The Center's mission is to promote an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy. The Center has reached more than 30 million students and their teachers since Learn more. Email: web civiced. Media Inquiries: cce civiced. Website: www. Why Do We Need Authority? Purpose of Lesson In this lesson you will learn some uses of authority. Terms to Know benefits costs What might happen if there were no authority? What do you think?
What problems might arise? How would you protect your rights? Would you even have any rights? Roughing It The devil seems to have again broken loose in our town. How can the absence of authority endanger lives, liberty, and property? Examining the Situation What problems arose in the town because there was no effective authority? How might authority be used to deal with these problems?
Are there similar problems in our society owing to a lack of authority? What might be done to solve them? How can we use authority? Authority can be used to provide order and security in people's lives. For example, air traffic controllers prevent accidents and provide safety for airplane passengers. Authority can be used to manage conflict peacefully and fairly.
For example, umpires are used to referee baseball games and solve conflicts that may occur. Courts manage conflicts among people over property and other matters.
Authority can be used to protect important rights and freedoms. For example: the First Amendment of the Constitution protects our freedom of expression and belief. Authority can be used to ensure that benefits advantages and burdens disadvantages will be distributed fairly. For example: laws ensure that all children have an opportunity to receive a free public education; parents may require each of their children to help with household chores.
Critical Thinking Exercise Identifying Problems Related to Authority As you read this story, look for problems that call for the use of authority. How was authority used to deal with these problems? What problems at Pacific Central High School still have not been solved? How can you work to promote changes in a situation like this one? Using the Lesson Write a story in your journal about a time in your life when there was no authority to deal with a particular situation.
Explain how authority might have been helpful to you at that time. For example, have you seen authority used to stop a fight at your school? You may also wish to illustrate your story with a cartoon. If an authority is given to an individual that is much greater than the responsibility, it ultimately results in the misuse of authority. Similarly, if responsibility is assigned that is greater than the authority provided with it, the tasks will not be carried out properly.
The primary goal of managing the relationship between authority and responsibility in your business endeavors is to find the balance between the two. As a delegator of authority, it is your responsibility to find the right ratio of authority to responsibility that will yield a successful completion of tasks consistently across your workforce.
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These cookies do not store any personal information. In general, the larger the span of control, the more efficient the organization. As Figure shows, however, both narrow and wide spans of control have benefits and drawbacks. If hundreds of employees perform the same job, one supervisor may be able to manage a very large number of employees. Such might be the case at a clothing plant, where hundreds of sewing machine operators work from identical patterns.
But if employees perform complex and dissimilar tasks, a manager can effectively supervise only a much smaller number. For instance, a supervisor in the research and development area of a pharmaceutical company might oversee just a few research chemists due to the highly complex nature of their jobs.
The managerial hierarchy or the management pyramid comprises the levels of management within the organization, and the managerial span of control is the number of employees the manager directly supervises. In daily operations, individuals in line positions are directly involved in the processes used to create goods and services. Line positions in organizations are typically in areas such as production, marketing, and finance.
Staff positions are found in areas such as legal counseling, managerial consulting, public relations, and human resource management. Skip to content Designing Organizational Structures. Managerial Hierarchy Managerial hierarchy also called the management pyramid is defined by the levels of management within an organization.
Span of Control Each firm must decide how many managers are needed at each level of the management hierarchy to effectively supervise the work performed within organizational units.
Fewer subordinates may mean the manager is more familiar with each individual. Close supervision can provide immediate feedback. More levels of management mean that it is more expensive. Decision-making is slower due to vertical layers. Top management are isolated. This approach discourages employee autonomy.
Wide span of control Fewer levels of management means increased efficiency and reduced costs. Increased subordinate autonomy leads to quicker decision-making. This approach allows for greater organizational flexibility.
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