Convenience

Chain of Command
Chain of command is an old concept, first popularized in the
early years of the twentieth century. For example, early writers about the
chain of command
argued that clear and distinct lines of authority need to be established among all positions in
product
departmentalization
Grouping activities
around products or
product groups
customer
departmentalization
Grouping activities
to respond to and
interact with specific
customers or
customer groups
location
departmentalization
Grouping jobs on the
basis of defined
geographic sites or
areas
chain of command
A clear and distinct
line of authority
among the positions
in an organization
166
Part 3:
Organizing
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an organization. The chain of command actually has two components. The first, called
unity
of command
, suggests that each person within an organization must have a clear reporting
relationship to one and only one boss (as we see later, newer models of organization design
routinely—and successfully—violate this premise). The second, called the
scalar principle
,
suggests that there must be a clear and unbroken line of authority that extends from the
lowest to the highest position in the organization. The popular saying “The buck stops
here” is derived from this idea—someone in the organization must ultimately be responsible
for every decision.