Span of Control

The fourth element of the process of organizing is the concept of span of control also known as span of management. Span of control refers to the number of subordinates that one manager can supervise directly.

The manager faces certain limitations, he has limited time, limited personal capability and he can only give attention to and concentrate only on a limited number of subjects at a time. These limitations support the concept of span of control and also indicate that the optimum span varies among individuals and among organizations.
The principle of span of control states that, the number of subordinate positions directly reporting to a superior position should be that number which is considered as optimum and which balances:

    1.    the essential subordinate activities
    2.    the spans of personality knowledge, energy and attention of the superior
    3.    the communication and
    4.    the expenses associated with additional levels of management.

The actual span of control cannot be rigid and universal. It should be determined on the basis of:

    1.    Personal quality of both the superior and subordinate and
    2.    The number of important activities at the next lower level of the organization structure.

The span of control will therefore vary according to the following factors:

•    Ability of both subordinate and boss—where they are both capable and competent then a large span is possible.
•    Level of the superior in the hierarchy—the higher the superior is in the organizational hierarchy, the narrower the span of control.
•    Faith in the subordinates (if the superior has faith in subordinates then there will be a higher span due to more delegation.
•    Nature and type of work (if work is highly dynamic and volatile then a narrower span is favourable.
•    Physical dispersion of subordinates—if subordinates are scattered in several locations then the manager can only supervise a few.
•    Number of other non supervisory duties of the manager—if the manager has many other non supervisory tasks, then he can only supervise less subordinates.
•    Need for communication (if need for communication is frequent then a limited span is preferable.
•    The type of organization and management—clear and comprehensive plans and policies at all levels reduce the volume of personal decision making of the manager—therefore its span of control can easily increase.

Tall and Flat Organizations

The number of the span of control affects both group effectiveness and overall organizational effectiveness. A manager who has a large number of subordinates is said to have a wide span of control. One who has few subordinates has a narrow span of control.
A wide span of management results in an organization that has relatively few levels of management—a flat organization. A narrow span adds more layers of management and therefore leads to a tall organization.

In general flat organizations tend to be characterized by greater communication between lower and higher management, greater ability to respond to environmental changes and lower total managerial costs.

Spans tend to be larger when:

•    people are competent
•    people prefer low supervision
•    tasks are similar
•    work is standardized
    
Spans tend to be smaller when:

•    people are widely dispersed
•    manager has a lot of other work
•    required interaction is high
•    new problems frequently arise

The span of control has direct effect on communication and therefore on effectiveness. Where the span is narrow and therefore the structure is tall, there may be ineffective, inaccurate and incomplete communication due to the many levels and this could lead to decreased morale and increased executive payroll besides the possible redtape that may accompany the many levels.

With short structures where the span is wide, supervision and control may be unsatisfactory and this may lead to decreased productivity or increased costs of training high calibre managers.