Please see the learning objectives of the topic Relations with in the Organization below:

Objective

To acquire basic understanding on: What is line and staff? Line authority relationship Line and staff authority relationships

Topic Overview

Proper functioning of all organizations is highly depended on the authority-responsibility relationships among people working in groups to achieve declared objectives of the organization. In most organizations there are two wide categories of personnel viz line and staff. The relation ships within the line and between line and staff differ.

Line is the category of personnel with direct responsibility for achieving the objectives of the organization. Staff refers to the category of personnel who help the line to work most effectively in accomplishing such objectives.

Line personnel carry out the primary activities of a business and are considered essential to the basic functioning of the organization. Line managers make the majority of the decisions and direct line personnel to achieve company goals.

Whereas staff positions, like Legal Advisor as seen the diagram below, use their expertise to assist line personnel and aid top management in various business activities. Staff managers provide support, advice, and knowledge to those in line positions.

This topic has four sections. They are:

1. Line authority relation
2. Line and staff relations
3. Line and Staff conflict
4. Key points & Activity

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Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page.