In 2005, the Boston Consulting Group coined the term ‘delayering’ to describe the flattening of organisations’ management structures. But removing tiers of management has been a key tactic for management consultancies since the 1980s.

By amalgamating layers of management, the argument goes, decisions made at the top filter through to those at the bottom much faster. Increasing the span of control of managers is also thought to encourage leadership through example, allowing workers to operate autonomously and discouraging the temptation to micro-manage. And, last but not least, delayering saves money.