Merits of Line and Staff Organization

1. Relief to line of executives- In a line and staff organization, the advice and counseling which is provided to
the line executives divides the work between the two. The line executive can concentrate on the execution of
plans and they get relieved of dividing their attention to many areas.
2. Expert advice- The line and staff organization facilitates expert advice to the line executive at the time of
need. The planning and investigation which is related to different matters can be done by the staff specialist
and line officers can concentrate on execution of plans.
3. Benefit of Specialization- Line and staff through division of whole concern into two types of authority
divides the enterprise into parts and functional areas. This way every officer or official can concentrate in its
own area.
4. Better co-ordination- Line and staff organization through specialization is able to provide better decision
making and concentration remains in few hands. This feature helps in bringing co-ordination in work as every
official is concentrating in their own area.
5. Benefits of Research and Development- Through the advice of specialized staff, the line executives, the
line executives get time to execute plans by taking productive decisions which are helpful for a concern. This
gives a wide scope to the line executive to bring innovations and go for research work in those areas. This is
possible due to the presence of staff specialists.
6. Training- Due to the presence of staff specialists and their expert advice serves as ground for training to line
officials. Line executives can give due concentration to their decision making. This in itself is a training
ground for them.
7. Balanced decisions- The factor of specialization which is achieved by line staff helps in bringing coordination. This relationship automatically ends up the line official to take better and balanced decision.
8. Unity of action- Unity of action is a result of unified control. Control and its effectivity take place when coordination is present in the concern. In the line and staff authority all the officials have got independence to
make decisions. This serves as effective control in the whole enterprise.

Demerits of Line and Staff Organization

1. Lack of understanding- In a line and staff organization, there are two authority flowing at one time. This
results in the confusion between the two. As a result, the workers are not able to understand as to who is
their commanding authority. Hence the problem of understanding can be a hurdle in effective running.

2. Lack of sound advice- The line official get used to the expertise advice of the staff. At times the staff
specialist also provide wrong decisions which the line executive have to consider. This can affect the efficient
running of the enterprise.
3. Line and staff conflicts- Line and staff are two authorities which are flowing at the same time. The factors
of designations, status influence sentiments which are related to their relation, can pose a distress on the
minds of the employees. This leads to minimizing of co-ordination which hampers a concerns working.
4. Costly- In line and staff concern, the concerns have to maintain the high remuneration of staff specialist.
This proves to be costly for a concern with limited finance.
5. Assumption of authority- The power of concern is with the line official but the staff dislikes it as they are
the one more in mental work.
6. Staff steals the show- In a line and staff concern, the higher returns are considered to be a product of staff
advice and counseling. The line officials feel dissatisfied and a feeling of distress enters a concern. The
satisfaction of line officials is very important for effective results.

Role and Responsibility of Line and Staff Managers

The line managers are responsible for:
i)
The formulation of objectives, plans and policies.
7. iii) Providing supervision and leadership, achieving coordination and exercising control.
8. The staff managers have the responsibility to:
9. i) Advice, help and guide the line managers in the performance of the above functions.
10. ii) Provide specified administrative services.
11. iii) Interpret objective plans and policies.
12. iv) Make the best tools available for the implementation of plans and policies.
13. v) Help in the selection and training of employees.
14. vi) Measure organizational effectiveness.
15. vii) Report result to top management and suggest measures for improvement.
16.
17.
18. Line and Staff Conflict
19.
20. Line and staff relationship is based on the assumption that both support each other and work
harmoniously to achieve organizational objectives. However, there are frequent instances of conflict
between line and staff in the organization. This generates lots of friction and loss of time and
consequently loss of organizational effectiveness. Therefore, there is a need for analyzing the
sources of line and staff conflict and then to take actions to overcome the problem of conflict.
21.
22. These relations are often characterized more by conflict than cooperation. Staff specialists complain
that line managers are resistant to their ideas and the line managers complain that staff managers are
sky-gazing specialists with no comprehension of practical situations. Such attitude prevails because
due to a number of reasons which are categorized under 3 categories:
23.
24. Viewpoint of Line Managers
25.

