Four pillars of classical theory of organization are as follows :
(i) Division of Labor— Adam Smith was the first who emphasized the importance of division of labor.— He indicated that a worker who produces 20 pins a day, might produce more through division of labor.— Smith estimated that there were about 18 different jobs involved in the production of pins.— By assigning different jobs to different workers, 10 workers could produce 48000 pins a day.— Smith’s concept of division of labor became the basis of a theory of organizational efficiency.
(ii) The scalar and functional processes— deals with the vertical and horizantal growth of an organization.— the scalar process refers to the growth of the chain of command, the delegation of authority and responsibility and unity of command.— the functional process refers to the division of the organization into specialized parts and the regrouping of the parts into compatiple units.
(iii) Structure— Classical Organization theory usually deals with two basic structures: Line and Staff— Line functions are those which have direct responsibility in the accomplishment of the objectives.— only Line functions have the power or authority to initiate and carry out organizational activities.— Staff has no authority over other parts of the organization. It only advices and serves.— staff is available to and can be used by all units of the organization.— staff are expertise who have special knowledge, skills and experience.
(iv) Span of Control— refers to the number of subordinates an administrator can effectively supervise.— acc. to Classical Org. theory no supervisor can directly supervise the work of more than five or at the most six subordinates.