Superiority of line and staff organisation over line organisation : Line and staff organisation structure has gained popularity because certain problems of management have become so complex that in order to deal with them expert knowledge is necessary which can be provided by the staff officers. For instance, personnel department is established as a staff department to advise the top executives and other line executives on personnel matters. Similarly, accounts, law and public relations departments may be set up to advise on problems relating to accounting legal issues and public relations.
Line Organisation vs. Line and Staff Organisation
| Basis For Comparison | Line Organization | Line And Staff Organization |
| Meaning | The organization in which the authority and responsibility moves downward, and accountability flows upward, is called line organization. | The organization structure, in which specialist are added to the line managers to provide guidance and support, is called line and staff organization. |
| Authority | Command | Command and Advise |
| Discipline | Strict | Loose |
| Executives | Line executives are generalist. | Line executives are generalist and staff executives are specialist. |
| Degree of centralization | Absolute centralization | Partly centralized and partly decentralized |
| Appropriate for | Small organization with less number of employees. | Large organization with a number of employees. |
