Flattening the organizational structure: Encouraging empowerment or reinforcing control?

Abstract

Although it may be argued that the goal of flattening the organization is to empower employees with a higher level of involvement and decision-making abilities, several cases provide evidence of the emergence of highly restrictive control structures in the “flattened” organization. This phenomenon is not a necessary outcome of an attempt to flatten the organizational hierarchy, however. There is also evidence that the organizational hierarchy can be “successfully” flattened. What is not clear in the current literature is a theoretical basis to explain the tendency for highly restrictive control structures to emerge after a change toward flattening the organizational hierarchy. This essay attempts to address this issue by examining the emergence of disciplinary structures in flattened organizations, looking at cases of various structural changes and, finally, elaborating the basis for a developmental theory of the spiral resulting in the emergence of unintended and oppressive control structures in the flattened organization.

Citation

Teubner, G. (2001), "Flattening the organizational structure: Encouraging empowerment or reinforcing control?", Research in Organizational Change and Development (Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0897-3016(01)13005-3