Think about the organisational structure of any company and three is always a hierarchy of some description. The Managing Director is above the Divisional Managers; these are above the Departmental Managers, who are above the workers.
In some culture, the emphasis on status within a company is extremely important. take Japan as an example. Businesses in Japan tend to have a more vertical structure than companies in the West, where status and position play a less important role in working relationship. In a Japanese company behavior and language are modified according to the job position of the person you are talking to. However, Japanese organisations give a lot of important to group goals and every person tries to do what is best for the common good.