Span of control affects the efficient utilization of managers and the effective performance of their subordinates. Wide span, on the other hand, may result into organisational inefficiencies. The firm with wide span of control has more number of subordinates reporting directly to the manager. Wider spans of management lead to flat organization, whereas, narrow spans of management result in tall organizational structure. What is the ideal management span of control within an organization. Both narrow and wide structures have financial constraints. Advantages and disadvantages of these two span of management types should be carefully examined in terms of tangible as well as intangible factors. The firm with narrow span ten to have narrow structures i. The incapacity of human beings restricts the number of persons who can be managed effectively. Wide versus narrow span and factors determining span.
Different between narrow span of control and wide span of. Wide span of control refers to a single manager who oversees a large number of subordinates. What are the advantages and disadvantages of narrow span. Ideal span means the number of subordinates which should cost less and provide more strength to the management. Advantages and disadvantages of wide span of control. Advantages and disadvantages of wide span of control ask for details.
Organizational structure and design pearson canada. Narrow would therefore be 35, for example an infantry fire team 3. The difference between a narrow or wide span of control may be determined by a managers rank. Comparison between wide spans and narrow spans of management are given below. A narrow span tall organizational structure, which results in many levels in the organization. But my personal opinion that narrow span of control 46 is the ideal for conducting any organization smoothly. The topdown assignment of managerial span of control, based on. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a narrow span. The above considerations of narrow and wide spans of management point to the imperative need for a balance. Narrow spans of control leading to taller structure. Span of management is generally categorized under two heads narrow span and wide span. Organizations size and span of control practical management. It allows less employee autonomy in decision making as compared to.
Comparison between wide spans and narrow spans of management. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a narrow span of control. Proper balance has to be maintained between the costs and benefits of the span that a manager can effectively supervise. Whereas, with the narrow span, the hierarchical levels increases, hence the. In other cases weve seen narrow spans because an organization. A narrow span requires more managers and is, thus, a costly form of structure. Narrow span of control wider span of control alison. Organization structures can be described as wide with larger span of control or narrow with smaller span of control. Span of management directly affects the number of levels in the organization. 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. Span of management types wide spans and narrow spans of.
Narrow span of management means a single manager or supervisor oversees few subordinates. Can enhance longterm relationships with the customer by asking for feedback. Meeting and exceeding expectations, a vice president, for instance, usually manages fewer than four people while the lowerranking assembly line supervisor might manage oversee 15. Use of efficient communication tools like online wikis, videos, project management and tracking tools, and other decision support systems. The problem of span of control has long been recognized as being. It refers to how many workers a manager is supervising. The concept of span of control is an important concept in business. Optimum span of control ranges between 3 and 9 depending on the complexity of the work supervised and the need for tight control. The firm with narrow span ten to have wide structures i. How to identify the right spans of control for your organization.