Tim Kastelle's Article 'Hierarchy Is Overrated'

Tim Kastelle’s article Hierarchy is Overrated is focused on the relatively new and growing flat organizational structure. He begins with an example of the Second Chance Programme, “a group that raises money to help reduce homelessness among women.” Second Chance Programme is a non-profit organization run by a committee of ten people. When the non-profit was first founded a management consultant predicted its failure because of its decentralized structure, assuming a hierarchical structure is important for success. Ultimately the organization ended up being successful, despite this prediction. The article goes on to cite other highly successful organizations that share this unusual organizational structure. Wordpress manages a platform that …show more content…

Tim believes obstacles to companies adopting this structure include: many people don’t believe in democracy in the workplace, it is difficult to imagine the new structure, fear of the unusual, and because it’s hard to change organizational structures. The success of the flat structure exemplifies that a one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate in the study of management. The contingency viewpoint emphasizes that a manager’s approach should vary according to the individual and the environmental situation. The companies mentioned in this article clearly have found success in using their unconventional structures. The military sciences field of study stands to learn the most from this new structure because militaries have traditionally been the most hierarchical organizations in society. Their hierarchical structure has clear benefits, but also some potential cons. An con of the hierarchical structure found in militaries is that only a select few make decisions that endanger the lives of millions. If the people on the “bottom of the totem poll” were making decisions, there would likely more wariness of