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dotted line

/ˈdɒt.ɪd laɪn/ - n.

1 [colloq.] The line on the chart that carries all of the responsibility and none of the headcount. It is dotted because solid would imply someone could be held to it.Keep. Punchy.This is the problem.

Working definition

2. A secondary reporting relationship: influence or coordination without direct authority over a person or function.

Filed

See also

accountabilityA quality every initiative is said to require and every org chart is careful never to locate.
data stewardThe one person who reads the policy, applied as a layer on top of an existing full-time job.
reorgThe act of redrawing the boxes to avoid defining what goes in them. The ambiguity is conserved; only its address changes.
the abstract ownerEveryone agreed it was owned. No one could say by whom. The asset has a guardian the way the weather has a manager.