In media and real life, the chain of command plays an important role. Among other things, it is a simple way to show how important (or unimportant) someone or something is in the grand scheme of things (e.g. if The Squad is being pursued by a colonel, the colonel will have far more resources to throw at them and would thus be a bigger threat than a lieutenant). It can also show how important an event is based on how involved higher ups are (e.g. if the Vice-President of the United States was personally overseeing a charity fundraiser, then that means that fundraiser is a pretty big deal).
A clear chain of command is often a necessity, as it helps people understand their place and role in an organisation, as well as the extent of their authority. It also encourages a Loyal to the Position mindset, so that people within the chain are able to suppress their personal feelings towards their superiors or subordinates in order to carry out their duties (e.g. it doesn't matter if your sergeant is a Sergeant Rock or a Drill Sergeant Nasty; they give orders, you're supposed to follow). This can also be used to show the vast difference in status between characters. For example, The Emperor would not be expected to have to even speak to, say, a watchman at the gates to a city. That would be a Herald's job: to pass the Emperor's command down to the lowly servants too unworthy to even look upon the Emperor, let alone speak to Him directly (this being especially true in stories where royalty are viewed as semi-divine).
In modern times, many businesses will sit down and sort out the chain of command when they first start out or when they reach a certain size. A Mom and Pop restaurant or convenience store naturally won't have a very big or long chain, but a nationwide franchise or international corporation most assuredly will. Government entities will also take time to sort out the chain of command to ensure that every member of the entity understands their role and who they report to, though how uniform this is may vary according to country or even city. The organisational chart of the police department of a small town in the Mid-Western USA will look rather different to a large one like the Los Angeles Police Department, primarily due to the sheer difference in size. A small town police department may not even have a dedicated homicide section, whereas the police department of a major city will assuredly have one (if only because law of average states that there's bound to be some homicides in a city with a population of millions). This is incidentally why Jurisdiction Friction is a trope between federal law enforcement and state law enforcement: People used to being at the top of (or at least high up) the chain of command suddenly find themselves answering to other people.
Similarly, while a primary school and a secondary school's organisational charts (and thus their chain of command) may look very similar if not outright the same, they'll be different to those of a college or a university (again, due to the difference in size and scale). A college or university will have multiple specialist faculties, each with their own chain of command, compared to a primary, secondary or high school. The prestige is also quite different: a chancellor of a university will naturally command more respect and seem more impressive than the principal of a high school.
The chain of command can get a bit confusing. However, there are some basic concepts:
- The chain of command is a hierarchy of reporting relationships, identifying who must answer to whom. It establishes accountability, and also lays out the lines of authority as well as decision-making power. A proper chain of command ensures that every task, department or position has someone to assume responsibility for performance. An organisational chart helps clarify the chain and can be found in many places where a formal chain of command is a necessity, including schools, police departments, hospitals, businesses and the military.
- A chain of command includes span of control, which refers to how many people report to a particular superior. A wide span of control means that one superior has many subordinates that report to them, meaning that it becomes difficult for them to personally oversee said subordinates. This allows the subordinates a certain autonomy in the course of their duties, but also means that wrong-doing or mistakes can take a longer time to catch. A narrow span of control means that a superior has only a few direct subordinates, making it possible to directly oversee them. This can, however, lead to micro-managing, where the superior effectively does the subordinates' jobs and they're reduced to mouthpieces.
- Usually, people give orders only to those directly below them in the chain of command and receive orders only from those directly above them. E.g. a captain wouldn't directly give orders to a corporal, instead giving the orders to a lieutenant who'd then pass them to a sergeant who'd then order the corporal. Similarly, a general wouldn't give orders directly to a captain; instead the captain's orders would come from his or her direct superior like a major. As a note, this can vary depending on the organisation. For example, a school principal could directly order an English teacher to cover an absent teacher's Math class without necessarily clearing it with the head of the English department.
- People are usually expected to give orders only to their direct subordinate(s), regardless of rank. Example In a school context, the head of the Science department would have no right to order an English teacher to help cover a Science teacher's class.
