Hierarchical structure is where the organisation has a definite top down look to its organisational diagram

Organisational structure

Companies and businesses that are made up of many people, organise themselves in many ways. two examples are, hierarchical and flat.

Hierarchical structure is where the organisation has a definite top down look to its organisational structure. the structure resembles a pyramid. This is the traditional view of a company. The directors at the top, followed by department heads - sales, finance, personnel - then the middle managers - area managers, product managers - followed by the junior employees - the sales representatives, the shop floor workers.

Hierarchical structural diagram

The flat structure is the opposite to the hierarchical structure. Here there is a single level of management. An example might be a firm of lawyers or GP's (General Practitioners) who all operate their own specialism. This type of structure encourages more teamwork.

Comparison of Flat and Hierarchical Organisations

Type of Organisational Structure	Advantages	Disadvantages
Hierarchical	Easier definition of roles and responsibilities	May hamper the assembly of special purpose, ad hoc teams (more difficult to alter teams for specific tasks)
	Greater scope for developing expertise	Likely to encourage set ways of behaviour
	More frequent opportunities for promotion	May impede decision making
Flat	May encourage personal development and display of initiative	May cause problems when an individual leaves at short notice
Flat	Possibility of greater responsiveness to unforseen events	May restrict development of specific skills and creation of centres of competence.