Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 10
Hierarchies
The word “hierarchy” means a group of individuals or things arranged in a
specific order. It is often associated with a social order found in every office
(as might be expressed on an organizational chart) or other organizations
such as schools, associations, and so on.
More generally, hierarchies are a special type of graph. Hierarchies have no
cycles(thatis,noloops)andcanbedepictedinuniquewayssuchastreemaps
and pie hierarchies. Hierarchies can be effective for unique types of analysis
such as decision trees. Also, hierarchies can be extracted from more complex
graphs and used as a way to organize and analyze the graph.
Organizational Charts
Organizational charts
have existed for more than a century. With the
beginnings of large companies after the Industrial Revolution, organizational
charts were recommended by early managers not necessarily as a tool for
analysis but as a tool for command and control. In
Graphic Methods for
Presenting Facts
(NewYork:EngineeringMagazineCompany,1914),Willard
Cope Briton wrote, “If such a chart is made, there will be fewer cases of
conflict or of short-circuiting of orders.”
Figure 10-1
shows an example of an
early organizational chart.
