Organizational Structure

Organizational structure is the hierarchical arrangement of lines of authority, communications, rights and duties of an organization. It determines how the roles and responsibilities are assigned, controlled, and coordinated, and how information flows between the different levels of management.

The structure depends on the organization’s objectives and strategy. In a centralized structure, the top layer of management has most of the decision making power and has tight control over departments and divisions. In a decentralized structure, the decision making power is distributed and the departments and divisions may have different degrees of independence.