A '''reverse hierarchy''' is a conceptual [[organizational structure]] that attempts to "invert" the classical pyramid of [[hierarchical organization|hierarchical organisations]]. TheIn conceptthis wasstructure, pioneeredkey decisions are made by the [[totalemployees qualityin direct contact with customers, while progressively senior management]]movementpositions provide support and help to the customer-facing employees.<ref name=Mosley>{{cite book|last1=Mosley|first1=Donald|title=Supervisory Management|date=2014|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=125|edition=1st|accessdate=14 July 2014|ref=1}}</ref>
==History==
The creation of the reverse hierarchy (or inverted pyramid) has been attributed to the [[Nordstrom]] retail organization.<ref name=Mosley />
The reverse hierarchy promotes the idea that the most important employees are those who deal daily with the organisations' customers, i.e. those who would normally be at the "bottom" of the hierarchy. It is then the role of supervisors and managers (normally "higher" in the hierarchy) to support these employees and to remove the obstacles that hinder them in satisfying their customers' needs. Thus the "more senior" people are actually "lower" in the inverted pyramid, as they have more people to support.
