Hierarchy to Heterarchy: A Crossroads for Textile & Apparel Transformation

COVID-19 revealed a paradox in organizational life: even with half the mid-level workforce physically present and reduced office hours, many companies not only survived but thrived. This disruption exposed inefficiencies in traditional hierarchies – layers of reporting, redundant roles, and micromanagement – that often obstruct value creation rather than enable it.

Instead of information crawling up and down multiple layers of hierarchy, Zoom meetings and digital platforms turned the pyramid into a network. Everyone could see the same dashboards, hear the same updates, and know their role directly. That eliminated the endless chain of “someone reports → someone approves → someone executes.” This is the method the company adopted at that time, which is called ‘heterarchy’. But unfortunately, most of the company went back to their old school; only a few carry some good habits.

Conventional hierarchies offered accountability, control, and order. When the world was slower and smaller, it worked. For example, information was hard to get by, communication was delayed, organizations were spread out geographically, formal authority was needed to make decisions, and technology was limited. When the environment shifts, but the structure doesn’t, problems arise. The flow of information has been altered by digital technologies.