Version 1
: Received: 24 December 2020 / Approved: 25 December 2020 / Online: 25 December 2020 (10:46:10 CET)
Version 2
: Received: 6 January 2021 / Approved: 8 January 2021 / Online: 8 January 2021 (14:14:07 CET)
Version 3
: Received: 10 February 2021 / Approved: 11 February 2021 / Online: 11 February 2021 (12:53:32 CET)
How to cite:
Romme, A.G.L. Ladders of Authority, Status, Responsibility and Ideology: Toward a Typology of Hierarchy. Preprints2020, 2020120652. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0652.v1
Romme, A.G.L. Ladders of Authority, Status, Responsibility and Ideology: Toward a Typology of Hierarchy. Preprints 2020, 2020120652. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0652.v1
Romme, A.G.L. Ladders of Authority, Status, Responsibility and Ideology: Toward a Typology of Hierarchy. Preprints2020, 2020120652. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0652.v1
APA Style
Romme, A.G.L. (2020). Ladders of Authority, Status, Responsibility and Ideology: Toward a Typology of Hierarchy. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0652.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Romme, A.G.L. 2020 "Ladders of Authority, Status, Responsibility and Ideology: Toward a Typology of Hierarchy" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0652.v1
Abstract
The notion of hierarchy is widely used in many academic disciplines but is also rather ambiguous, because there are many ways to define it. In this review paper, I explore which notions of hierarchy are being used in the field of management and organization studies. Four distinct types of hierarchy are identified: a ladder of formal decision-making authority, a ladder of achieved status, a self-organized ladder of responsibility, and an ideology-based ladder. A social mechanism-based perspective serves to define and distinguish these four types. Subsequently, the typology is further developed by comparing the four hierarchy types in terms of their tacit/explicitness, (in)transitivity, and behavior- versus cognition-centeredness. This review paper contributes to the literature by dissecting the general metaphor of hierarchy into four different constructs and their social mechanisms, which serves to create a typology of the various ways in which hierarchy is being used in the domain of organization and management. This typology can inform future research drawing on any type of hierarchy, also in other domains.
Keywords
hierarchy; management; organization; formal authority; social mechanism; ideology; self-organization; responsibility; status; typology; literature review
Subject
Social Sciences, Sociology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received:
27 December 2020
Commenter:
Gilles Charest
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.
Comment:
Thanks Sjoerd - This paper will help to understand the importance of hierarchy in social life and will contribute to help rehabilitate the role and responsibility of leaders at all levels of an organization.
Commenter: Gilles Charest
The commenter has declared there is no conflict of interests.