Total bureaucracy, bullshit jobs, functional stupidity, mediocracy, etc. All of the most scathing critiques of contemporary managerial systems seem to share one thing, namely a common enemy: hierarchy, or indeed the very principle of hierarchical structure.
Hierarchy stands accused of all manner of ills: negating the wisdom of crowds, perpetuating informational asymmetry between the hierarchs and those who do their bidding, and, of course, a lack of transparency. Much criticism has been directed at the distance that hierarchy establishes between individuals at work, bound together exclusively by ‘hierarchical relationships’ which serve only to exacerbate the general sense of incomprehension and the inadequacy of interpersonal relations.
A proliferation of alternative models
The result is an endless stream of disasters of varying scale and intensity, blighting the existence of businesses and organisations, stoked by autocratic dysfunctionality at the top levels and an inability to question the wisdom of over-policed processes in the lower reaches. Nobody appears to be surprised anymore by the singularity of the situations we encounter, or the state of permanent catastrophe gripping industry, medicine, public health and the air travel sector.
In response to this ramified manifestation of the banality of evil, in recent years we have seen a proliferation of alternative models which are implicitly liberated from hierarchical principles.
Child defines hierarchy as a system whose members are organised by status, a situation which engenders unequal relations.
But what do we really mean by hierarchy? This is the question explored in Hierarchy: A Key Idea for Business and Society by John Child, Emeritus Professor of Commerce at the University of Birmingham and Fellow of the British Academy. Child defines hierarchy as a system whose members are organised by status, a situation which engenders unequal relations.
He argues that this phenomenon is in fact inevitable, judging by the history of organisations: it is in fact the only solution ever found to the problem of authority, or, more accurately, the lack of authority. Hence Taylor’s canonical view of the factory as comprising a manager, foremen and workers; or a professional football club with its head coach, deputy coach and physical trainer; or even the Catholic Church with its bishops, priests and deacons. There is no shortage of potential examples.
These organisational structures are intended to provide clarity and stability, as recommended (Child reminds us) by no less a figure than Plato. And even if they tell us little about where power really lies in the organisation – it is not rare to encounter scores of bosses with little real authority –, this only serves to highlight the crushing inevitability of hierarchy.
When the stock of formal hierarchies falls, it does so at the expense of more informal hierarchies, operating on more or less the same principles. And if those informal hierarchies should ever see their influence wane, then the official organisational hierarchy will once again become the yardstick of decision-making power.
Child suggests that ‘flat’ organisations might be the best solution for a world that is anything but flat.
The solution is not as straightforward as simply doing away with the quasi-universal principle of subordination. The real problem is hierarchy’s lack of legitimacy and efficacy faced with an increasingly complex world, which seems to be better-suited to network structures which are, by definition, less vertical.
Child suggests that ‘flat’ organisations might be the best solution for a world that is anything but flat: they facilitate employee participation, encourage communication at all levels and foster a spirit of ‘codetermination’, as seen in the German managerial model.
He also nods towards holacracy, founded upon self-organising working groups, but attaches particular importance to the democratic requirement that all managers be held accountable for their actions. In short, these are heterarchical solutions that leave more room for collective intelligence in problem-solving, and for the preservation of the common good.
Growing underground organisations?
This would take the form of decentralised networks, without pyramid structures and rigid representations, existing in a state of permanent metamorphosis which brings to mind Deleuze and Guattari’s adoption of the rhizome – “the underground stems possessed by certain plants, capable of sending out new roots and shoots” – as a philosophical concept.
Sticking with this plant metaphor, the future of organisations may be more rhizomatic and less arborescent. This leaves ample room for a second tome which would clear some of the weeds currently surrounding this botanical future, and provide some horticultural tips for organisational theorists.
This review was previously published in French by Xerfi Canal.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the position of ESCP Business School.
License and Republishing
The Choice - Republishing rules
We publish under a Creative Commons license with the following characteristics Attribution/Sharealike.
- You may not make any changes to the articles published on our site, except for dates, locations (according to the news, if necessary), and your editorial policy. The content must be reproduced and represented by the licensee as published by The Choice, without any cuts, additions, insertions, reductions, alterations or any other modifications.If changes are planned in the text, they must be made in agreement with the author before publication.
- Please make sure to cite the authors of the articles, ideally at the beginning of your republication.
- It is mandatory to cite The Choice and include a link to its homepage or the URL of thearticle. Insertion of The Choice’s logo is highly recommended.
- The sale of our articles in a separate way, in their entirety or in extracts, is not allowed , but you can publish them on pages including advertisements.
- Please request permission before republishing any of the images or pictures contained in our articles. Some of them are not available for republishing without authorization and payment. Please check the terms available in the image caption. However, it is possible to remove images or pictures used by The Choice or replace them with your own.
- Systematic and/or complete republication of the articles and content available on The Choice is prohibited.
- Republishing The Choice articles on a site whose access is entirely available by payment or by subscription is prohibited.
- For websites where access to digital content is restricted by a paywall, republication of The Choice articles, in their entirety, must be on the open access portion of those sites.
- The Choice reserves the right to enter into separate written agreements for the republication of its articles, under the non-exclusive Creative Commons licenses and with the permission of the authors. Please contact The Choice if you are interested at contact@the-choice.org.
Individual cases
Extracts: It is recommended that after republishing the first few lines or a paragraph of an article, you indicate "The entire article is available on ESCP’s media, The Choice" with a link to the article.
Citations: Citations of articles written by authors from The Choice should include a link to the URL of the authors’ article.
Translations: Translations may be considered modifications under The Choice's Creative Commons license, therefore these are not permitted without the approval of the article's author.
Modifications: Modifications are not permitted under the Creative Commons license of The Choice. However, authors may be contacted for authorization, prior to any publication, where a modification is planned. Without express consent, The Choice is not bound by any changes made to its content when republished.
Authorized connections / copyright assignment forms: Their use is not necessary as long as the republishing rules of this article are respected.
Print: The Choice articles can be republished according to the rules mentioned above, without the need to include the view counter and links in a printed version.
If you choose this option, please send an image of the republished article to The Choice team so that the author can review it.
Podcasts and videos: Videos and podcasts whose copyrights belong to The Choice are also under a Creative Commons license. Therefore, the same republishing rules apply to them.