- Higher rank doesn't necessarily mean higher up the chain of command, with authority also depending on one's position within a particular chain of command. This is why in the case of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero it is an example of Shown Their Work, since while Duke is merely a First Sergeant, in the G.I.Joe chain of command he's the field commander and so outranks people who'd outrank him normally. At least two episodes outright state that despite being a First Sergeant, he's right after General Hawk in terms of authority.
There are, of course, several caveats. In an emergency, it's entirely possible for a chain of command to be bypassed in order to respond quickly (e.g. in some fire departments, the first fire department member to arrive on-scene is becomes Incident Commander and remains in charge until command is passed, transferred or the incident is stabilized or terminated). While people can't give orders to the subordinates of other officers or managers, they can make requests (e.g. the head of a school's Maths department asks a Science teacher who's free if they can cover a Maths class, assuming the Science teacher actually is free).
Sometimes individuals also use their own initiative rather than waiting for orders to come down the chain due to time sensitivity (e.g. during the Battle of Gettysburg, Colonel Vincent Strong of the Union led his brigade to the undefended hill of Little Round Top on his own authority when he was alerted to the situation and realised the importance of the location). Of course, this can also backfire: in the same battle the Union General Daniel Sickles disobeyed orders from his commander George Meade and moved his troops due to thinking he saw a gap in the Union defense line, inadvertently opening an actual gap and throwing the Union defenses into disarray.
The two most important functions of a chain of command are a) it establishes accountability, and b) it makes it clear what kind of decision-making power is held by those in the chain.
A chain of commands allows an organisation to identify exactly where blame for failures and praise for success should go. It's very easy for low-ranking subordinates to be scapegoated, so having a chain of command can make it much easier to identify the actual responsible parties (e.g. in the aftermath of the 2005 Texas oil refinery disaster British Petroleum attempted to blame workers at the refinery for the explosion, but subsequent investigations blamed corporate BP for the disaster, citing such factors as cost-cutting and refusal to update safety protocols).
The establishing of decision-making power makes clear the extent and the limits of someone's authority. As The Peter Principle shows, sometimes this is very important because some people are very competent within restrictions but aren't as effective when they become The Unfettered. As an example, general consensus is that George Lucas did his best work when he had people working with him and reigning him in and the Star Wars Prequels demonstrated his limitations as a filmmaker. Having limits based on the chain of command also means that damage can be limited (e.g. In the Three Kingdoms of China, the general Jiang Wei had no military strategy other than Attack! Attack! Attack! but was limited by his superiors. After the death of Fei Yi, he became the highest ranking official and launched repeated failed attacks that weakened the state of Shu, costing the government the support of the populace in the process).
Conversely, under certain circumstances people can be granted extraordinary authority for the purposes of streamlining matters. For example, some generals of the Three Kingdoms of China like Lu Xun, Lu Meng or Xiahou Dun were so trusted that they were granted the power over life and death without having to consult the Imperial court. In the Gaunt's Ghosts series of books, Commissar Ibram Gaunt is given the title of colonel (making his full title Colonel-Commissar) to expand his authority and make it easier for him to do his job.
In addition, the presence of a functioning chain of command can bolster morale, since it allows people to focus on their jobs/ areas of responsibility. It also provides a sense of security, as people take solace in knowing there are people both above and below them doing their parts. As an example, in Transformers: War for Cybertron the Autobots are badly losing in the first chapter of their campaign (which chronologically takes place after the Decepticon one where the Decepticons defeat and apparently kill Autobot leader Sentinel Zeta Prime). Once Optimus manages to reestablish a chain of command, the Autobots rally and drive the Decepticons back, saving their capital city of Iacon.
One of the criticisms of a rigid chain of command like the military is the perception that it encourages Blind Obedience and a mindset of Just Following Orders. There is some truth to this but even the military doesn't want completely mindless drones that follow orders unquestioningly without showing any initiative. That said, abusive superiors can easily lead to downtrodden subordinates who don't bother raising questions, even when they should. In Mayday, more than a few crashes are caused by former air force pilots applying their rigid chain of command to civilian aircraft or bad-tempered (or outright abusive) captains who so harangue their subordinates the subordinates are too cowed to point out a problem until it's much too late... if at all.
Another criticism of a rigid chain of command is how it becomes very tempting to pass problems up or down the chain of command due to not wanting to deal with it. A sense of stagnancy can result due to people simply accepting that "that's just how things are" and that they're not to blame for any issues, but the system itself is at fault.
