Module 1

Line and Staff

Organization
On the basis of Hierarchy
 On the basis of allocation of duties and responsibilities and
delegation of authority.
 It shows pattern of communication and co-ordination.
 Also shows who is to direct whom, and who is to report to
whom.
 There are basically four structure recognized by
organizational theorist.
(a) Functional Organization
(b) Line Organization
(c) Line & Staff organization
(d) Committee Organization.
Functional Organization or Functional Foremanship(Staff)
 Originated by F.W Taylor
 Taylor felt that no one supervisor or boss have the expertise
necessary to direct or guide all his subordinates.
 He set up 8 boss for each production unit, each supervisor was
assigned some supervisory responsibility.
 Each worker in the production department has eight supervisors.
 Taylor divided the supervisory function into two : (1) Office or
Planning division (2) Factory division.
(1) Gang Boss – Production (2) Speed Boss – Setting the standard
of production (3) Inspector in charge – Checking the quality of
work (4) Repair boss – Repair of equipment (5) Order-of-work
clerk – determines the best way to do the job (6) Time & cost
clerk – information relating to time & cost (7) Shop disciplinarian
– Personnel activities (8) Work Boss or Route clerk
Foremen in the Office Division
 The Route Clerk: The route clerk is responsible for
ascertaining the actual route through which whole work
process travel from conversion of raw materials into finished
products.
 2. Instruction Card Clerk: He prescribes the exact method
of completing a work according to the route specified.
 3. Time and Cost Clerk: He specified the standard time for
the completion of the work and also fixes the time schedule
for each element of the job. He also looks after the work
relating to payroll and cost. Recent tendency is to split up the
functions of this clerk into two separate units – the pay roll
department and the cost department.
 4. Shop Disciplinarian: He acts as a personnel manger and
deals with the cases of indiscipline and absenteeism. Thus, his
primary function is to maintain orderliness in the factory and
Foremen in the factory Division:
 The factory division consists of the following four foremen:
 1. Gang Boss: The gang boss is concerned with the
preparation of work for the machine such as the set up of
machine, moving work from machine to machine and from
machine to stores.
 2. Speed Boss: He is in charge of technical supervision of the
work. Such as correcting the speed of the work, flow of work
from one place to another, etc. Now-a-days he is designated as
Assistant Foreman.
 3. Inspector: The inspector is entrusted with all inspection
and testing works. He is responsible for the quality of the
product.
 4. Repair Boss: The repair boss is entrusted with the task of
proper repair and maintenance of the equipment and up-keep
of the plant
Advantages
 Specialization
 Increase in efficiency
 Scope of growth
 Flexibility
 Relief to top executives
 Economy of operation
 Better supervision
 Democratic control
Disadvantages
 Conflict in authority
 Lack of coordination
 Difficulty in fixing responsibility
 Delay in decision
 Poor Discipline
 Expensive
 Group rivalry
Line Organization
 It is the oldest form of organization, based on the classical
principle of the scalar chain or chain of command.
 Represents a direct vertical relationship through authority
flows. Means authority flows from top to bottom.
 Each subordinate is responsible for his immediate superior.
 Common in many small and medium sized companies.
 Authority & responsibility flows in an “unbroken straight
line”, so called as line organization.
 This structure is mainly followed in military establishments.
 Types of Line Organization :
 (1) Pure Line organization
 (2)Department Line organization.
Advantages of Line organization
 Simplicity
 Identification of authority & responsibility
 Co-ordination
 Effective communication
 Economical
 Quick decision
 Unity of command
 Effective control and supervision
 Executive development
 Flexibility
Disadvantages of Line Organization
 Excess work
 Lack of specialization
 Lack of coordination
 Improper communication
 Lack of initiative
 Favoritism
 Instability
Pure Line Organization
 Allpersons at the given level perform the same type of work
 The departmentalization are done only for the purpose of
control, direction and convenience.
Departmental Line Organization
 Dividesthe entire organization into departments which are
convenient for control purpose.
 The whole organization is put under the control of GM, under
which various departmental managers get orders , every
department will have its own line of organization.
Line & Staff Organization
 The common structure used in modern industries.
 Organization need the service of line as well as staff people who
share the work load of line people. Specially in large organizations.
 Line people are those who contribute directly to the goals of the
organization & staff contribute indirectly.
 In an organization personnel, finance & engineering are considered
as staff organization.
 The staff people provide a number of services and relieve the number
of line people from overload.
 But sometimes line and staff organization creates power barriers
between line and staff people.
 Louis A Allen stated the “ line refers to those position & element if
the organization which have the responsibility , authority and
accountable to attain the primary objectives. Staff have the
responsibility and authority to provide advise and service to the line”.
Advantages of Line & Staff Organization
 Specialization
 Better discipline
 Balanced and prompt decision
 Growth and expansion
 Development of employees
 Lesser burden on line officers
 Quick actions
Disadvantages
 Conflict between line and staff personnel
 Lack of responsibility
 More dependence on staff
 Lack of coordination
Line & Staff conflict
 Conflict about authority & responsibility .
 High cost for staff functions and are blamed for the same by
line managers.
 Credit are mostly gone to line managers when a project
becomes successful.
 Staff people are forced to operate with limited objectives.
 Line managers are normally ignorant and bull headed who
resist ideas.
 Line are mostly distress, incorporate towards staff.
A number of persons may come together
to take a decision, decide a course of
action, advise line officers on some
matters, it is a committee form of
organization.
A committee is not a separated type of
organization as such. But it is a method of
attaching persons or groups to line
departments for advice and guidance in
business planning and execution.
 The committees are set up for the following
reasons

Forum for exchanging ideas

To generate some suggestions and recommendations

for organization

 Proper discussion on present problems

To find solutions for the problems.

 Needed in establishing and developing

organizational policies.
 Types of Committees

1. Formal and Informal Committees:

If a committee is formed as a part of
organization structure and is delegated
some duties and authority, it is a formal
committee. An informal committee may
be formed to tackle some problem.
2. Advisory Committees:
These are the committees to advice line
heads on certain issues.
Line officers may refer some problems or
issues to a committee for advice.
The committee will collect information about
the problem and recommend solution for the
same.
 The line officers have the powers to accept,
modify or reject the suggestions of advisory
committees.
These committees have no managerial
powers and cannot exert their views on the
line executives
3. Line Committees:

There may be committees with managerial

powers. Instead of giving a work to one
person it may be assigned to a number of
executives.
The committees having administrative
powers are called line or plural committees.
Line committees help in planning company
policies and programmes and organizing
efforts at fulfillment of these plans, etc.
These committees also direct and control
the activities of employees for achieving
organizational goals.