Disadvantages of narrow span of control

READING 3: SPAN OF CONTROL

Administrative theorists concluded many decades ago that the most effective organizations have a narrow span of control. Yet today’s top performing manufacturing firms have a wide span of control. Conduct research and share examples where this is the case. Why is this possible? Under what circumstances, if any, should manufacturing firms have a narrow span of control?

Within the text Span of control is referred to as the number of employees who report directly to the next level in the organization (McShane & Von Glinow, 2013). Span of control is a critical factor to understanding an organizational design as well as the behaviors within an organization. The more people under the control of one manager - the wider the span of control, when a manager has less it means there is a narrower span of control. Functioning with a narrow span of control is more expensive for an organization, there are several layers of management present, which increases the amount of time information reaches one group to the next.

There are several advantages associated with a wide span of control, the most prominent advantage is that there is less layers of management to pass a message through, so the message reaches more employees faster. Flat structure facilitates a greater level of communication between employees and management (Griffin, 2014). It costs less money for an organization to run a wider span of control because a business does not need to employ as many managers. Communication is usually faster, more reliable and more effective than in tall structures. With a wide span of control managers are able to communicate directly with staff and receive their input, which leads to more support on decisions and decreases the power struggles and disagreements present in the background.

Having a wide span of control is helpful within certain settings, when the job is not overly complex and the employees are able to carry out the job task at hand, less supervision is needed. Many hospitals are starting to widen their span of control, just last week my direct manager’s position was eliminated in which she managed over 40 subordinates. The subordinates where then assigned to another manager, ultimately increasing the number of workers under her management to over 75. The organization was able to pull off such a dramatic shift in management because the workers are all trained and skilled in their ability to perform without constant direction from management, if they were not skilled the manager would have to take more of an involved role in day to day functions. When complex and difficult issues arise in the workplace the need for a narrow span of control may arise as well. Using smaller span of control is useful in situations where visibility of the employees is not so easy, such as in a small or spread out locations (Gupta, 2010).

References

Griffin, D. (2014). Benefits in a flat organizational structure. Chron small business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-flat-organizational-structure-281.html

Gupta, A. (2010, 01 10). Organization's size and span of control. Retrieved 06 13, 2014, from Practical Management: http://practical-management.com/Organization-Development/Organization-s-size-and-span-of-control.html

McShane, L. S. & Von Glinow, A. M. (2010). Organizational Behavior, 6th edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

READING 4

Span of control is a topic in the business world that has varied views from person to person, as well as organization to organization. “Span of control involves considering the number of people who report to the owner and the number of subordinates managers supervise. The span of control within a company can be small, with few subordinates per manager, and it can be large, with big reporting groups and few supervisors.” (Davoren, n.d.). The two types of span of control, wide and narrow, are the topic of debate.

The idea of a narrow span of control can have advantages as well as disadvantages. A narrow span of control can bring about a sense of closeness between the members of the group. The leader of the group is well informed and involved with what is happening in their group. “Managers can make better decisions if they know and understand their subordinates better. They can grasp their staff members' expertise and work ethics and learn whose judgment they can trust.” (Davoren, n.d.). The disadvantages of having a narrow span on control stem from having too many leaders, as well as too many groups. This could cause a clash of opinions, and if the teams have to interact with each other there may be a conflict stemming from management. A narrow span of control is favorable where the employees are performing more intricate tasks, or require a greater level of supervision and oversight.

When it comes to a wider span of control, it has been the trend to expand the span of control in organizations. Of course, this comes with advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to disadvantages, the main one is disorganization. Large spans of control can lead to delays in work. “This delay could be the result of a manager having to supervise too many people or teams -- here, the span of control is too large. Thus, the manager falls behind in his work, which results in delays.” (Davoren, n.d.). Despite this, there are many advantages. “Managers have only limited amounts of time each day, and they can accomplish only so much in that time effectively.” (Davoren, n.d.). I believe having a larger span of control gives employees much more freedom, and they feel that they are contributing more. It allows for the development of ideas, and in turn could bring fresh views to the company. These ideas could be conveyed to the manager, and could be implemented for more efficiency. “Spans of control can be deliberately enlarged by making workers more autonomous and more capable of managing themselves. They can also be enlarged by increasing the number of rules and constraining the freedom of junior employees to make mistakes.” (Hindle 2009).

With the economy taking a downturn, the trend has turned to larger spans of control. More and more managers are being laid off from their roles, and as a result, there are few managers to supervise more employees. The manager salaries are generally higher, and so companies may lay off certain managers to save money, and teams must consolidate. This leaves a higher level of responsibility for the manager left to manage the increased number of employees that they must take on.

REFERENCES

Davoren, J. (n.d.) Advantages of the span of control. Small Business Chronicle. Retrieved on June 15, 2014 from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-span-control-61229.html

Hindle, T. (2009) Span of control. The Economist. Retrieved on June 15, 2014 from: http://www.economist.com/node/14301444