unity of command

Unity of Command

In an organization, the concept that each employee is responsible to only one supervisor, who himself reports to one supervisor and so forth. This prevents the possibility that an employee may not know whose orders to follow. This applies even when an organization is governed by a committee. For example, in the United States, a superintendent of public schools is responsible to the president of the school board, not the school board as a whole, in daily activities.

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unity of command

the principle that an employee should receive instructions from only one superior. See CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT THEORY.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson