de-layering

de-layering

the removal of tiers in an ORGANIZATION'S HIERARCHY. This is often implemented to shorten lines of communication and to increase the speed of decision-making. It often forms part of an attempt at DECENTRALIZATION and has been associated with moves to shift authority away from hierarchically organized functional departments to multi-function process teams, as in BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING. Currently a fashionable term, many view it as a euphemism for measures aimed at contraction and labour-shedding. Middle managers are particularly susceptible to REDUNDANCY as a result of de-layering. See DOWNSIZING, SCALAR CONCEPT.