Top-down Approach

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.

Top-down Approach Forum (5)

Why Top-down Approach?
"The disadvantages of employing top-down management outweigh the advantages. So why perpetuate this approach?
One is led think that in contemporary management, an organization's strategic approach should be designed around inclusive core values, incorporating the synergistic values of all functional layers within the organization.
This, in my opinion, will reduce resistive backlash from lower level employees to a significant extent."

PROs and CONs of Autocratic Management Style
"If the management style in an organisation is autocratic, then as an employee you don’t have any opportunity at all to change anything in the organisation or even put an opinion forward. Autocratic management style means that all decisions regarding the organisation are decided upon by management with no input by the employees. This leaves no room for employees to contribute to any changes taking place in the organisation. This could make employees feel unimportant and could lead to poor work performance.
However the autocratic management style does have the advantage of being the style that would lead to decisions being made more quickly then another other style, because it doesn’t have to involve the employees.
But if improved work performance and improved productivity is the goal of a change in the organisation, then it would depend on the employees feeling needed and the autocratic management style is not the best style to use to achieve this."

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

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."