

Flat Structures: Should Business Consider Ditching Hierarchies? - room4debate
http://room4debate.com/debate/flat-structures-for-businesses-should-we-consider-ditching-the-traditional-model

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dalke
There's a Dilbert cartoon from the 1990s. Consultant comes in and says
"centralize!" Later, after that's done, the consultant comes back again and
says "decentralize!"

For what it's worth, there are many journal publications on flat vs. tall
organizations, dating from at least 1950 with Worthy's "Organizational
Structure and Employe Morale". See
[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22flat+organization%22](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22flat+organization%22)
for some of the publications.

As I learn more about history, I grow suspicious of statements like "The
problem with a hierarchical structure is that it increasingly doesn't fit the
needs of modern businesses." How is modern business in this regard any
different than businesses of the 1960s and 1970s? Is the author following a
current fad or is it based on a deeper historical understanding?

For example,
[http://www.psgoodrich.com/pc/docs/ARTICLES/HumanSideOfEnterp...](http://www.psgoodrich.com/pc/docs/ARTICLES/HumanSideOfEnterprise.PDF)
from 1957 talks about "In this connection, the flat organization of Sears,
Roebuck and Company provides an interesting example. It forces "management by
objectives," since it enlarges the number of people reporting to a manager
until he cannot direct and control them in the conventional manner. JOB
ENLARGEMENT: This concept ... encourages the acceptance of responsibility at
the bottom of the organization ..."

That's nearly 60 years ago. Why did those fail to produce sufficiently flat
modern organizations? How can that failure be avoided this time?

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crymer
I think context is important. What was the context back then vs. today? I
would argue that what the author is saying about business environment changing
so quickly, especially because of technological advances, makes sense. It
might not have made sense back then, but today it probably makes a lot more
sense.

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room4debate
Thanks for the comments. I encourage you to debate the author directly with
your views.

