The role of Organization Charts

The organization design is best represented by an organization chart. Each box in a chart represents a management position within the firm and each line represents the nature of the relationships between positions. Broken lines show staff relationships.

From a chart it is possible to tell several things about the organization:

•    you can tell how the organization is departmentalized,
•    you can identify the span of management,
•    you can also identify the staff positions and to who they are supportive,
•    charts are especially useful to newcomers as they can tell their position in theoverall scheme of things, they can also easily clarify reporting relationships between the various positions.

As an organization grows it becomes more and more difficult to use the charts because of the large number of positions and the complex interrelationships that can exist among the positions.