26. Line managers, who are responsible for the final results leading to the achievement of
organizational objectives, feel that staff people are against them in the following ways:
27.
28. 1. Lack of Responsibility: It is the perception of line managers that staff people do not carry any
responsibility in the organization, but enjoy authority. This lack of responsibility makes them
complacent and they do not care about the ultimate objective of the organization.
29.
30. 2. Encroachment of Line Authority: Line managers feel that staff people interfere in their
authority. They give advice and recommendations on the matters which fall within their jurisdiction.
And whenever there is any encroachment of interference on the legitimate right of any manager, the
result is resentment, hostility, and open or hidden reluctance to accept advice and recommendation.
31.
32. 3. Dilution of Authority: There is a feeling that staff people dilute line authority. In fact, staff
authority emerges out of dilution of line authority. Line managers may fear that their responsibility
will be reduced because of the addition of staff thereby making their job less challenging and
varied.
33.
34. 4. Theoretical Bias: Often the advice and recommendation of staff people suffer from theoretical
bias because of two reasons. First, they tend to think within the context of their own specialty and
use criteria prescribed in their own discipline, which may make the advice one-sided and less
practical. Second, often staff people are away from the actual operational scene for which they
make recommendations, and therefore they may not be able to fully appreciate the actual dimension
of the problem and their recommendation may not be practical.
35.
36.
37. Viewpoint of Staff Managers
38.
39. Like line managers, staff people have their own arguments and try to find faults with line managers
which result in line-staff conflict. Their arguments and problems run on the following lines:
40.
41. 1. Lack of Proper use of Staff: staff people feel that line managers do not make proper use of staff
people. Quite often staff people are ignored by the line managers and decisions are made without
inputs form staff. Staff people are informed after the action has been taken. Many specialists feel
that they should be consulted during the planning stage of programme that involves their own area
of specialty. This enables them to anticipate problems and to recommend precautionary measures,
but line managers consult them only as a last resort.
42.
43. 2. Resistance of New Ideas: Line managers often resist new ideas because new ideas mean there is
something wrong with their present way of working. Thus, new ideas are treated as fault-finding
device in their operation and the resist new ideas.
44.
45. 3. Lack of Proper Authority: Staff people feel that line managers do not give enough authority to
them. They contribute to the realization of organizational objectives without really enjoying any
authority.
46.
47.
48. Nature of Line-staff Relationship
49.
50. Following characteristics of line-staff relationship also create conflicts:
51.
52. 1. Different Backgrounds: Line and staff people often have different backgrounds and individual
characteristics. Staff people, in contrast to line, are generally younger, better educated, more poised
in social interaction, more articulate and individualistic. As a result, they often look down on the

less educated line people, who must have worked their way up through the organization. These
differences create an atmosphere of mistrust than of congenial and coordinative.
53.
54. 2. Lack of Demarcation between Line and Staff: though in theory, the line and staff authority is
clear, often in practice, demarcation between line and staff is rarely clear. Many jobs in line and
staff defy description and relationship between them and are not clarified. In such cases, there is a
possibility for overlap and gap in authority and responsibility which can aggravate personal
relationships.
55.
56. 3. Lack of Proper Understanding of Authority: Even if line and staff authority is made clear in
the organization, people may fail to understand the exact nature of line and staff authority in
practice which may be a source of conflict.
57. Resolving Line and Staff Conflict
58.
59. Line-staff conflict resolution is needed so that it does not become so aggravated as to become
dysfunctional. The following suggestions are made for this purpose:
60.
61. 1. Recognition of Mutual Dependency: Conflicts will be minimized and inevitable conflicts
resolved if both line and staff recognize that they are in a relationship of mutual dependency with
one another.
62.
63. 2. Clear Understanding of Staff Role: Conflicts will be minimized if both line and staff develop a
clear understanding of staff role. Even though staff is delegated certain amount of authority in
specific areas, its primary role is to provide support to the line through advice, guidance and
service.
64.
65. 3. De-emphasis on Staff Control Function: Sometimes staff units are charged with control
function aimed at evaluating performance against standards and reporting deviations to higher
management, and also ensuring that policies and procedures are uniformly followed by all the units
of the organization.
66.
67. 4. Proper Use of Staff Authority: Staff should use its functional, administrative and other kinds of
authority in a proper manner that provides support to the line and strengthens it.
68.
69. 5. Constructive Staff Attitude and Skills: Constructive attitudes on the part of the staff and its
human relations skills play an important role in shaping the line-staff relationships. The staff
manager should have the ability and willingness to use influence to gain the line acceptance of his
advice and guidance.
70.
71. 6. Emphasis on Staff Role as Team Members: It is essential that the manager should be a team
worker. This is crucial because his function is to coordinate his advice with the needs of the line.
72.
73. It may be concluded that staff-line relationships, like any other relationships, can be build on the
foundation of mutual understanding, trust and confidence. Further, healthy relationships can are
build over a period of time and need perseverance, patience and efforts. It will also help to
recognize that relationships are destroyed or undermined far more easily and speedily than build
and strengthened.