Meaning & use
line authority
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Meaning
noununcountablebusiness
the right of a manager to give orders and make decisions that affect the work of employees directly below them
Grammar: Usually uncountable; can be used with 'have' or 'exercise'.
Patterns
- have line authority over someone
- exercise line authority
- delegate line authority
The production manager has line authority over all the assembly workers.
She was given line authority to hire and fire staff in her department.
In this company, only department heads have line authority; others can only advise.
Common combinations
- have line authority over
- The regional director has line authority over the branch managers.
- exercise line authority
- He rarely needs to exercise line authority because his team is self-motivated.
- delegate line authority
- Good leaders know when to delegate line authority to their supervisors.
- clear line authority
- The new structure gives clear line authority to each team leader.
Synonyms and how they differ
- command authority
- More common in military contexts; it emphasizes the power to give orders.
- direct authority
- Similar but less technical; it simply means authority that is direct rather than advisory.
Opposites
Word family
- line manager noun
- The manager who has direct authority over an employee.
- line function noun
- A department or role that directly carries out the main work of the organization.
Commonly confused: line authority or staff authority?
line authority vs staff authority
Staff authority is the right to advise or support, not to give orders. Line authority, by contrast, includes the power to command.
Practice
What does 'line authority' refer to in a company?
Choose one answer.
Line authority is the formal power to direct subordinates in the chain of command. 'Staff authority' is the advisory role, and overall strategy or legal representation are different kinds of responsibility.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “line authority”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.