Centralised/Decentralised Structures

• what is a centralised structure?

  where the responsibility for decision making is maintained by a limited number of people at the top of the hierarchy
• what is a decentralised sturcture?

  where the responsibility for decision making is delegated throughout the hierarchy
• what is authority?

  the power an employee has to do a task or make a decision
• what is delegation?

  assigning tasks, responsibilities or decisions to a sbubordiantes
• what is empowerment?

  Giving individuals the power, confidence, and autonomy to make decisions.
• what is accountability?

  the extent to which an employee is held responsible for the success or failure of a task
• advantages of centralised

  • lead to better decsions
  • consistent/ every store is the same
  • economies of scale
• disadvantages of centralised?

  • may not meet customer needs
  • experience is not taken into account
  • de-motivated
  • slow changes
• advantages of decentralised?

  • experience taken into account
  • meet customer needs
  • motivated
  • more responsibe to change
  • increased producitivity
• disadvantages of decentralised?

  • worse decisions
  • lack of consistency
  • economies of scale may be lost