In the inverted pyramid, who is at the bottom?

• A. Owner/Boards
• B. Staff
• C. General Manager
• D. Customers

Answer: (A)

In the inverted pyramid, the focus is on serving and supporting those who interact with customers. The arrangement places customers at the top, then the frontline staff who directly deliver the service, with supervisors and managers above them to enable and coach, and finally the owners or boards at the bottom who provide the resources and direction that sustain the whole system. So the bottom is the owners/boards because they empower the entire service chain rather than being the ones delivering the frontline service.

Front-line staff and managers aren’t at the bottom because they carry out and enable service for customers; customers aren’t at the bottom because they drive what the organization must do.