Different ways in which companies flourish – Flat v/s Vertical Structure

Achal Chaurasia– Flat v/s Vertical Structure

Every founder who starts with a company or organization dreams to see his empire blooming and flourishing in every possible way. He won’t leave any stone unturned to devote all of his effort and hard work to make his company be successfully known to a vast group of people who just have praises to present about the goods or services provided by the company or organization.

It must be known and accepted that different companies have different ways in which they flourish. Some may strike the customer’s mind and requirements almost instantly, thus, gaining quick recognition and success. Others may be able to convince the consumer slowly and steadily but shall leave a great positive impact on them. Some others, unfortunately, won’t be able to interest people at all.

Two of the most common ways a company flourishes are as mentioned below-:

• Flat structure
• Vertical structure

About Flat Structure

The flat structure hierarchy in which a company flourish is expected to ingrain some specific traits. These traits are mentioned below-:

The team is headed by some supervisors and managers

In this particular kind of organizational hierarchy, the team of employees is supervised by some seniors. However, the level of commands or instructions given by them is not extremely authoritative. They are very cooperative and flexible in their approach, which certainly creates a light atmosphere for employees to work in.

Unbiased distribution of work

All the tasks, activities, and other work that the team is expected to complete within a given time frame is distributed in an equal manner on an unbiased basis. Even the supervisors are considerate enough to take up their share of work truthfully and avoid employees getting loaded with extra work and experiencing burnouts.

Following the principle of teamwork

The basic principle of teamwork is rightly kept in mind by everyone who is working towards the company to flourish in the right direction. Being authoritative towards juniors just because one stands at a higher position is not the condition in the case of flat hierarchy.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Flat Structure

The flat structure of an organization inculcates ideas of collectivity, unity, equal effort, and combined dedication for the success of the company or organization. This is one major advantage in such a case.

One major con in this structure is that sometimes the team takes independence for granted and due to this the success rate of the organization suffers badly. Being less authoritative and more considerate sometimes costs a lot to a company’s success.

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About Vertical Structure

The vertical structure of the organization is marked by traits different from that of the flat structure. These traits are mentioned below-:

The team is strictly headed by authoritative seniors

The team of employees is headed by a group of seniors who work in intensely authoritative ways based on strict instructions and commands given to the juniors and other employees.

Somehow bias distribution of work

Seniors being in charge of all the tasks often try to slip the portion of tasks to be completed by them to other team members or juniors so that their work pressure reduces to an extent. They don’t consider the fact that employees might feel uncomfortable due to the increasing workload.

Following the principle of the hierarchical system in team formation and work

In this particular kind of organizational structure, the team functions thee on segregation and discrimination and not based on positive teamwork.

Advantages and disadvantages of vertical structure

The vertical structure of an organization constructs an air of discipline and firmness that makes the flow of tasks smooth. This aids the company’s success and stability in the long term.

This particular kind of structure restricts the formation of a friendly, light, and casual bond with colleagues which further creates a rather boring environment for employees to work in.

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Conclusion

A company follows various paths towards success and both the ways discussed above work differently in different aspects.

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Author-Achal Chaurasia

A young businessman who has been in the line of entrepreneurship for quite a few years. He is an active learner and loves to know more about new technological developments coming up as well as how they can be put to great use to yield better results for society.