It's actually one way of making decisions and managing responsibilities. It's likely the most common because it evolved from the manufacturing-era model (think Henry Ford making cars). Ford's model evolved from looking at the military.

Ford has a famous line - “Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached?”

It's possible that a pair of hands that took direction would be ideal in Ford's system (though I doubt it - Honda's done much better by actually harnessing the brains connected with the pairs of hands). But that hierarchical model is counterproductive in today's knowledge and networked economy: you want to use the resources and knowledge at all levels of your company, and that way you do that is by decentralizing authority and decision-making power to the edges.

Look at the open-source model of building software; it's pretty damn far from hierarchical, and it's at least as successful at creating value compared with the more hierarchical model most software companies use.