Coordination and delay in hierarchies

Patacconi, Andrea (2009) Coordination and delay in hierarchies. The RAND Journal of Economics, 40 (1). pp. 190-208. ISSN 0741-6261

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Abstract

This article studies hierarchical organizations where concerns for fast execution are important and employees must be coordinated to avoid wasteful duplications of effort. Simple conditions are provided for the time spent on coordinating subordinates to be increasing and the span of control to be decreasing as one goes up the hierarchy, with equalities holding if delay is all that matters. When returns to specialization are substantial, the span of control also tends to widen and the hierarchy to flatten as urgency increases. The model suggests that concerns for fast execution may be key in explaining recent trends toward decentralization and delayering in firms

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Responsible Business Regulation Group Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Strategy and Entrepreneurship
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	26 Sep 2013 00:54
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2023 07:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/43475
DOI:	10.1111/j.1756-2171.2008.00061.x

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