› 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.