Hierarchical or Flat Structures: Which is Better?

"Organizations should be structured in a clear hierarchy in which the people at each level, from top to bottom, are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work. Any other organizational structure goes against human nature and will ultimately prove fruitless."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Having a strictly hierarchical structure and having a completely flat structure are two diagonally opposite ways of handling people working for a company. In order to be able to ascertain what is better we need to have a closer look at these two styles.

Truly flat structures sound idealistic on papers and seldom, if ever, work practically. There has to be an element of individuality in order to encourage individual performance. However if all that the company needs is a regimented army of workers that follow instructions precisely with minimum innovation or conflicts, there is nothing better than a flat structure. This can be particularly useful if skilled labour is in abundance and it is difficult for one worker to significantly differentiate his work from others. Even such a mass would ultimately need a leader to direct them and take responsibility. The flattest of structures cannot escape hierarchy if they have to be successful.

Hierarchical structures put responsibility on every point in the chain of command. The clear chain of command does give incentive for individual performance and fixes accountability. However an extremely hierarchical structure can also become bureaucratic with too many leaders and too few workers. Each level of leadership may tend to pass the buck to the lower level, be close-minded to good ideas from juniors and reluctant to resist catastrophic decisions from superiors. 

With these views in mind we can safely say that a hierarchical system has better chances of working when compared to a flat structure as it gives people an incentive to work. Historically systems that advocate abolition of hierarchy like socialism and communism have worked for the detriment of people despite of sounding good on papers. Hierarchical systems have their pitfalls but there is nothing that they cannot overcome. If the chain of command is not stretched unreasonably and leaders keep an open mind, the system will be successful. The basic human nature is individualistic and this system exploits this trait perfectly. Any other system may discourage creativity/hard-work and make any kind of achievement difficult. Hence I completely agree with the point of view presented.