Which term describes technical, advisory specialists such as accountants and purchasing personnel whose jobs are to provide good advice to the actual decision makers employed in line positions?

• A. Stakeholder
• B. Standards
• C. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• D. Staff position

Answer: (D)

The main idea is the distinction between line managers who directly produce or deliver the product or service and staff personnel who provide specialized, advisory support to those line decisions. In hospitality, accountants, purchasing staff, and other technical specialists fit into a staff role because their job is to analyze, advise, and guide the actual decision makers in line positions. They’re there to inform and support, not to run the front-line operations themselves. That advisory relationship is what defines a staff position.

Terms like stakeholder describe people affected by decisions, standards are benchmarks, and standard operating procedures are the exact methods for performing tasks. None of those capture the advisory, specialized role that supports line managers the way a staff position does.