Which term refers to the least amount of formal decision-making power in the four levels of authority?

• A. Informing authority.
• B. Full authority.
• C. Reporting authority.
• D. Recommending authority.

Answer: (B)

Think about how much control each level actually grants in making decisions. Informing authority is simply about passing along information or updates about decisions that others have made. There’s no power to approve, modify, or implement those decisions. Because it doesn’t authorize any decision-making, it sits at the lowest level of formal power.

A step up is recommending authority, where you can suggest a course of action or propose options, but you don’t have the final say to approve or enforce those recommendations. Reporting authority involves sharing results or progress and can influence future choices, giving more leverage than just informing but still not granting unilateral decision power. Full authority is the highest level, where decisions can be made on your own without needing approval from others.

So the term that represents the least formal decision-making power is informing authority.