Line and staff personell within an organization.?

[Jan Douwe]

I would like to find out if the answer community on Yahoo actually works. Therefore do I have a question that I want to have answered. What is the difference between line and staff positions within an organization? Could someone please explain this term for me with maybe one or two examples?

[joemoser1948]

"Line" organizations are those directly involved in getting the "product" out the door (e.g., engineering, manufacturing, shipping/receiving) and "staff" organizations are those that support the organization (HR, finance, facilities, IT, legal). Some organizational elements could be placed in either category (e.g., purchasing) depending on the specific organization.

[Aklosh]

okay okay good to make line