business - organisational design

Tall structures

Hierarchical.

Lots of layers of hierarchy.

Long chains of command.

Narrow spans of control.

Flat structures

Few layers of hierarchy.

Short chains of command.

Wide spans of control.

Delayering

Removing one or more layers of hierarchy from organisational structure.

Centralised structures

Where decisions are made by senior managers at the top of the business.

Decentralised structures

Where authority is shared out to more junior employees.

Matrix structures

Staff are organised by two different criteria - normally used if operations are project based.

Authority

The right or power assigned to a particular role in an organisation in order to achieve organisational objectives.

Delegation

The process of passing authority down the hierarchy from a manager to a subordinate.