Top-down Approach

Over a million managers and consultants are working together on management issues via 12manage each month...

Description of Top-down Approach. Explanation.

Definition Top-down Approach. Description.

The Top-down Approach is an autocratic and Hierarchical style of Decision-Making, Organizational Change and Leadership, in which strategies or plans are first conceived by one or a few senior managers, and then disseminated  (cascaded) further down the Organization Chart of the firm. The lower levels in the hierarchy are, to a greater or lesser extent, bound by the decisions of the top management.

Advantages of the top-down approach include:

• Simplicity (making a decision with more people is more complex).

• Speed (making a decision with more people will typically take more time).

Disadvantages of the top-down approach include:

• Low participation (this is likely to influence the implementation of the plans in a negative way).

• Requires a lot of knowledge at the top level.

• Does not use specialized knowledge which may be present in the lower echelons of the organization.

Forum

Nisha - Malaysia

When Top Down Approach?

"In what situations is a top down approach best used? When is a top down approach recommendable?"

7

raura elkana - tanzania

Setting the Organization Purpose

"Top managers should be very careful in setting the organization purposes since they are ones which determine the goals of the organization. A good purpose will create a strong linkage between the organization and the customers. So managers should be serious when setting the organization purposes."

-1

Philemon - Tanzania

Human Resources Development in organization

"Why is the top-down approach not always amenable to education development or training?"

3

Comment on this Page

Compare with: Bottom-up Approach  |  Centralization and Decentralization  |  Theory E and Theory O  |  14 Principles of Management   |  Chain of Command  |  Hierarchical Organization Structure  |  Management by Objectives  |  Hoshin Kanri - Policy Deployment  |  Core Groups  |  Change Management Iceberg  |  Change Model Beckhard  |  Change Phases  |  Force Field Analysis  |  Core Group Theory  |  Bases of Social Power  |  Office of Strategy Management

Return to Management Hub: Change & Organization  |  Communication & Skills  |  Decision-making & Valuation  |  Leadership  |  Program & Project Management  |  Strategy

More on Management  |  Return to Management Dictionary  | 

End of description Top-down Approach. An explanation.