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Business English vocabulary · Company Structure

Dotted-line reporting

Meaning in business english, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In business english, dotted-line reporting means: A secondary reporting relationship alongside a person's main management relationship.

In Turkish: ikincil yöneticiye bağlılık

How it is used

Used in organization charts and role discussions. Clarify which manager sets priorities and approves leave; a dotted line alone does not specify those powers.

Example sentences

  1. My dotted-line reporting relationship with the regional director covers local projects, not my annual appraisal.

    The secondary relationship has a defined project scope while appraisal sits elsewhere.

  2. We clarified dotted-line reporting after two managers assigned conflicting deadlines to the same analyst.

    Overlapping oversight needs clear priority rules to prevent competing instructions.

Common collocations

  • a dotted-line reporting relationship
  • use dotted-line reporting
  • reporting lineThe formal relationship showing who reports to whom in an organization and how authority or supervision is structured.
  • line managerThe person directly above you in a company who assigns your work, approves your leave and reviews your performance.

More terms: Company Structure

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