Page 126 - DCOM102_DMGT101_PRINCIPLES_AND_PRACTICES_OF_MANAGEMENT

Principles and Practices of Management

Notes 3. Under this system, the subordinates should follow the orders of their superior without
expression their opinion on the orders. That means there is limited communication.
4. There may be a good deal of nepotism and favouritism. This may result in efficient people
being left behind and inefficient people getting the higher and better posts.
5. The line organisation suffers from lack of specialised skill of experts. Modern business is
so complex that it is extremely difficult for one person to carry in his head all the necessary
details about his work in this department.
6. Line organisation is not suitable to big organisations because it does not provide specialists
in the structure. Many jobs require specialised knowledge to perform them.
7. If superiors take a wrong decision, it would be carried out without anybody having the
courage to point out its deficiencies.
8. The organisation is rigid and inflexible.
9. There is concentration of authority at the top. If the top executives are not capable, the
enterprise will not be successful.
Prof. Florence, sums up the inefficiencies of the line organisation system under three heads: (i)
Failure to get correct information and to act upon it; (ii) red-tape and bureaucracy; (iii) Lack of
specialised skill or experts… while commands go down the line under the hierarchical system
information is supposed to be coming up the line." In spite of these drawbacks, the line
organisation structure is very popular particularly in small organisations where there are less
number of levels of authority and a small number of people.

7.4.2 Line and Staff Organisation

In line and staff organisation, the line authority remains the same as it does in the line organisation.
Authority flows from top to bottom. The main difference is that specialists are attached to line
managers to advise them on important matters. These specialists stand ready with their speciality
to serve line mangers as and when their services are called for, to collect information and to give
help which will enable the line officials to carry out their activities better. The staff officers do
not have any power of command in the organisation as they are employed to provide expert
advice to the line officers. The combination of line organisation with this expert staff constitutes
the type of organisation known as line and staff organisation. The 'line' maintains discipline and
stability; the 'staff' provides expert information. The line gets out the production, the staffs
carries on the research, planning, scheduling, establishing of standards and recording of
performance. The authority by which the staff performs these functions is delegated by the line
and the performance must be acceptable to the line before action is taken. The following
Figure 7.2 depicts the line and staff organisation:
Figure 7.2: Line and Staff Organisation

Sales Manager

Market
Forecastor

Training Region A Sales Manager Region A Sales Manager Region A Sales Manager
Director

Sales people Sales people Sales people

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