Authority passes from the highest level to the lowest level ‘11th is called line of authority. The vice president reports directly to the president. The managers report directly to the vice president. The supervisors report directly to the managers. There is a direct responsibility in line authority.
In the case of staff authority, It is not part of the chain of command; Its job is to provide support advice and expertise to line authority. They have no accountability. For example, the presidential adviser or assistant is a staff position.
Both line and staff officers are needed for the efficient operations. of the enterprise. The line managers make the decisions whilr the staff managers assist in the making of decisions. However, in spine cases staff managers can make decisions and can issue directives. For instance, a legal ádviserin a marketing department can decide the nature of the contract.