Span of control, Scalar chain

Span of control is a term originating in military organization theory, but now used more
commonly in business management, particularly human resource management. Span of
control refers to the number of subordinates who report directly to a given manager or
supervisor.
In the hierarchical business organization of the past it was not uncommon to see average
spans of 1 to 10 or even less. That is, one manager supervised ten employees on average. The
current shift to self-directed cross-functional teams and other forms of non-hierarchical
structures, have made the concept of span of control less salient.
Theories about the optimum span of control go bac to !. ". #raicunas. In 1$%% he used
assumptions about mental capacity and attention span to develop a set of practical heuristics.
&yndall 'rwic (1$)*+ developed a theory based on geographical dispersion and the need for
face to face meetings. In spite of numerous attempts since then, no convincing theories have
been presented. This is because the optimum span of control depends on numerous variables
including organizational structure, available technology, the functions being performed, and
the competencies of the manager as well as staff.
Factors affecting span of control
These are the factors affecting span of control,
1. #eographical &ocation, if the branches of a business are widely dispersed, then the
manager will find it difficult to supervise each of them, as such the span on control
will be smaller.
-. .apability of worers, if worers are highly capable, and do not re/uire much
supervision and can be left on their own, eg, Theory 0 type of people, need not be
supervised much as they are motivated and tae initiative to wor,as such the span of
control will be smaller.
%. Similarity of tas, if the tas that the subordinates are performing are similar, then the
span of control can be wider, as the manager can supervise them all at the same time.
1owever, of course the capability of the supervisor has to also be taen into
consideration.
The first to develop a more general theory of management was 1enri 2ayol.
e3ercising control over activities performed by subordinates and monitoring their
communication, the nodes at the upper hierarchical levels would be suffering from
information overload, since all communication to other branches of the organizational
structure would be routed through them. In addition, a larger number of subordinates also
re/uires supervisors to monitor a high number of interactions below their own level, i.e. that
information overload and span of control are positively correlated.
4o organization can afford to maintain a control structure of a dimension being re/uired for
implementing a scalar chain under the unity of command condition. Therefore, other
mechanisms had to be found for dealing with the dilemma of maintaining managerial control,
while eeping cost and time at a reasonable level, thus maing the span of control a critical
figure for the organization.
2ayol proposed that subordinate employees should be allowed to communicate directly with
each other, given that their superiors had agreed upon this procedure. This principle became
nown under the name of 2ayol5s bridge.
The use of 2ayol6s bridge resulted in a number of other aspects needing to be taen into
consideration. In order to put this system to wor, Taylor6s functional foremanship has to be
abandoned, and unity of command needs to be established. "t the same time, decision power
is distributed to individuals on lower levels in the organization, and only decisions that e3ceed
the pre-defined decision scope of an employee are referred upwards. This, in turn, strengthens
the co-e/uality of authority and responsibility. Since a 2ayol bridge is not limited to a certain
functional area within the organization, but can span over functional boundaries, e.g. from
purchasing to manufacturing, it can be considered as a first attempt to create a horizontal
integration of related activities under a certain level of self-management, an early business
process.
he more people under the control of one manager - the wider the span of control. &ess means
a narrower span of control.
The advantages of wide span of control are,
There are less layers of management to pass a message through, so the message
reaches more employees faster
It costs less money to run a wider span of control because a business does not need to
employ as many managers
The width of the span of control depends on,
The type of product being made 7 products which are easy to mae or deliver will need less
supervision and so can have a wider span of control
Skills of managers and workers 7 a more silful worforce can operate with a wider span of
control because they will need less supervision. " more silful manager can control a greater
number of staff
" tall organisation has a larger number of managers with a narrow span of control whilst a flat
organisation has few managers with a wide span of control.
" tall organisation can suffer from having too many managers (a huge e3pense+ and decisions
can tae a long time to reach the bottom of the hierarchy
8'T, a tall organisation can provide good opportunities for promotion and the manager does
not have to spend so much time managing the staff
Scalar chain:
Straight chain of command that e3tents unbroen from the ultimate officer to the lowest
rans. The principle suggests that there should be a clear line of authority from top to bottom
lining all managers at all levels. It is considered a chain of command. It involves a concept
called a 9gang plan9 using which a subordinate may contact a superior or his superior in case
of an emergency,defying the hierarchy of control.1owever the immediate superiors must be
informed about the matter.