Span of Control: Factors, Types & Impact on Organizational Structure
1.
2. What is the Span of Control?
› The number of people who report to one manager in
a hierarchy
› The more people under the control of one manager -
the wider the span of control
› Less means a narrower span of control
Example below shows a span of control of 4 for
the Marketing Manager
Marketing
Manager
Market
Researcher
Telesales
Supervisor
Customer Care
Assistant
Marketing
Assistant
3. GRAICUNAS HAS IDENTIFIED THREE TYPES OF
SUPERIOR:
DIRECT SINGLE RELATIONSHIP
DIRECT GROUP RELATIONSHIP
CROSS RELATIONSHIP
4. CAPACITY OF SUPERIOR.
CAPACITY OF SUBORDINATE.
NATURE OF WORK.
DEGREE OF DECENTRALIZATION.
DEGREE OF PLANNING.
COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE.
USE OF STAFF ASSISTANCE.
SUPERVISION FROM OTHERS.
5. NARROW SPAN OF MANAGEMANT:- THIS MEANS
A SINGLE MANAGERS OR SUPERVISOR OVERSEES
FEW SUBORDINATES. THIS GIVES A RISE TO A
TALL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE.
WIDE SPAN OF MANAGEMENT:- THIS MEANS A
SINGLE MANAGERS OR SUPERVISOR OVERSEES A
LARGE NUMBER OF SUBORDINATES. THIS GIVES
A RISE TO A FLAT STRUCTURE.
9. FIRSTLY, WITHIN TALL ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
THERE IS A CLOSE SUPERVISORY CONTROL BECAUSE
OF THE LOW SPAN OF MANAGERS.
SECONDLY, IT IS MORE AUTHORISED STRUCTURE.
THIRDLY,IN A TALL STRUCTURE THE RESPONSIBLE
PERSON IS OTHER ACCOUNTABLE TO THE HIGHER
AUTHORITY.
FOURTHLY, THIS STRUCTURE ENHANCE THE
CONTROL OF THE TOP REGULATION OVER THE
ORGANIZATION.
10. FIRSTLY, EMPLOYEES ARE LESS MOTIVATED
WITHIN THIS STRUCTURE.
SECONDLY, VERDICT MAKING IS SLOW.
THIRDLY, TALL STRUCTURE CREATES
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS BETWEEN THE
UPPER AND LOWER MANAGEMENT.
FOURTHLY, LESS BENEFIT AND REWARDS ARE
GIVEN TO THE BODY IN THE TALL
ORGANISATION.
11. FLAT ORGANIZATION IS LESS COSTLY.
QUICK DECISION AND ACTION CAN BE TAKEN.
FAST AND CLEAR COMMUNICATION .
SUBORDINATES ARE FREE FROM CLOSE AND
STRICT SUPERVISION AND CONTROL.
SUPERIOR MAY NOT BE TOO DOMINATING
BECAUSE OF LARGE NUMBER OF
SUBORDINATES.
12. THERE ARE CHANCES OF LOOSE CONTROL BECAUSE
THERE ARE MANY SUBORDINATES UNDER ONE
MANAGERS.
THE DISCIPLINE IN THE ORGANISATION MAY BE BAD.
THE RELATION BETWEEN THE SUPERIOR AND
SUBORDINATE MAY BE BAD.
CLOSE AND INFORMAL RELATION MAY NOT BE
POSSIBLE.
AND BECAUSE OF ALL THESE THE QUALITY OF
PERFORMANCE MY BE BAD.
13. NARROW SPAN OF MANAGEMENT IS MORE
COSTLY COMPARED TO WIDE SPAN OF
MANAGEMENT AS THERE ARE LARGE NUMBER
OF SUPERIOR/MANAGERS AND THUS THERE IS
GREAT COMMUNICATION ISSUES TOO BETWEEN
VARIOUS MANAGEMENT LEVELS.
14. THE SAME NUMBER OF WORKERS
REQUIREMENT OF SUPERVISORY PERSONNEL AT
SPAN OF 4 IS 1,365 AND AT SPAN OF 8 IS ONLY
585.
THEREFORE, LOOKING INTO THE COST OF
EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL AND THEIR
AVAILABILITY, IT IS PREFERABLE TO GO FOR WIDER
SPAN OF MANAGEMENT.