ORGANISING

MPOB BBA
 Span of Control
 No. of subordinates that report to a single manager.

 Deciding an optimum level of span of control is very imp:

 Less people means we are not fully utilizing managerial abilities
 Too many means manager might not be able to effectively
supervise.
 Graicuna’s Theory of Span of Control
Graicuna was a French Management Consultant and he developed a mathematical formula to show
the number of relationships a manager has with his/her subordinates.

 No. of Direct Relationships= n

 No. of Cross Relationships= n(n-1)

 No. of Group Relationships= n(2^(n-1) – 1)

 Total no. of Relationships= n(2^(n-1) + n – 1)

 N=3

Team A No. Of Direct Relations = n =3

(A-B, A-C, A-D)

A
(MANAGER) No. of Cross Relationships= n(n-1) =6
(B-C, C-B
C-D, D-C
B-D, D-B)

No. of Group Relationships= n(2^(n-1) – 1) =9

(A-B in Presence of C, A-B in Presence of D, A-B in Presence of CD)
(A-C in Presence of B, A-C in Presence of D, A-C in Presence of BD)

B C D
(A-D in Presence of B, A-D in Presence of C, A-D in Presence of BC)

Total no. of Relationships = n(2^(n-1) + n – 1) = 3 + 6 + 9 = 18

 Conclusions
No. of Subordinates
 As the number of subordinates
increases arithmetically, the number
of relations to be handled increases
geometrically
 Hence as the number of people
increases, the efficiency of a manager
to supervise will decrease.
 Hence while increasing span of
control, total number of subordinated
should be highly considered.
No. of Relationships
1 1
2 6
3 18
4 44
5 100
6 222
7 490
8 1080
9 2376
 Factors Affecting Span of Control
1. Nature of Work 6. Planning
2. Type of Technology 7. Staff Assistance
3. Ability of Manager 8. Communication Techniques
4. Capacity of Subordinates 9. Time Available for Supervision
5. Degree of Decentralization 10. Geographical dispersion of
Subordinates
 Choice of Span of Control affects the Organisational structure
Wide Span => Flat Structure
 More no. of subordinates per supervisor
 Job Enrichment because employees have
grater variety of work and more autonomy.
This also means high motivation.
 Lower level of employees also get
opportunity to participate in decision making
 Better communication
 Less adaptable to change
 May create problems for coordination.
Narrow Span => Tall Structure
Lesser no. of subordinates per supervisor
 Better adaptation to change due to better
supervision and coordination
 More opportunities for promotion and
growth of employees hence more motivation
and satisfaction
 Management costs are high because if levels
 Less effective communication because of
several levels it has to pass through and
blockages along the way.