Pro's and Con's of the Chain of Command - Essay Example

It is largely based on the organizational hierarchy and the size of the business. The aspect of ‘Chain of Command’ is termed to be essential for an organization due to the fact that it assists the employees to understand their roles and responsibilities in the organization. It also assists the top managerial team to supervise the organisational operations in a systematic and organized form (Schulman, M. & Kowadlo, B. F., “Working Smart”). On the contrary, due to the changing scenario of business in the modern era, various disadvantages and complexities are arising in maintaining a specified ‘chain of command’ within an organization.

With this concern, the paper shall aim at identifying the various pros and cons of ‘chain of command’ in the managerial aspect. 2. Advantages of ‘Chain of Command’ In the managerial perspective, the aspect of ‘Chain of Command’ is termed to be one of the crucial factors of organizational behavior. It not only determines the organizational hierarchy but also signifies the roles and responsibilities of every associate in a specified manner. On the whole, it assists the executors of a business to form a well-structured organizational chart, which considers three aspects, i.e. line of authority, line of responsibility and line of communications in the internal environment of the organization (Schulman, M.

& Kowadlo, B. . Hence, it assists the top level managers of the company to organize the company’s operations in a systematic manner (Schulman, M. & Kowadlo, B. F., “Working Smart”). 2.2. Lines of Responsibility The ‘Chain of Command’ also assists the organizational structure by defining the lines of responsibility. To be precise, the line of responsibility signifies the responsibilities of every participant according to their power of authority and position in the organizational hierarchy (Schulman, M.

& Kowadlo, B. F., “Working Smart”). 2.3. Lines of Communication Apart from determining the lines of authority and responsibility, the ‘Chain of Command’ also specifies the lines of communication, i.e. the flow of information from the top level management to the lower level workers in the organizational hierarchy; and the flow of accountability from the lower level worker to the top level management group (Schulman, M. & Kowadlo, B. F., “Working Smart”). 2.4. Other Advantages Other than these basic advantages, the implication of ‘Chain of Command’ also has many other pros to benefit the organization and its stakeholders at large.

They are as follows: By providing a firm structure of the organizational hierarchy and demonstrating the various lines of authority, responsibility and communication, the ‘Chain of Command’ assists the organization to utilize its resources with minimized wastage It also assists the employees to enhance their managerial, leadership and generic skills Helps eradicating confusion uprising in terms of authority, responsibility and communication in the internal environment of the organization Source: (Mukherjee,