The order of levels of management or supervision within a business, from the lowest to the highest. In general, the larger the business in terms of number of people employed, the more hierarchical it will be. A local independent fruit and vegetable store is likely to consist of just two levels – the owner (and manager) and the sales assistants / staff. A large national company, on the other hand, may have many hierarchical levels Organisations with up to three hierarchical levels are usually considered to have a flat structure. Those with four or more levels are considered to have a tall, hierarchical, or pyramid structure.