An organizational chart, also called organigram, organogram, or organizational breakdown structure (OBS) is a

diagram A diagram is a symbolic representation of information using visualization techniques. Diagrams have been used since prehistoric times on walls of caves, but became more prevalent during the Enlightenment. Sometimes, the technique uses a three- ...

that shows the

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

of an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs. The term is also used for similar diagrams, for example ones showing the different elements of a field of knowledge or a group of languages.

Overview

Tabulating Machine Co Organization Chart

The organization chart is a diagram showing graphically the relation of one official to another, or others, of a company. It is also used to show the relation of one department to another, or others, or of one function of an organization to another, or others. This chart is valuable in that it enables one to visualize a complete organization, by means of the picture it presents.Allan Cecil Haskell, Joseph G. Breaznell (1922)
Graphic charts in business: how to make and use them
'. p. 78 A company's organizational chart typically illustrates relations between people within an organization. Such relations might include managers to sub-workers, directors to managing directors, chief executive officer to various departments, and so forth. When an organization chart grows too large it can be split into smaller charts for separate departments within the organization. The different types of organization charts include: *

Hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

Flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

(also known as Horizontal) There is no accepted form for making organization charts other than putting the principal official, department or function first, or at the head of the sheet, and the others below, in the order of their rank. The titles of officials and sometimes their names are enclosed in boxes or circles. Lines are generally drawn from one box or circle to another to show the relation of one official or department to the others.

History

The Scottish-American engineer

Daniel McCallum Daniel Craig McCallum (January 21, 1815 – December 27, 1878) was a Scottish-born American railroad engineer, general manager of the New York and Erie Railroad and Union Brevet Major General of the United States Military Railroads during the Am ...

(1815–1878) is credited for creating the first organizational charts of American business around 1854. This chart was drawn by

George Holt Henshaw George Holt Henshaw (September 1, 1831 – January 10, 1891) was a Canadian engineer and draftsman, who worked as engineer in waterworks and for railway companies in Canada, the United States and Denmark. He is particularly known for drafting t ...

. The term "organization chart" came into use in the early twentieth century. In 1914 Brinton declared "organization charts are not nearly so widely used as they should be. As organization charts are an excellent example of the division of a total into its components, a number of examples are given here in the hope that the presentation of organization charts in convenient form will lead to their more widespread use." In those years industrial engineers promoted the use of organization charts. In the 1920s a survey revealed that organizational charts were still not common among ordinary business concerns, but they were beginning to find their way into administrative and business enterprises. The term "organigram" originated in the 1960s.Angus Stevenson (2010) ''Oxford Dictionary of English''. p. 1252

Limitations

There are several limitations of organizational charts: * If updated manually, organizational charts can very quickly become out-of-date, especially in large organizations that change their staff regularly. * They only show "formal relationships" and tell nothing of the pattern of human (social) relationships which develop. They also often do not show horizontal relationships. * They provide little information about the

managerial style Management consists of the planning, prioritizing, and organizing work efforts to accomplish objectives within a business organization. A management style is the particular way managers go about accomplishing these objectives. It encompasses the wa ...

adopted (e.g. "

autocratic Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...

", " democratic" or an intermediate style). * In some cases, an

organigraph An organigraph is a graphical representation of a company's structure or processes. It is used as an alternative to a traditional organizational chart as it does not imply the same degree of linear hierarchy that an organizational chart does. Orga ...

may be more appropriate, particularly if one wants to show non-linear, non-hierarchical relationships in an organization. * They often do not include customers.

Examples

The example on the right shows a simple hierarchical organizational chart. An example of a "line relationship" (or

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

in military relationships) in this chart would be between the general and the two colonels—the colonels are directly responsible to the general. An example of a "lateral relationship" in this chart would be between "Captain A", and "Captain B" who both work on level and both report to the "Colonel B". Various shapes such as rectangles, squares, triangles, circles can be used to indicate different roles. Color can be used both for shape borders and connection lines to indicate differences in authority and responsibility, and possibly formal, advisory and informal links between people. A department or position yet to be created or currently vacant might be shown as a shape with a dotted outline. Importance of the position may be shown both with a change in size of the shape in addition to its vertical placement on the chart.

References

External links