Centralisation

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Diagrams of systems in various degrees of centralisation. From left to right: centralisation, decentralisation, distribution, and distributed decentralisation. Centralization to Distributed Decentralization.jpg
Diagrams of systems in various degrees of centralisation. From left to right: centralisation, decentralisation, distribution, and distributed decentralisation.

Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an entity or organization, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making and control of strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular group, sector, department or region within that entity or organization. This creates a power structure where the said group, known as head or core group, occupies the highest level of hierarchy and has significantly more authority, prestige and influence over the other groups, who are considered its subordinates.

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An antonym of centralization is decentralization , [1] where authority is shared among numerous different groups, allowing varying degree of autonomy for each.

The term has a variety of meanings in several fields. In political science, centralisation refers to the concentration of a polity's governance — both geographically and politically — into a centralized government, which has sovereignty over all its administrative divisions. Conversely, a decentralized system of government often has significant separation of powers and local self-governance.

Centralisation in politics

History of the centralisation of authority

Centralisation of authority is the systematic and consistent concentration of authority at a central point or in a person within the organization. This idea was first introduced in the Qin Dynasty of China. The Qin government was highly bureaucratic and was administered by a hierarchy of officials, all serving the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang. The Qin Dynasty practised all the things that Han Feizi taught, allowing Qin Shi Huang to own and control all his territories, including those conquered from other countries. Zheng and his advisers ended feudalism in China by setting up new laws and regulations under a centralised and bureaucratic government with a rigid centralisation of authority. [2]

Features of centralisation of authority in ancient Chinese government

Idea of centralisation of authority

A diagram of a centralised health tracing system (in French) Centralise.png
A diagram of a centralised health tracing system (in French)

The acts for the implementation are needed after delegation. Therefore, the authority for taking the decisions can be spread with the help of the delegation of the authority.

The centralisation of authority can be done immediately, if complete concentration is given at the decision-making stage for any position. The centralisation can be done with a position or at a level in an organisation. Ideally, the decision-making power is held by a few individuals.

Advantages and disadvantages of the centralisation of authority

Centralisation of authority has several advantages and disadvantages. The benefits include:

  1. Responsibilities and duties are well defined within the central governing body.
  2. Decision-making is very direct and clear. [4]
  3. The central power maintains a large "encompassing interest" in the welfare of the state it rules since it stands to benefit from any increase in the state's wealth and/or power. [5] In this sense, the incentives of state and ruler are aligned.

Disadvantages, on the other hand are as follows:

  1. Decisions may be misunderstood while being passed on and lower position departments do not have the decision-making power, therefore it requires an efficient and well-organised top department.
  2. Attention and support for each department or city may not be balanced.
  3. Delay of work information may result in inefficiency of the government.
  4. Discrepancies in the economy and information resources between the centre and other places are significant.
  5. Excludes actors at the local and provincial levels from the prevailing system of governance, reducing the capacity of the central government to hold the authority accountable (with risks of corruption), resolve disputes or design effective policies requiring local knowledge and expertise. [6] [7]

Centralisation in economy

Diagram comparing centralised versus decentralised designs of water sectors Centralized vs Decentralized water sector Desalination Esmaeil Ahmadi.jpg
Diagram comparing centralised versus decentralised designs of water sectors
A centralised air conditioning unit Centralized Air conditioning.jpg
A centralised air conditioning unit

Relationship between centralisation (i.e. concentration of production) and capitalism

As written in V.I. Lenin’s book, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism , "The remarkably rapid concentration of production in ever-larger enterprises are one of the most characteristic features of capitalism." [8] He researched the development of production and decided to develop the concept of production as a centralised framework, from individual and scattered small workshops into large factories, leading the capitalism to the world. This is guided by the idea that once concentration of production develops into a particular level, it will become a monopoly, like party organisations of Cartel, Syndicate, and Trust. [8]

Centralisation in business studies

An animation representing centralised information processing Global Brain - centralized information processing.gif
An animation representing centralised information processing

Most businesses deal with issues relating to the specifics of centralisation or decentralisation of decision-making. The key question is either whether the authority should manage all the things at the centre of a business (centralised), or whether it should be delegated far away from the centre (decentralised).

The choice between centralised or decentralised varies. Many large businesses necessarily involve some extent of decentralisation and some extent of centralisation when it begins to operate from several places or any new units and markets added. [11]

According to a 2021 study, "firms that delegated more power from the central headquarters to local plant managers prior to the Great Recession outperformed their centralised counterparts in sectors that were hardest hit by the subsequent crisis." [12]

Features of centralisation in management

  1. Top level managers concentrate and reserve the decision-making power.
  2. Execution decided by the top level management with the help from the other levels of management.
  3. Lower levels management do their jobs under direct control of the top managers. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and given to smaller factions within it.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic system</span> System of ownership, production, and exchange

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Economic planning is a resource allocation mechanism based on a computational procedure for solving a constrained maximization problem with an iterative process for obtaining its solution. Planning is a mechanism for the allocation of resources between and within organizations contrasted with the market mechanism. As an allocation mechanism for socialism, economic planning replaces factor markets with a procedure for direct allocations of resources within an interconnected group of socially owned organizations which together comprise the productive apparatus of the economy.

Decentralized decision-making is any process where the decision-making authority is distributed throughout a larger group. It also connotes a higher authority given to lower level functionaries, executives, and workers. This can be in any organization of any size, from a governmental authority to a corporation. However, the context in which the term is used is generally that of larger organizations. This distribution of power, in effect, has far-reaching implications for the fields of management, organizational behavior, and government.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bureaucracy</span> Administrative system governing any large institution

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Elite capture is a form of corruption whereby public resources are biased for the benefit of a few individuals of superior social status in detriment to the welfare of the larger population. Elites are groups of individuals who, because of self-ratifying factors such as social class, asset ownership, religious affiliations, political power, historic discrimination among social groups, political party affiliation, or economic position, have decision-making power in processes of public concern. This specific form of corruption occurs when elites use public funds, originally intended to be invested in services that benefit the larger population, to fund projects that would only benefit them. This form of corruption is differentiated from outright criminal corruption such as embezzlement, misappropriation, or other diversion of funds by a public official.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panchayati raj</span> Indian political system

The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is one of the oldest systems of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical mentions date to around 250 CE. The word raj means "rule" and panchayat means "assembly" (ayat) of five (panch). Traditionally, Panchayats consisted of wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the local community. These assemblies settled disputes between both individuals and villages. However, there were varying forms of such assemblies.

Decentralisation in Thailand is a political decentralisation in Thailand since the 1990s, caused by the democratic movement. The Thai Constitution of 1997 and decentralisation law of 1999 started an official reform process, but from 2001 to 2010, both the Thaksin governments and the military junta tried to recentralise the bureaucratic system under the CEO-style management and military sanction. In the 2014 coup, a reform process had been frozen from the military-dominated politics.

References

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  7. Shleifer, Andrei (2002). "The grabbing hand: Government pathologies and their cures".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. 1 2 Lenin, V. (1939). Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. New York: International Publishers, pp.12-54.
  9. O’Sullivan, A. and Sheffrin, S. (2003). Economics. Needham, Mass.: Prentice Hall, p.171.
  10. Theodore, D. (1888). "The Legality of "Trusts". Political Science Quarterly, 3(592).
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