Under what conditions is decentralization of facilities rational for a client-centered system of service or administration, and when is great centralization more cost-effective? Four aspects of decentralization are identified: (1) pluralization of facilities (e.g., service points or channels);...

A mathematical expression for the cost of maintaining a client-centered service organisation is derived. It shows the dependency of the total cost on the service-request load, the number of hierarchical levels of the organization, and the administrative costs. The mathematical formulation is...