“Today’s organisations are more decentralised than organisations of the past.” Critically evaluate this statement using academic as well as other evidence to support and/or challenge this statement.

Today 's organisations are more decentralised than organisations of the past

Abstract

The seeks to prove that decentralisation is occurring in today 's organisations , making them more decentralized than in the past . Looking at evidence from contemporary business trends and happenings at specific organisations , we will try to connect management theories with real-life situations . The conclusion states that modern business environments demonstrate characteristics that will further contribute to the decentralisation of organisations

Decentralization of decision-making frequently surfaces in today 's discussions about managerial techniques and methods . Most authors

contend that decentralized decision-making is the way of the future and point out that decentralization is usually conducive to superior patterns in decision-making

In a centralized organization , all decisions come through a single chain of command . The manager always knows who to report to and in what hierarchy this or that question will be resolved , at least ideally . This clear pattern is fuzzier at a decentralized organization where decision-making is dispersed through a number of different channels and occurs in a less strictly regulated manner . This difference has also to do with information management as information can rise up a single line as in centralized organizations , or flow according to a more complex pattern , according to the decentralized one . Centralization is connected with a narrow span of control and a tall hierarchy in contrast decentralization is associated with a flat hierarchy with a wide span of control (Simon 1994 ,

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This will argue that decentralization is a visible trend in modern organizations , although it cannot be expected to replace all centralized organizations in the short run . Corporate revamping is a slow and painstaking process , and centralized governance does have advantages However , the `fashionable ' customer focus and the need for flexibility that come to the fore in today 's business as well as other trends give managers reason to switch to decentralized patterns . The first sections deal with advantages brought by decentralization and the factors that lead to the emergence of this trend , and the final section looks at examples from specific companies

Decentralization emerges because there are factors that spearhead its development . Today ' reality suggests that centralized organizations will often be at a disadvantage as compared to decentralized ones . True organizations benefit from a strong , unifying sense of direction (Kadzban , Motwani , 1995 . Integration of resources with the help of one clear goal is a great help for the organization as it helps to mobilize all forces to serve common objectives . However , this approach is flawed in many ways . First , it fails to account for problems that arise in a specific location of a large organization . What can the Chief Executive Officer know about the specificities of , for instance , bank clients in a particular locale ? Most probably nothing or little at best . On the contrary , the local clerk attending to the needs of these clients every day will be in a better position to make a decision that will satisfy the clients

Thus , decentralization gives the company flexibility , enabling managers...