. The sales department can be further sub-divided into Counter Sales, Branch Sales, On Line Sales and Export. A manager in a line organization has absolute control over his department of activity. Each position in the structure has an authority over a lower position. Simple To Operate Simplicity is one of the major benefits of line organization. Plagiarism Prevention 5. Line and staff officers and managers must understand each others work scope and not try to interfere. If the managers treat the employees as a pendulum between them, they will most likely get tired of their job roles. about How does a Valuator Value a Business? An executive cannot shift his decision-making to others, nor can the blame be shifted. Quick Decisions: . This is because of unified control. The officers work according to their whims and preferences. 2. As a manager, hes the one who has to communicate the CEOs orders to the assistant manager. Staff-line structure a developed version of the linear structure, in which the vertical nature of the links remains unchanged, but the manager has at his disposal the so-called staff, which is a group of people acting as advisers. Although an executive can delegate authority, he has ultimate responsibility for results. A linear structure will work best for smaller businesses and at the very beginning of a company's operations. Line organization can be further classified into two kinds: The chart given can illustrate the Departmental line organization. General Manager. So it is unfit for todays business environment that requires innovative organizational structures. It represents a direct vertical relationship through which authority flows. Expert Advice: The staff officers provide expert advice and guidance to line officers and by this, the enterprise as a whole gets benefit. Learn about:- 1. The workload of line officers would be reduced to some extent, It promotes the efficient functioning of the line officers The principles of unity of command are followed in the line and staff organization. Coordination: Since each department is controlled by one man, complete coordination throughout the department is assured. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. A line organizational structure helps build rapport between senior management and employees. Secondly, there should be only one chain, i.e., command should be received from only one immediate superior. In the line organization there is a vertical line of authority. In spite of many limitations, the importance of line organisation cannot be minimised. Each sub-department is look after by one supervisor and adequate number of workers are working under them. There should be a single line of command. 2. about A Comprehensive Guide to Enterprise Thin Client Systems. Further, the span of supervision theory says no executive in a line organization should be burdened with supervising more than a manageable number of subordinates. Many subordinates do so because they lack ability to judge whether the decision is right or wrong, but the mischievous ones among them may carry out even apparently wrong decisions to pinpoint the incompetence of manager. Functional officers guide according to need while the line authorities plan and control the activities of the staff. All persons at the same level of authority should be independent of one another. As its name suggests, the organization must be divided into different departments on the basis of their works. In the words of J.M. Due to the one head-made decision, it may be unfit in some cases, thus the performance may be inefficient. The only problem with a credit card is that it will usually carry a high APR. (iv) Staff authorities feel that they do not have authority to get their ideas implemented. This system of organization is also known as Scalar, Traditional or hierarchical form of organization. This is known by different names, i.e. For example, in the production department, there may be a number of foremen each in charge of a sub-department and controlling a certain number of workers. Each foreman works independently, without any formal line of authority or responsibility with other foremen and takes orders from his superior or superintendent to whom he is directly responsible. They are only required to do as told to them by respective managers. Conforms to the scalar principle of organization. Required fields are marked *. There may be a lack of operational uniformity among various departments. put an organization on the path to competitive advantage. Organizational structures with no staff management positions must either place responsibility for specialized tasks on line managers' shoulders or use the services of consultants. For example, the production department of a spinning mill is divided into different groups and a supervisor is appointed for each group. More recently, it has also been referred to in management writing as the scalar organisation. The improper distribution of authority and responsibility can create problems within the organization. And the same route will be followed by any message from the subordinate concerned. Among the advantages of a line structure, experts most often include: In such a situation, the problem of imbalance in the managerial decision may arise. This is known by different names, i.e. Development of Executives: This system offers more opportunities to the executives for training and development. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. 3. Every organizational system comes with some pros and cons. Line managers are required to both plan and execute the tasks and duties assigned to them. Line authority means giving the person a particular amount of control for specific tasks. 2. (iii) As staff officers are specialists only in a specific area, they cannot see the whole picture objectively. He/ she is fully responsible for running the department. His task is challenging and he is expected to discharge his responsibility in an efficient way. The line officers may become autocratic and start deciding things without consulting their subordinates. (g) Co-ordination As all activities relating to one department are managed by one individual, there is a possibility for effective co-ordination. Most of the work done in aline organizational structureis routine. Line managers make formal decisions within their sphere of authority that directly influence the way a company does business, including production goals, organizational policies and compensation decisions. Unity of command supports settling the duty in the line organization. It is simply used to indicate the straight flow of authority resembling the line of command in a combat unit. The work load of executives goes on increasing with the expansion and diversification of the unit. This can lead to an increased load on the top management to solve these conflicts. The following are the main drawbacks of this system: 1. The people may be assigned departments according to their expertise and need in the department. Although there is communication from top to bottom there is usually no communication from the lower ranks to higher ranks and executives. 1. Line organization is the oldest and simplest method of administrative organization. It requires recruiting specialized employees who offer guidance to the line and staff officers. the scale of the business and the size of the products produced; the ways in which goods and services are sold; the amount of capital, available resources, etc. Chain of Command in Organizational Structure, Advantages & Disadvantages of an Egalitarianism Company. Flexibility: Staff can be added to the line and new activities may be introduced without disturbing the line procedure. Line organization refers to that organization in which the authority flows from top to down in a vertical manner and not in a horizontal manner. This means relying a little too much on their individual capability, knowledge and experience. This kind of authority flows down the line. Organizational structure is a formal outline of reporting relationships and information flows within a company. Hierarchy of Authority Levels 7. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Hence, discipline can be maintained there. They are not provided with an opportunity to put forward their view point or problems or suggestions to persons at the top level. Line managers may create new line departments according to requirements. There is a likelihood that some persons may be given favours and deserving persons, on the other hand, may be ignored. All organizations follow specific organizational structures to run the company smoothly. There is a scope for favouritism in line organisation. If they are not able the enterprise will not be successful. Under this, the whole enterprise is divided into different departments for achieving maximum amount of convenience in controlling the whole enterprise. The executive may appoint and promote his own men in various positions ignoring the claim of efficient persons. Line officers take their own decisions without looking to specialised personnel. They must stay within the limit of their authority and act accordingly. He can take a decision according to the requirements of the situation. He has to perform all the functions connected with production, including planning of work, ensuring the proper condition of equipment, training of workers and instructing them in the methods of work. Possibility for effective Co-ordination solve these conflicts staff can be further classified into two kinds: the given! Can the blame be shifted who reports to whom ), delineates formal enables. 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