Vertical & Horizontal Management

Vertical organizational structure means a strict top down or bottom up structure. Typically, a rigid top down vertical organizational structure has been a favored form for many business and other type organizations. In such an organization, the chain of command is usually very important and breaking it is considered very wrong. In faster moving, dynamic conditions, a vertical organizational structure can become very inefficient, for example, requiring decisions to slowly go through many people along the vertical chain of command before actions can be made by those who need permission to act.

Horizontal organizational structure means a flat or closer to flat organizational structure. In a perfectly horizontal structure, there are no leaders, so usually this means a structure that is still vertical, but has been made more horizontal than what is typically referred to as vertical. Where the line is drawn is not exactly clear to me and perhaps depends upon all factors in a particular example and conversation. In general, any large organizational structure has both vertical and horizontal aspects to it and depending on whether it is considered to be more vertical or more horizontal results in what it is called.

Vertical organizational structures also tend to create boundaries between departments or branches in a larger organization, because for a person down one branch must go up the chain of command on his branch and then down the chain of command on the other branch in order to interact with someone down the chain of command on a different branch. Having to do this tends to make such inter group interaction so hard as to strongly discourage it. Just think "bloated bureaucratic obstacle course from hell".

To have a more horizontal organizational structure means cutting out levels of mid-management which results in allowing more horizontal level of authority. It does grant more authority to various horizontal layers of employees. This can help improve...