Question

If the span of control of an organization varies from 1 to 7, estimate the number of superior-subordinate relationships. Justify your answer.

Answer 1

Span of control is mainly determines by

1) Nature of work involved

2) Degree of autonomy granted to employees

3) Number of layers in the hierarchy

The span of control is the number of subordinates for whom a manager is directly responsible. The two diagrams below illustrate two different spans of control:

A span of control of 7 ,6,5 and 4 would be considered to be quite wide span of control.

Contrast this with a span of 3 below, which would be considered narrow span of control

There is no   ideal span of control

A suitable span of control will depend upon a number of factors:

· The experience and personality of the manager

· The nature of the business. If being a line manager requires a great deal of close supervision, then a narrower span might be appropriate

· The skills and attitudes of the employees. Highly skilled, professional employees might flourish in a business adopting wide spans of control

· The tradition and culture of the organisation. A business with a tradition of democratic management and empowered workers may operate wider spans of control

There are three types of Superior-Subordinate relationships, viz.,

· Direct Single Relationships,

· Direct Group Relationships, and

· Cross Relationships.

According to V.A. Graicunas, as the number of subordinates increases arithmetically (like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.) the number of relationships which the superior has to control also increases almost geometrically (like 1, 6, 18, 44, 100, 244, etc.). Therefore, a superior can only control a limited number of subordinates, and anything beyond this limit is very hard to control.

Span of Control	No; of subordinates	No: of Relationships
1	1	1
2	2	6
3	3	18
4	4	44
5	5	100
6	6	222
7	7	490