Explain ‘Span of Control’. State merits and demerits of a limited span of control. Discuss the factors affecting the span of control.

Span of Control:   It states that how any employees can a manager efficiently & effectively manage ? OR The number of persons who are directly responsible to the executive is called the span of control. No single executive should have more people looking to

him for controlling & guidance than he can reasonably manage because of Limited time and Limited available energy.

The numbers of persons which can be effectively supervised by single executive is 6 to 8 in an average firm.

However when activities are routine then executive can supervise 20 to 30. If span is small, an executive may tend to over supervise & may even do span leading to his subordinates. If span is large, executive may not be able to supervise his

subordinates effectively & they may become careless or feel neglected. Suppose, you have 4000 workers in Organization. If you divide those workers in 4 groups then you need 1000 Managers. If a span is small, you need 1000 managers and

will take large amount of money in terms of Annual Salary of Managers. But Workers will get proper supervision.

Now, if we divide those workers in 8 groups then you need 500 Managers. If a span is big then you need 500 managers

and will save company’s money.

Determinants of Span of Control :

Colonel Urwick stated that the number of subordinates under one superior should range between 4 and 12 depending upon various determinants of the span of control.

(i) Competence of Superior : Competence of Superior is capable enough to handle more subordinates.

(ii) Competence of the subordinates : Competent subordinates disturb less to superior.

(iii) Nature of work : In case of repetitive work, more subordinates can be handled by one superior.

(iv) Means of communication : If subordinates use appropriate media then one superior can handle more number of supervisors.

(v) Leadership Style : In case of autocratic style, the frequency of meeting of subordinates with superior is high.

Merits of Span of Control :

1. Superior can supervise effectively and competently

2. Specialization is encouraged and utilized.

3. Superior can concentrate on limited area of operations.

4. Higher degree of disciplines can be exercised,

5. If results into all the advantages of tall structure.

Demerits of Span of Control :

1. It increases the scalar chain from top to bottom.

2. It demotivates the employees as the contacts between top and bottom is lengthened.

3. It results into all disadvantages of tall structure.

The advantages of a narrow span of control are :

A narrow span of control allows a manager to communicate quickly with the employees under them and control them more easily Feedback of ideas from the workers will be more effective. It requires a higher level of management skill to

control a greater number of employees, so there is less management skill required

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.