Question

Would you describe Valve Corporation as a flat organization? Why? Does such a structure seem to be effective for Valve?

Answer 1

A Flat Organization is an organizational structure with the very a small number of or zero levels of management between management and staff level workers. So because Valve Corporation is an organization with almost no levels of hierarchy and peer relations, it is a Flat Organization. Although this structure has many limitations, valve became an extremely successful corporation with remarkable dominance in the market and a sound future. This Flat model undoubtedly worked. They always ensured that a worker that is hired should also be an effective manager of themselves. They eliminated the pain of firing potential employees. The company uses stack ranking system in which all the workers show an estimation of their performance assessments and adjust their reward (income) accordingly.