ESSENTIALS OF MANAGEMENT:

An International Perspective
Sixth Edition
Weihrich and Koontz

Chapter 9: Line/Staff Authority,

Empowerment, and Decentralization

© 2004 H. Weihrich Chap. 9. Line/Staff Authority, Empowerment, 1

and Decentralization
 After studying this chapter, you should understand:

1. The nature of authority, power, and empowerment.

2. The differences between line and staff, realizing
their nature as relationships rather than positions or
people
3. The nature and use of functional authority as a
mixture of line and staff.
3. Centralization, decentralization, and delegation of
authority.
4. The importance of obtaining balance in the
centralization and decentralization of authority.
© 2004 H. Weihrich Chap. 9. Line/Staff Authority, Empowerment, 2
and Decentralization
 Authority and Power
• Power is the ability of individuals or
groups to induce or influence the beliefs
or actions of other persons or groups

• Authority is the right in a position to

exercise discretion in making decisions
affecting others

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and Decentralization
 Different Bases of Power
• Legitimate power normally arises from
position and derives from our cultural system
of rights, obligations, and duties whereby a
"position" is accepted by people as being
"legitimate"
• Expert power is the power of knowledge
• Referent power is influence that people or
groups may exercise because people believe
in them and their ideas

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and Decentralization
 Different Bases of Power - continued

Reward power is the power to grant or

withhold rewards such as high grades
by a university professor
Coercive power is closely related to
reward power and normally arising from
legitimate power, it is the power to
punish

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and Decentralization
 What is Empowerment?
• Empowerment means that employees,
managers, or teams at all levels in the
organization have the power to make
decisions without asking their superiors
for permission

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and Decentralization
 Scalar Principle in Organization

The clearer the line of authority from the

ultimate management position in an
enterprise to every subordinate position,
the clearer will be the responsibility for
decision making and the more effective
will be organization communication

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and Decentralization
 Line, Staff, and Functional Authority
• Line authority is the relationship in which a
superior exercises direct supervision over a
subordinate
• Staff relationship is advisory
• Functional authority is the right that is
delegated to an individual or a department to
control specified processes, practices,
policies, or other matters relating to activities
undertaken by persons in other departments

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and Decentralization
 Decentralization of Authority
• Decentralization is the tendency to
disperse decision-making authority in an
organized structure

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and Decentralization
 Different Kinds of Centralization
The term "centralization" has several meanings:
1. Centralization of performance pertains to geographic
concentration; it characterizes, for example, a
company operating in a single location
2 Departmental centralization refers to concentration of
specialized activities, generally in one department.
For example, maintenance for a whole plant may be
carried out by a single department
3. Centralization as an aspect of management is the
tendency to restrict delegation of decision making. A
high degree of authority is held at or near the top by
managers in the organizational hierarchy

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and Decentralization
The process of delegation involves:

• determining the results expected from a

position,
• assigning tasks to the position,
• delegating authority for accomplishing
these tasks, and
• holding the person in that position
responsible for the accomplishment of
the tasks
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and Decentralization
 Guides for Overcoming Weak Delegation
1. Define assignments and delegate
authority in light of results expected
2. Select the person in light of the job to
be done
3. Maintain open lines of communication
4. situations
4. Establish proper controls
5. Reward effective delegation and
successful assumption of authority
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and Decentralization