ABSTRACT
Hierarchy is a fundamental part of traditional management thinking. As Belbin (1993) puts it, managers have traditionally believed that work gets done only when someone has the power to order a subordinate to do it. However, this view is now widely challenged as traditional hierarchical structures increasingly fail to deliver improvements in efficiency. Belbin's research into effective teamworking shows that rules and regulations imposed from above restrict and limit initiative. As people are better educated and informed, they want to make their own decisions. So hierarchies are subverted as workers introduce their own ways of doing things, despite the rules.
