Management is the nervous system for the corporation

In a corporation, management serves the function of the nervous system in the human body--sensing what is going on and relaying information to the necessary parts. When a company skimps on management, you see pathologies that are analogous to nervous system disorders in humans.

It is easy to dismiss management as unnecessary overhead and therefore strive for a "flat" organization. But that makes as much sense as arguing that the nervous system is unnecessary overhead. Unlike muscle, it can't lift anything. It doesn't provide structural support like the skeleton or transport vital nutrients like the circulatory system. But when it is diminished, many challenging symptoms develop.