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Span of Management

The document discusses span of management, which refers to the number of subordinates reporting directly to a manager. An appropriate span is necessary, as too large a span could prevent effective supervision, while too small a span may not make full use of the manager's abilities. However, there is no ideal span, as it depends on factors like the nature of work, technology, manager ability, and decentralization. Span can be narrow, with few subordinates, or wide, with many subordinates. Higher levels tend to have narrower spans for planning and policy work, while middle levels have wider spans for more routine work. The choice of span impacts organizational structure, with narrow spans creating taller pyramids and wide spans creating flatter, wider

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2K views9 pages

Span of Management

The document discusses span of management, which refers to the number of subordinates reporting directly to a manager. An appropriate span is necessary, as too large a span could prevent effective supervision, while too small a span may not make full use of the manager's abilities. However, there is no ideal span, as it depends on factors like the nature of work, technology, manager ability, and decentralization. Span can be narrow, with few subordinates, or wide, with many subordinates. Higher levels tend to have narrower spans for planning and policy work, while middle levels have wider spans for more routine work. The choice of span impacts organizational structure, with narrow spans creating taller pyramids and wide spans creating flatter, wider

Uploaded by

Deepakkr2510
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SPAN OF MANAGEMENT

MEANING

 Itrefers to the number of subordinates that


report directly to a single manager or
superior.
 The term Span of Management is also known
as ‘Span of Control’& ‘Span of Supervision’.
 But span of management is a better term
because control & supervision are elements
of management.
SIGNIFICANCE
 It is necessary to decide the appropriate span for every
executive.
 If the no. of subordinates reporting directly to a manager is very
large, he may not be able to exercise effective supervision &
control.
 On the other hand, if the no. is too small, full use of the
manager’s abilities may not be made & the subordinates may
not get adequate autonomy of work.
 It’s however, difficult to decide to appropriate span of
management. In actual practice spans vary widely & there is no
best or ideal no. that can be applied in all situations.
FACTORS DETERMINING SPAN OF
MANAGEMENT

 Nature of work.
 Type of technology.
 Ability of the manager.
 Capacity of subordinates.
 Degree of decentralization.
 Planning.
FACTORS

 Staff
assistance.
 Communication techniques.
 Time available for supervision.
 Geographical dispersion of subordinates.
NARROW AND WIDE SPAN

 Narrow span of management means very


few subordinates report directly to a
manager.
 Wide span of management implies a large
no. of subordinates reporting to a manager.
 Ralph C. Davis has differentiated b/w
executive & operative span of control.
NARROW & WIDE

 At higher levels of management planning &


policy making is the major task. Therefore, a
narrow span [executive span] of 3 to 7 is
usually adopted.
 At middle and supervisory levels, work is
primarily of routine nature requiring less
direct contact & interaction. As a result, span
of control can increase to as many as 10 to
13persons.
IMPACT OF SPAN ON ORG. STR.

 Choice of the span of control has a significant effect on the


size and shape of the organization structure.
 If the span is narrow, there would be several levels of
authority in the org. The org. str. Will be a TALL pyramid.
 On the other hand, a wide span of means fewer levels &
FLAT/WIDE structure.
TALL AND FLAT STRUCTURES

TALL STRUCTURE FLAT STRUCTURE

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