Comparison between Delegations and Decentralization are given below:
Delegation refers, primarily, to the entrustment of authority and creation of responsibility from one individual to another. Decentralization applies to a systematic delegation of authority in the wide context of an organization. Delegation can take place from one individual to another and can lead to a complete process. However, decentralization is complete when fullest possible delegation is made to all or to most of the people and they are delegated a specific kind of authority.
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Thus, delegation is the process; decentralization is the result. Delegation is from person to person whereas decentralization is usually complete en bloc. Delegation is a must where organizational structure is present whereas decentralization may be optional.
In delegation, control is at the top, but in decentralization, control is at the decentralized unit. An organization can delegate well without enough decentralization. This does not mean decentralization can be totally absent in an organization. It always exists in a large or small degree in all organizations.
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From the organizational point of view, there is no such thing as absolute centralization or delegation. The existence of the former may be conceptually possible in a total one-man organization.
Delegation involves sharing of either managerial work or operating work between a manager and his subordinates, irrespective of their positions. In contrast, decentralization is concerned with the sharing of managerial work only between two managers.