It has been well stated that an organization chart closely resembles a genealogical tree.
Authority reaches down through the several branches of an organization like
descent of blood, and, if properly planned, it will be as irregular for a factor in an
organization to be in doubt as to the person in authority over him as for the child
to deny the parentage of his father. Such a chart should be drawn for every organization,
even more especially for those organizations which are short-handed expanding
businesses in which one man holds the authority of several positions. It should
be graphically shown what positions are only temporarily filled, so that when new men
are engaged they will fit into the scheme with functions planned. Then there will
be no irritation, no feeling on the part of some that their authority has been usurped.
If such a chart is made there will be fewer cases of conflict or of short-circuiting of orders. Every command from the general that is given directly to the private over the head of the captain weakens the authority of the captain over the private and weakens the authority of the general over the captain. A military organization is so planned that each man knows from whom to take orders, but business proceeds too much on personal authority. An organization chart will help to prevent this.
Of course, no two businesses can have identical organizations. The skeleton may be the same, however, and just as the proper study of the functions of the human body begins with the skeleton, so the study of organization should begin with those simple outlines which appear, in the main, in all completely and successfully organized businesses. Very few enterprises are organized properly. Very few have an organization that can be charted at all. That is one reason why there is such inefficiency in industry.
As a general thing it is better to have an organization chart begin
with the stockholders and then show the board of directors as intermediate
between the stockholders and the president. In reality, a
typical organization chart represents the shape of an hour glass or a
double funnel, with the large number of stockholders on one side and
the large number of employees on the other. The board of directors,
the president, and the officers of the company are at the narrow part,
with the president as the intermediary through which all transactions
take place between the large number of stockholders and the large
number of employees.
The routing of work through the many processes and departments of a large plant is a subject of such great importance that charts are frequently desired for the study of such routing. Fig. 14 is a fairly good example of this class of chart. In a complete chart, the departments would of course be designated for easy reference, by names, numbers, or letters. Colored ink could be used to keep one class of work distinct from another. Colored inks would help tremendously
