ABSTRACT
In the Overture we made the point that when we think in terms of levels in organizations, we should not only distinguish between hierarchy/echelon and complexity, but focus on complexity as a more fruitful way to analyse organizational phenomena and organizational change processes. Levels of complexity – individual, group, inter-group, total organizational – are frequently used as frameworks for understanding organizational processes (Leavitt, 1978; Tuohy, 1999; Klein and Kozlowski, 2000; Harrison, 2005). Several essential points need to be clarified about the concept and usage of the term ‘organizational levels’. The notion of levels must be distinguished from that of echelon or hierarchy (Rousseau, 1985). Echelon refers to position on a chain of command in an organization, such as worker, supervisor, middle manager, etc.
