<br>

102 Public Administration

immed
SCALAR SYSTEM no
HIERARCHY OR of everything
wilhout somc form
1. hicrarchy
(organization ac
conccive)of an
givcn number of persons level of
It is/diflicult to
as 'Scalar
functions)among
division of
Organizaton is cssentially(the
Definitions of Hierarchy of the highcr ovcr thc lower
Meaning and icrarclhyy is 'control
of word the bottom in desccndng
(The meaning
authority procccds from the top to and o
In hicrarchy, all
into a largcr unit for dircction
grouping of units
order. It is as the and _responsibilitics
of
thc organization. The
of_activitics and for functions is both horizontal and vertical
distribution of functions and
responsibilitics horizontalk
structure grows both verlically and
An organizational 1t 1s called vertical grout.
additional levcls arcadded in an organization structurc.
or morc positions arc added without increasino k.
But whcn more functions dstribution creates level
number of levcls, it is called [Link]. Vertical
SupervViSIon and the Level of Specifi
like Top Managcment, Middle Managcmcnt, no inherent superiorit and
Performance. Strictly spcaking. these levels connote
inferiority, Howcver, due to the difference in the nature of responsibility
of
levels and In th
various levcls, the difference in the salary scales_as between different
the differcnce in the qualifications and qualitics of the personnel manning various Concentrat
levels, superior-subordinate relationship does emerge in the organization. task gets
According to Prof. White, "Hierarchy consists in the universal application As the tas
of the supcrior-subordinate relationshipthrough a number of levels of responsibilitr base of th
are suborc
reaching from the top to the bottom_of structure." Mooney_and Reiley call ! are subor
the scalar process whercas Henry Feyol has called as Scalar Chain.
According to Earl Latham, "Hierarchy is an ordered structure of inferior
on in a sc
and superior being in an ascending order." Pfiffner defines hierarchy as, "There
also show:
as we go
is supreme leadership represented by the person or persons,
at the apex of the the pyram
hierarchical pyramid, but in order to exercise this
leadership it is necessary to Channel
delegate both authority and responsibility to the
sub-leaders on the various from subo
subordinate steps of the scale.
All organizations are HIERA.
one may iry. A hicrarchicalhierarchical, and there is no escape from it, how hard
organization is like the following:
Secretary Deputy Secretary

Under
Sccretary

Additional

Fig. 15.1 : Hierarchical

The above organizational Organization
chart is a very simplified one, but be
notcd is that the functions the point toand
of an organization arc divided
horizontally, and a pattern both vertically
of relationship is cstablishcd.
In hierarchy, authority,command and control from
the top downwards Step by Step to the bollom. of an organization pass
deccnding
a Just as in ascending or
ladder, out foot must be placcd on the and
step immcdiately below or above
1
White, L. D., op. cit., p. 35.
<br>

Principles of Organization 103

step slhould
no immediate be jumpcr ovcr, similarly in an organization
also
everything must be donc Step by Step without skipping over the next immediate
level of
administrative official. Becausc of this step_by_stcp.-proccss,
as Scalar System'.
it is called
A

B B1

C1

D D1
E
E
F1

Fig, 15.2 : Pyramid of Hierarchy

In the above diagram, at the top level 'A is a single unit,_ a complete
as the
concentration [Link] authority, this can be called as Chief Executiye. But
task gets divided at the level 'B', the breadth of the organization gets doubled.
As the task gets sub-divided into smaller unit, i.e., C', D', E' and 'F, the
base of the organization goes on widening. In the above diagram 'B' and 'B,'
are subordinate officers_to A' and are responsible to him. Now
C
and “C;
gets authority from them. This process goes
are subordinates to B_and “B, and
we the lowest level F
and F,'. This diagram
on in a scalar order unit reach
also shows that base of the pyramid_isthe _widest, of
It also shows that as soon
as we go to the base of this pyramid, the number_ employees increases. In
the pyramid, orders from superior to the
subordinates pass through_ Proper
iformations_et., come in the same channel
Channel and reports, applications, Feyol calls it as the Scalar Chain'.
from subordinates to the superior. Henry
ADMINISTRATION OF A STATE
HIERARCHY IN INDIAN POLICE
Director General of Police (D.G.)
(I.G.)
Inspector General of Police
ar
Police (D.I.G.)
Deputy Inspector Gençral of
Police (S.S.P./S.P.)
der
Senior Superintendent of
cta Police
Police/Deputy Superintendent of
haditional/Assistant Superintendent of
(A.S.P./Dy.S.P)

