hierarchy

hierarchy hi‧er‧ar‧chy [ˈhaɪrɑːki ǁ -ɑːr-] noun hierarchies _PLURALFORM

1. [countable, uncountable] HUMAN RESOURCES an organization or structure in which the staff are organized in levels and the people at one level have authority over those below them:

• Many companies have restructured their organizational hierarchies.

• the key men in the company hierarchy

— see also Maslow's hierarchy of needs

2. [countable] COMPUTING a structure in which files, information etc are organized in levels, each one being reached from the previous one:

• Each disk is divided into a hierarchy of directories.

— hierarchical adjective :

• Research shows that hierarchical organisations are slow to respond to change.

• a hierarchical structure of files

— hierarchically adverb :

• The police bureaucracy is organized hierarchically.

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hierarchy UK US /ˈhaɪərɑːki/ noun [C] (plural hierarchies)

► a system in which the people within a company or organization are organized into levels according to the authority they have: »

Every organization has a hierarchy, and trying to understand that, and the systems and processes of the organization, is important.

corporate/management/organizational/political, etc. hierachy »

Many kinds of work are more easily and cheaply managed in corporate hierarchies than by individuals doing deals in the market.

► the people in the upper levels of a company or organization who control it: »

When the recommendations had been submitted and approved by the hierarchy, teams were established to manage the process of implementing them.

→ See also MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS(Cf. ↑Maslow's hierarchy of needs)