The two basic principles of unity of command and span of control are centrally indispensable to. Pdf span of control, unity of command, coordination. And you cant blindly delegate your duties to others. Tmt examines the effects of demographic diversity of senior managers on organizational. Span of control is very simply the number of subordinates that report to a manager. The span of management is related to the horizontal levels of the organization structure. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a narrow span of.
In the science of organization and management, three types of span of. Span of control is a term that describes the number of subordinate workers organizational units under a single manager. Pdf the span of control expresses how many subordinates correspond to one manager. Span of control affects the efficient utilization of managers and the effective performance of their subordinates. The concept of span of control is an important concept in business. With the current manner of managing an organization, the age of the. Stieglitz method, graicunas method, span of control, number of subordinates. A wide span of control gives a manager a broader knowledge of the workforce. Jan 01, 2001 some management experts say new communications technology and modern organizational designs make old ideas about span of control obsolete.
In the span of control example below we could say that the it manager has a span of control of 3, as they have 3 subordinates reporting to them. Stagger the development of your risk and control library. The basic concepts and principles of unity of command and the span of control dr. Management, firms, ceo, productivity, firm activities. Span of control determines the structure of an organization, a narrow span of control results in hierarchal organization while broad span of control leads to flat structure. A risk management perspective claire negus, manager business functions bhp billiton, group project management. What are the factors determining span of management. Jul 26, 2018 hello learners, this video consists of the full description of span of control also known as span of management.
This concept affects organization design in a variety of ways, including speed of communication flow, employee motivation, reporting relationships, and administrative overhead. As there are levels of management, or hierarchy, an organization may be tall. Managers serve their companies well when they plan, organize, lead, and control. Span of control is the term now used more commonly in business management, particularly human resource management.
Management, bureau of classification and compensation bocc. Since management represents the activities that do not directly result in productivity, they are rather a overhead, span of control determines the additional. Span of control in management has implications for work flow, communications, and opportunities for promotion in a company. Graicunas theory on the span of management theories. Span of control is the term used in business management, particularly human resource. Management roles in addition to the broad categories of management functions, managers in different levels of the hierarchy fill different managerial roles. Introduction slide 2 context span of control risk model top tips. Ideal span means the number of subordinates which should cost less and provide more strength to the management. A number of direct, group and cross relation ships exits between a manager and his subordinates. With the wider span, there will be less hierarchical levels, and thus, the organizational structure would be flatter.
The basic concepts and principles of unity of command and the. What is span of control and organizational structure. How to establish the proper span of control for managers. In january of 1998, i posted a comment about the span of control and the formulas of v. It refers to how many workers a manager is supervising. Span of control australian public service commission. Ms davison has spent more than 25 years in the hr management field, serving in leadership positions in several companies as well as managing her own consulting. The incapacity of human beings restricts the number of persons who can be managed effectively. The span of management can be determined on the basis of a number of relationships that a manager can manage. Median nurse manager span of control increases steadily as hospital bed size increases. Flat organizations have a wide span of control and tall organizations have a.
Similarly, span of control increases with bed size for nurse supervisors and directors, but at a more dramatic rate from the smallest to largest hospitals. In a wider span of control, a manager has many subordinates who report to him. The data in this report were collected from the 2017 shrm human capital benchmarking survey. Span of control in management and administration thus refers to the total number of people here, subordinates or employees working under whom a manager or. Determination of span of control is one of the results of organizing and it is defacto manifestation of formal organizational structure what is span of control for. The topdown assignment of managerial span of control, based on external comparisons, misses the specificity critical to designing something that is right for each companys context and strategy. Median nurse supervisor span of control more than doubles from the smallest to largest hospitals. How to identify the right spans of control for your. In the hierarchical business organization of some time in the past it was not uncommon to see average spans of 1to4 or even less. Span of control or span of management is a dimension of organizational design measured by the number of subordinates that report directly to a given manager. When a span is too wide, upper management is not connected to frontline issues, which can create increased stress at managerlevel due to excessive workload, reduced opportunities for continuous oneonone performance feedback, and potential for greater need for assistants or chief of staff roles.
This is an important topic as it is normally agreed that the wider the span of control the. National incident management system nims 2017 learning. Span of management span of control span of authority. So we can suggest that span of control can be estimated as.
The complexity of the work assigned and the physical. Wide span according to wide span, the manager supervises and control effectively a large group of persons at one time. Span of management or span of control span of management, also known as span of control, refers to the number of people a manager directly manages. Pdf span of control, unity of command, coordination adnan. The number of subordinates that a manager or supervisor can directly control. Management levels management levels top managers in. An executive having four subordinates under him is required to deal with. Also, due to this kind of span of control, number of managers are increases and hence the overall costing of the company increases. Whereas, with the narrow span, the hierarchical levels increases, hence the. The functions of management are planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and control. That is, one manager supervised four employees on average. Span of control 5 things every leader should know forbes. Span of management is the limitation of the number of subordinates who can be effectively supervised by a manager in the discharge of his or her management duties. If the span of control is narrow, then there will be many management levels.