Also, a chain of command formalises authority, but it still requires respect and trust to function properly. For example, in Master and Commander the officer Hollom is viewed with undisguised contempt by his subordinates partially due to his attempts to befriend them (whereas Captain Aubery is respected for his firm hand). The first episode of Band of Brothers revolves around how Easy Company despises Captain Sobel because while he's an excellent trainer of men he's completely incompetent in the field, leading to them refusing to serve under him to the point the Non-Commissioned Officers try to resign en masse rather than continue under him. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Poe Dameron leads a mutiny against Admiral Holdo out of a belief that she has no idea what she's doing and is just leading the Resistance to their deaths (not helped by the fact that their first interaction had her publicly mock Poe and tell him to simply show Blind Obedience).
Even a chain of command that operates smoothly can take time to make decisions and take action, sometimes with tragic consquences. A few episodes of Air Crash Investigations mention that a problem with an aircraft had been identified, but the accident happened before repairs could be made. This is part of the reason why disaster response tends to be flexible in terms of chain of command (e.g. the first police officer on scene acts as Primary Officer and is in command until relieved by a sergeant; the first fire firefighter to arrive assumes command until relieved or the situation is resolved). Issues of who is in command can be smoothed out once lives are no longer at risk.
The chain of command is amazingly useful in media, easily lending itself to many kinds of stories. A Big Damn Heroes Chekhov's Gunman might be someone high up the chain of command who has just now responding to a report that came up the chain (e.g. this was done in the resolution of the G.I. Joe episode "The Most Dangerous Thing In The World", as well as Robin Hood: Men in Tights). A Delegation Relay might be played for humour (e.g. In Film/Spaceballs during the evacuation of Spaceball One).
A Mass "Oh, Crap!" might be portrayed by showing the reactions of people on the chain of command as the news travels upwards. For romance, Inappropriately Close Comrades resulting in Star-Crossed Lovers can be caused by the chain of command. Having a character promoted and coping with their new duties and responsibilities (especially when they realise they're now responsible for the lives of many more people) or even inability to cope can do wonders to explore the character's maturity and growth, especially if it's a Kid Hero All Grown-Up.
Back from the Brink and You Are in Command Now are also tropes that gain their strength from the chain of command, since there are ways of milking them for drama. For example, Bright Noa of Mobile Suit Gundam is forced to take command because he's the highest-ranking able-bodied soldier left on the White Base. This causes him some difficulty when he interacts with other Federation forces because despite his rank he's the commanding officer of a warship (meaning he gets some measure of respect), but because he's a mere Ensign he doesn't get much. It becomes less of a problem when he's given a Battlefield Promotion to Lieutenant.
Naturally, some forms of media play fast and loose with the chain of command. Some media portray people getting away with blatant disrespect for the authority and the chain of command (e.g. Top Gun's Maverick would be completely stripped of his wings if he pulled his stunts in real life), resulting in Military Maverick and Cowboy Cop. Out Ranking Your Job can happen when Rule of Cool overrides reality, leading to such things like Lieutenant Columbo of the LAPD personally interviewing suspects instead of overseeing a squad. Overranked Soldier can happen when someone is not just too young for a particular rank, but also too high on the chain of command to be realistic (e.g. Shin Gihren's Greed made it possible for 16-year old Amuro Ray to achieve the rank of Lieutenant General, second only to EFF Supreme Commander General Revil).
This isn't necessarily bad, but they do risk breaking suspension of disbelief. For example, one of the big criticisms of Star Trek: Discovery is how off-putting it is for members of the crew to backtalk or snark at superior officers, a blatant show of disrespect that wouldn't be tolerated in any real life military, and also makes the crew look extremely unprofessional (in comparison, officers in previous series maintained a certain professional decorum in their interactions with each other, with emotional outbursts usually caused by O.O.C. Is Serious Business). Shinn Asuka, the main character of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny isn't very well-liked among fans of the Gundam franchise do to how abrasive he is, being rude both to superior officers and important civilians yet never suffering any penalty for it (in comparison, Amuro Ray was thrown into the brig on at least one occasion after disobeying orders and going AWOL).
