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Management & Leadership vocabulary · Organisational Structure

Chain of command

Meaning in management & leadership, with examples

nounCommon term

In management & leadership, chain of command means: The official line of authority in an organisation, showing who gives instructions to whom and the order in which decisions and problems move up and down.

In Turkish: emir-komuta zinciri, hiyerarşik zincir, yetki zinciri

How it is used

Originally a military term, now common in business, especially in large and traditional organisations. You follow, go through or bypass the chain of command; going over someone's head means skipping a level in it.

Example sentences

  1. Please follow the chain of command and raise the issue with your supervisor first.

  2. In a crisis, a clear chain of command helps people act quickly.

Common collocations

  • follow the chain of command
  • clear chain of command
  • go through the chain of command
  • bypass the chain of command
  • hierarchyA system in which the people in an organisation are arranged in levels, with each level having more authority than the one below it.
  • report toTo have a particular person as your manager, so that they direct your work, review your performance and are the person you answer to.
  • escalateTo pass a problem or decision to someone with more authority because it cannot be solved at your level; of a conflict, to become more serious.
  • org chartA diagram that shows how an organisation is structured, with boxes for roles or people and lines showing who reports to whom.
  • top-downDescribes decisions, plans or management in which the people at the top decide and those below are expected to carry them out, with little input from lower levels.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Organisational Structure

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