In simple words, span of control means the manageable number of subordinates of a superior. Span of control, a management and leadership theory. Some management experts say new communications technology and modern organizational designs make old ideas about span of control. Various trends have existed over the years, but the current approach to creating a proper span of control in an organization involves an analysis. Ensure control status assessment criteria are defined and simple.
Span of control is defined as control of managers based on the number, skill, stability and diversity of staff. The span of control is a perennial topic in discussions of management. This directive contains the process necessary to transfer statutory functions between agencies, which are sent to the general assembly as reorganization plans. In the 19th and middle of 20th century, management writers determined 5 or 6 as the optimum number that a manager could effectively manage at the upper level. The paper uses the empirical approach to propose a method of defining optimal span of control for an enterprise, and leads to a conclusion, that efficiency of organizational function performance within company management can be estimated with the use of span of control criteria. A large span of control means that a manager has a large number of staff under their direct control, while a small span of control means that each manager looks after a small group of staff. This paper examines emergency management span of control nationally, surveys emergency management directors in four new england states, and proposes a regional construct for emergency management in vermont, to enable effective emergency management during the next manmade or natural disaster. Budget consultants tend to cut employees in middle management, but widening the span of control can create more problems than the cost savings is worth. What does it mean for a manager to have a wide span of control. The amount of planning, organizing, and controlling decreases down the hierarchy of management. Al though control is listed last, it certainly is not the least important. As there are levels of management, or hierarchy, an organization may be tall with many levels or flat with fewer levels. Sep 15, 2016 also, due to this kind of span of control, number of managers are increases and hence the overall costing of the company increases. Organizations size and span of control practical management.
Consider the use of leading indicators for tracking the performance of control effectiveness. Seven insights from hospital span of control benchmarks. It is a chain of command notion where the number of subordinates are properly identified to understand a managers reach. Proper span of control is considered necessary for effective coordination. It doesnt take into account how each department and team should perform their work to accomplish their collective performance and health goals. Span of control refers to the number of officers or subordinates that a superior supervises without regard to the effectiveness or efficiency of that supervision. A span of control is a concept that describes the number of people that are managed by someone. Normal span of control for a patrol sergeant is 610 officers. This amendment contains revisions to the commonwealths supervisory span of control policy and to the process. When the span of control is narrow, the manager has only a few workers to supervise. Span of control refers to the number of subordinates a supervisor has.
Multiple people in a department deal with a single superior. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a narrow span of control. Factors affecting span of control or span of management. Wide versus narrow span and factors determining span. The phrase span of control relates to the number of individuals who report directly to any particular manager. Pdf span of control in teamwork and organization structure. The number of subordinates that a superior can effectively supervise is known as span of management or span of control. Determination of span of control is one of the results of organizing and it is defacto manifestation of formal organizational structure. If you look closely at the management ranks of many fortune 500 corporations, youll see. Read on to learn what it is and how it impacts a companys results. 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 market researcher telesales supervisor customer.
The number of people who report to one manager in a hierarchy the more people under the control of one. Thats why this book is organized around the functions of management. After reading you will understand the basics of this powerful management and leadership theory. A clear definition of the span of control allows the manager to plan, organize and divide the work load among his team according to his work method, assigning each team member the duties he thinks they are capable to handle, according to their skills, knowledge and academic background. The researchers find that the broad span of control for teachers contrasts with a relatively narrow midmanager span of control averaging 2. The span of control is the number of persons directly reporting to a manager. In the hierarchical business organization of some time in the past.
Span of management or span of control management study hq. Pdf span of control and span of activity researchgate. It also gives more workers a single contact person to go to for information and leadership, which can eliminate confusion. Jul 25, 2017 this article describes span of control in a practical way. Here the capacity means the ability of a superior to comprehend the problems quickly and gel up with the staff such that he gets respect from all. Span of control refers to the number of subordinates an executive can supervise. Although a wide span of control can save money, budget developers must be careful about cutting costs when it comes to management. Jubenkanda2, 1ba, hons ba, ma, madmin, msoc sc, phd 2bsc, msc. Organization structures can be described as wide with larger span of control or narrow with smaller span of control. Span of control span of control or span of management represents a numerical limit of sub ordinates to be supervised and controlled by a manager. The larger an organisation, the more management layers it has.
Now lets take a closer look at each of the management functions. The reason for determining the span of control is the need for division of labor and natural. Decisions can be made more quickly because there are fewer levels of management that must relay information down to the workers. The concept is the central theme of the classical theory. Span of control and span of attention working paper harvard.
In a narrow span of control, a manger has fewer subordinates under him. Econ, msc, dphil candidate zimbabwe open university abstract. This article describes span of control in a practical way. Barbara davison barbara davison is a director with saratoga institute, now a pricewaterhousecoopers human resources services offering. This span of control creates a taller structure which leads to having many levels of management. 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 market researcher telesales supervisor customer care. Span of control, a management and leadership theory toolshero.
Since management represents the activities that do not directly result in productivity, they are rather a overhead, span of control determines the additional operational cost. The number of layers an organization has will depend on the size of the organization. Span of control in hindi span of management youtube. The basic concepts and principles of unity of command and. This concept affects organization design in a variety of ways, including speed of communication flow, employee motivation, reporting relationships, and administrative. Defining optimal span of control for an enterprise. In a classical type of organizational structure, which is the most common form, the.