 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

Marketing Market Telesales Customer Care

Assistant Researcher Supervisor Assistant
GRAICUNAS HAS IDENTIFIED THREE TYPES OF
SUPERIOR:
 DIRECT SINGLE RELATIONSHIP
 DIRECT GROUP RELATIONSHIP
 CROSS RELATIONSHIP
 CAPACITY OF SUPERIOR.
 CAPACITY OF SUBORDINATE.
 NATURE OF WORK.
 DEGREE OF DECENTRALIZATION.
 DEGREE OF PLANNING.
 COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE.
 USE OF STAFF ASSISTANCE.
 SUPERVISION FROM OTHERS.
 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.
BOXES DEFINE THE LABEL OF MANAGERS
OR SUBORDINATES
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.