Circle Inspeçtor
(S.H.0.)

obe Inspector/Sub-Inspcctor (S.I.)

and
Head Constable
trom
dine Constable
System-An Example
and Fig. 15.3
: Hierarchy': Indian Police
<br>

104 Public Administration

Features of Hierarchy descr
The basic features of
a hicrarchical structure are hicra
onc immcdiate supcrior fron whom bo. lcade
(1) A person will have only nllus
receive orders. gencr
a lowcr status person
(2) A person will not rcccive ordcrs from at wde
dealings of the pcople at
(3) No immediate levcl shall be skippcd in the the
of
top with those at the lower levcl or vice-versa. relev
a task wilI havc authority
(4) A person who is given responsibility for speci
commensurate with his responsibility. and
Advantages of Hierarchy :

The following are the advantages of hierarchy form of organization

the
1. Hicrarchy provides the much needed channels of communication in betiw
It makes clear to every official
organization, both upwards and downwards. orga
whom he is to deal with. It gives effect to the proper channel method of dealings
Com
2. It serves as an instrument of integration and coherence in an organization. order
It binds together the various units and divisions into an integrated whole. It is
built-in-device to achieve consensus in the organization. Mea
3. It simplifies the procedure of file movement.
4. Hierarchy is based on the principle of delegation of authority and Comi
only.
responsibility.
more
5. It enables us to fix up responsibility at each level and at cach post in
an organization. Everyone knows his position and responsibility in the This

organization. SOun

6. It helps to decentralise decision-making and prevents congestion of

In di
business at the top.
an
7. In this system, the principle of unity of command, that onc man shall
be subordinate to one person only, finds full application. requ
8. The hierarchical systenm gives effect to the proper channel method of
dealings. Everything has to move upward through proper channels. This docs Wor
not only make the process of communication clear but also saves the time o! of (
the superior officers.
Eva
Disadvantages of Hierarchy
The principle of Hierarchy has come in for a lot of criticism Sech
1. It has been blamcd for crcating superior-subordinate relationship in the
seld
hierarchy. exis
2. Procedure through proper channels, rcd tapism and delay in disposal of
repo
cases is another criticism levellcd against it.
adm
3. The hierarchicalsystem tends to bring about rigidity in administratie
Fror
organization and is not conductiveto the development of dynamic human rclations. budg
Evaluation
organization.
However, hierarchy performs very useful purposes in an organization grov
Hierarchy provides the much-ncedcd channels of communication in the
bottom and from the bottom to the top. It is also built-in
from thc top to. theconsensus in of
device to achicve the organization. It also facilitates delegation
graphicall'
many and varicd functions of hierarchy. have been
authority. Thc
<br>

I'rinciples of Organization 105

as, Within thc cxecutive branch general functions of

bv Applcby
described by structure include the following: fixing responsibility: providing
hierarchical
areas discretion at successive levcls. providng means of sxerting
leadership with of
exerciing. fellowslhip: making any particular organization and the
intlucncc and government manageable: making it acceptable:
determining levcls
executive movement
may be made: providing for readv
goih decisions of various knds under agitation. bringing to bear
one level to another
from viewpoints. More
decision 1making interests, functions and
of complementary personnel selected
elevant. competing and resources are apportioned.
means by which
snecifically, it is the reviewed and modified "l
operations activated,
and assigned,
II. UNITY OF COMMAND relationship
hierarchically and
origanization are structured type of
down. In this
An administrative officials are clearly laid Unity of
and bottom The principle of
between top officials differentiation of wvork. subordinates receive
yertical the
organization, we find emphasises that
complementary to hierarchy
Commandis
immediate superiors.
orders from their Command
be a of unity
of Unity of should
Meaning and Definitions Command there person or boss
principle of
Unity of answerable to
one
control of
According to the principle person should be underthe
person is
organization. A conflict a
if supervisors
ne nd different