Dual Management Reporting Lines

Sumanthra Ghoshal wrote that the functional and geographic reporting lines of managers in an organizational structure resulted in ''conflict and confusion''. In complex organizational settings, ''separated by barriers of distance, language, time and culture, managers find it virtually impossible to clarify the confusion and resolve the conflicts.'' Ghoshal wrote the paper jointly with Christopher Bartlet in 1990. The duo emphasized that companies needed to modify their organizational values and the systems of information channels in the organization before they commence the redesign of the reporting lines. Ghoshal, an Indian, had doctorates from Harvard and MIT, and started his career in Indian Oil. He also worked at INSEAD and the London Business School. He died at the age of 55.