Staff and line

Staff and line are names given to different

types of functions in organizations. A "line
function" is one that directly advances an
organization in its core work. This always
includes production and sales, and
sometimes also marketing.[1] A "staff
function" supports the organization with
specialized advisory and support
functions. For example, human resources,
accounting, public relations and the legal
department are generally considered to be
staff functions.[2] Both terms originated in
the military.

Organizational lifecycle
Organizations begin as line-only, with line
manager having direct control over all
activities, including administrative ones.
Only later, as organizations grow in size,
do they add staff positions.[3]

Relative authority
Line managers have total authority over
those who report directly to them, but staff
workers have primarily advisory authority.
Their function is to create, develop, collect
and analyze shop information, which flows
to line workers in the form of advice.[4]

Staff positions can have four kinds of

authority: "advise authority," with line
managers choosing whether or not to seek
advice from the staff person, and deciding
what to do with the advice once they get it;
"compulsory advice" or "compulsory
consultation" in which line managers must
consider the staff person's advice, but can
choose not to heed it; "concurrent
authority," in which the line manager
cannot finalize a decision without the
agreement of the staff person, and
"functional authority" in which the staff
person has complete formal authority over
his or her area of specialty.[5] Management
theorists advise that functional authority
for staff positions should be extremely
limited in scope: it should cover only a tiny
aspect of the line managers' job, it should
relate only to areas in which line managers
have no expertise, and it should be granted
only where company-wide uniformity is
required. Common types of functional
authority for staff positions include
authority over recruiting standards,
reimbursement policies and quality
standards.[6]
Staff workers derive influence from expert
authority or "authority of knowledge," from
their control of information which may be
vital to line managers, and from their
closer access to upper management.[7][8]

Conflict between line and

staff
It is very common for line and staff
workers to come into conflict.[9] Staff
specialists say line workers avoid and
ignore them, and line workers say staff
workers lack expertise in the
organization's core work, distract them,
and get in their way. American
organizational sociologist Melville Dalton
attributed this to "the conspicuous
ambition and individualistic behavior
among staff managers," staff's anxiety to
justify their existence, and the dependence
of highly ranked staff managers on line
managers.[10] Other management theorists
have observed that line managers
sometimes resent staff advisors for being
younger and better-educated than they
are. Others attribute the problem to staff
managers not realizing that even though
they have been delegated authority in
particular areas, their primary role is to
serve and support line managers.
Management textbooks advise resolving
line-staff conflict by explicitly recognizing
the mutual dependency of the two, making
it clear what the staff role is, de-
emphasizing any controlling elements of
the staff role, having staff deliberately set
out to win the confidence and trust of line
workers, and emphasizing the staff role as
part of the team.[11]

Downsizing of staff function

Most MBA graduates have aspired to work
in staff positions using their analytical
skills to advise line managers. In the
1980s when many large companies began
downsizing to reduce their number of
employees, staff jobs were eliminated
more often than line jobs. (For example,
IBM cut its staff positions from 7,000 to
3,000, and CBS cut hundreds of staff
positions from its New York
headquarters.)[12] Thereafter, line jobs
began increasingly to contain some
analytic functions, and more new MBA
graduates began aspiring to line
functions.[13]

Management experts believe

organizations should minimize their
investment in staff positions, because they
increase costs while not directly
contributing to the organization's goals.
Increasingly organizations, especially
smaller ones, are beginning to move away
from line-staff structures to structures that
are more hybrid or matrixed.[14]

References
1. McDaniel, Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl
(2009). The future of business: the
essentials (4th, student ed.). Mason,
OH: South-Western Cenage Learning.
p. 182. ISBN 032459075X.
2. McConnell, Charles R. (2007). The
effective health care supervisor (6th
ed.). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and
Bartlett Publishers. p. 51.
ISBN 0763739510.
3. McDaniel, Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl
(2009). The future of business: the
essentials (4th, student ed.). Mason,
OH: South-Western Cenage Learning.
p. 182. ISBN 032459075X.
4. Ornstein, Fred C. Lunenburg, Allan C.
(2008). Educational administration:
concepts and practices (5th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. p. 40.
ISBN 0495115851.
5. Agarwal, R.D. (1986). Organization and
management (1. repr. ed.). New Delhi:
McGraw-Hill. p. 150.
ISBN 0074515063.
6. Handel, ed. Michael J. (2003). The
sociology of organizations classic,
contemporary, and critical readings (3.
printing. ed.). London [u.a.]: Sage.
pp. 149–152. ISBN 0761987665.
7. Agarwal, R.D. (1986). Organization and
management (1. repr. ed.). New Delhi:
McGraw-Hill. p. 150.
ISBN 0074515063.
 8. Handel, ed. Michael J. (2003). The
sociology of organizations classic,
contemporary, and critical readings (3.
printing. ed.). London [u.a.]: Sage.
pp. 149–152. ISBN 0761987665.
9. McConnell, Charles R. (2007). The
effective health care supervisor (6th
ed.). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and
Bartlett Publishers. p. 51.
ISBN 0763739510.
10. Dalton, Melville (1950). "Conflicts
between staff and line managerial
officers" . American Sociological
Review. 15: 342–351.
doi:10.2307/2087175 .
11. Handel, ed. Michael J. (2003). The
sociology of organizations classic,
contemporary, and critical readings (3.
printing. ed.). London [u.a.]: Sage.
pp. 149–152. ISBN 0761987665.
12. Griffin, Ricky W. (2010). Management
(10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western
Cengage Learning. pp. 358–9.
ISBN 1439080992.
13. Weihrich, Harold Koontz, Heinz (2007).
Essentials of management: an
international perspective (7th ed.).
New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. p. 182.
ISBN 007062030X.
 14. Griffin, Ricky W. (2010). Management
(10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western
Cengage Learning. p. 358.
ISBN 1439080992.

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