Skip to content

ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Enabling success: organising

Alder Logistics is delayering, removing a middle management tier so that depot managers report directly to the operations director. Which outcome is the most likely consequence of this change, assuming no other adjustments?

Delayering gives the operations director a wider span of control and a flatter hierarchy with shorter communication lines. Removing a management tier means more subordinates report to each remaining manager, which usually also requires more delegation, not less. A taller, narrower structure would result from adding tiers.

  1. AA wider span of control for the operations director and a flatter hierarchy with faster communicationCorrect
  2. BA narrower span of control and a taller hierarchy
  3. CGreater centralisation because more tiers now exist between staff and decisions
  4. DReduced need for delegation because managers have fewer subordinates

Explanation

Removing a tier flattens the hierarchy, and the same number of staff now report to fewer managers, widening spans. Communication paths shorten. A taller hierarchy and narrower span would result from adding tiers, not removing them.

Did you get it right without looking?

One question tells you little. A timed set on Enabling success: organising shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.

Practise Enabling success: organisingFree diagnostic mock

More Enabling success: organising questions