DOES HIERARCHY STILL MATTER?

This thesis regards hierarchy and its role in organizations. It will be discussed both the advantages and drawbacks of adopting a hierarchical structure instead of a flat one. Firstly, it will present a definition of hierarchy and the main management theories that have been developed and have been shaping organizational charts throughout the years. The second chapter will discuss the dynamics that elapse in a group, such as how to properly manage conflicts and why, even though it is not planned, hierarchies naturally arise when people are engaging with each other. Biases play a pivotal role in how people communicate and deal with each other and understanding them could be crucial in order to avoid potential pitfalls when leading a company toward success. The third chapter will be about the role of hierarchy in the learning process. Hierarchy is often accused of being an obstacle in the learning process because there is a chance that sharing information and ideas is not enhanced by a hierarchical structure and would work better in a leaderless organization. However, it will be further investigated how hierarchy could actually help the learning process. Then there will be a chapter analyzing Zappos, a software company that adopted a less-hierarchical organization system called Holacracy, whose functioning will be deepened. In the end, using the data and research presented throughout the thesis, it will be tried to explain why adopting a hierarchical structure plays a pivotal role in the path to success for businesses and why CEOs should prefer hierarchy over alternative forms of managing an organization. Alternatively, even in flatter organizational forms and based on teamwork, such as the holacratic organization previously mentioned, a certain amount of hierarchy is needed.