1. A philosophy of organization and management that focuses on dispersal of authority within an organizational structure; 2. The separation of a business into more manageable operating units; 3. A handing down of decision-making authority to lower levels in an organization frequently not physically or logistically juxtaposed.

the extent to which decision-making authority and responsibility is dispersed downward WŒ ”r

organizational structure in which many individuals or subunits can make decisions

the process by which decision-making responsibilities are transferred from higher levels of government to lower levels and even to the schools themselves

an organizational hierarchy in which authority is delegated to divisions, functions, and managers and workers at lower levels in the organization. p. 391

Decentralization is the process of dispersing decision-making closer to the point of service or action. It occurs in a great many contexts in engineering, management science, political science, political economy, sociology and economics — each of which could be said to study mass decision-making by groups, too large to consult with each other very directly.