Creative thinking, adaptability, and collaboration are part of human nature. Unfortunately, however, the hierarchical structures at workplaces unwittingly discourage these traits. Paradoxically, the preeminent organizational strategy designed to maximize efficient productivity may actually be detrimental. The long-term success of a corporation requires flexibility and new ideas to respond to ever-evolving political, social, and economic conditions.

Becoming a “flat organization” will best ensure a company’s survival. Such enterprises abolish middle management structures and instead assign most workers to the same level, with only a few superiors. In doing so, corporations must reconsider their view of employees: rather than workers reporting to a manager responsible for making decisions, non-hierarchical committees share in a decentralized decision-making process. Collaboration is encouraged and innovation is rewarded; new ideas can be implemented more quickly without requiring the traditional levels of ascension through middle management. Limiting specialization in job titles fosters flexibility as workers can take on a variety of roles depending on individual project needs, which leads to an increase in employee learning. Simply put, leaders in flat organizations have the responsibility to construct organizations in which members maximize their abilities and directly contribute to the company’s success.

1. Which of the following could best serve as an example of how a company might become a flat organization, as such organizations are described in the passage?

A. Outsourcing middle management to a separate company
B. Abolishing job titles and rotating responsibility for leading meetings
C. Denoting specific guidelines for approval of new ideas
D. Hiring a specialist for each stage of a project’s completion
E. Assigning each employee another employee to oversee

OA B

2. The primary purpose of the passage is

A. to compare various corporate organizational strategies
B. explain and endorse an alternative business structure
C. propose a traditional corporate approach
D. evaluate and then criticize a new method of conducting business
E. acknowledge the similarities between two management theories

OA B

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about hierarchical workplaces?

A. They may result in a delayed approval process for new ideas
B. They often contain more middle managers than upper managers
C. They maximize efficiency by promoting specialization
D. They are more beneficial for larger companies than for smaller companies
E. They do not allow employees to have flexible roles

OA A