id: 1261,5
title: Tradeoffs in reporting structure shape.
date: 2021-03-26

Tradeoffs in reporting structure shape.

Flat org = information flows top to bottom easily, but management layers cannot work 1:1 with employees much, or that is all they do. Vertical org = more layers of management and therefore more telephone game from top to bottom, but better suited for manager attentiveness whiere each employee has a unique, decision-heavy role. Fewer employees to manage.rN2 Flat means an organization favors structural autonomy, while tall entails tighter structural control. Structures that favor a cooperative nature will be harder to define, but are generally flatter. Higher management ratio is higher control preference.rK1

  1. ↩

    Robert W Keidel, Seeing Organizational Patterns: A New Theory and Language of Organizational Design (Washington, D.C.: Beard Books, 2005). (See notes.)

  2. ↩

    Gary Neilson, Jaime Estupiñán, and Bhushan Sethi, “10 Principles of Organization Design,” strategy+business, 2015, https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00318?gko=31dee. (See notes.)