Span of control, Scalar chain

Span of control, Scalar chainSpan of control is a term originating in military organization theory, but now used more commonly in business management, particularly human resource management. Span of control refers to the number of subordinates who report directly to a given manager or supervisor.

In the hierarchical business organization of the past it was not uncommon to see average spans of 1 to 10 or even less. That is, one manager supervised ten employees on average. The current shift to self-directed cross-functional teams and other forms of non-hierarchical structures, have made the concept of span of control less salient.

Theories about the optimum span of control go back to V. A. Graicunas. In 1933 he used assumptions about mental capacity and attention span to develop a set of practical heuristics. Lyndall Urwick (1956) developed a theory based on geographical dispersion and the need for face to face meetings. In spite of numerous attempts since then, no convincing theories have been presented. This is because the optimum span of control depends on numerous variables including organizational structure, available technology, the functions being performed, and the competencies of the manager as well as staff.

Factors affecting span of controlThese are the factors affecting span of control:

1. Geographical Location, if the branches of a business are widely dispersed, then the manager will find it difficult to supervise each of them, as such the span on control will be smaller.

2. Capability of workers, if workers are highly capable, and do not require much supervision and can be left on their own, eg: Theory Y type of people, need not be supervised much as they are motivated and take initiative to work,as such the span of control will be smaller.

3. Similarity of task, if the task that the subordinates are performing are similar, then the span of control can be wider, as the manager can supervise them all at the same time. However, of course the capability of the supervisor has to also be taken into consideration.

The first to develop a more general theory of management was Henri Fayol.

exercising control over activities performed by subordinates and monitoring their communication, the nodes at the upper hierarchical levels would be suffering from information overload, since all communication to other branches of the organizational structure would be routed through them. In addition, a larger number of subordinates also requires supervisors to monitor a high number of interactions below their own level, i.e. that information overload and span of control are positively correlated.No organization can afford to maintain a control structure of a dimension being required for implementing a scalar chain under the unity of command condition. Therefore, other mechanisms had to be found for dealing with the dilemma of maintaining managerial control, while keeping cost and time at a reasonable level, thus making the span of control a critical figure for the organization.Fayol proposed that subordinate employees should be allowed to communicate directly with each other, given that their superiors had agreed upon this procedure. This principle became known under the name of Fayol's bridge.

The use of Fayols bridge resulted in a number of other aspects needing to be taken into consideration. In order to put this system to work, Taylors functional foremanship has to be abandoned, and unity of command needs to be established. At the same time, decision power is distributed to individuals on lower levels in the organization, and only decisions that exceed the pre-defined decision scope of an employee are referred upwards. This, in turn, strengthens the co-equality of authority and responsibility. Since a Fayol bridge is not limited to a certain functional area within the organization, but can span over functional boundaries, e.g. from purchasing to manufacturing, it can be considered as a first attempt to create a horizontal integration of related activities under a certain level of self-management, an early business process.

he more people under the control of one manager - the wider the span of control. Less means a narrower span of control.

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

The width of the span of control depends on:

The type of product being made products which are easy to make or deliver will need less supervision and so can have a wider span of control

Skills of managers and workers a more skilful workforce can operate with a wider span of control because they will need less supervision. A more skilful manager can control a greater number of staff

A tall organisation has a larger number of managers with a narrow span of control whilst a flat organisation has few managers with a wide span of control.

A tall organisation can suffer from having too many managers (a huge expense) and decisions can take a long time to reach the bottom of the hierarchy

BUT, a tall organisation can provide good opportunities for promotion and the manager does not have to spend so much time managing the staff

Scalar chain:Straight chain of command that extents unbroken from the ultimate officer to the lowest ranks. The principle suggests that there should be a clear line of authority from top to bottom linking all managers at all levels. It is considered a chain of command. It involves a concept called a "gang plank" using which a subordinate may contact a superior or his superior in case of an emergency,defying the hierarchy of control.However the immediate superiors must be informed about the matter.