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Highlight the factors that influence the span of control in an organisation

Highlight the factors that influence the span of control in an organisation

Answers

Kavungya
• Complexity of functions i.e. the nature of the functions or task for which a manager is
responsible.
Less complex – Wide span of control
More complex – Narrow span of control
• Direction and control needed by subordinates i.e. the degree of supervision that subordinates
require.
Unskilled workers would require close supervision hence narrow span of control.
Skilled and professional workers require less direction and control hence wide span of
control.
• Coordination required of the supervision is the degree to which the manager must try to
integrate functions or tasks within the subordinates or between the subordinates and other
parts of the organization. More coordination requires narrow span of control while less
coordination requires broad span of control.
• Planning required of the supervisor i.e. the degree to which the manager must try to program
and review the activities of his subordinates.
• Organizational assistance received by the supervisor i.e. how much help in terms of
assistants and other support personnel a manager can rely on. The more organizational
assistants in terms of personnel and other resources the wider the span of control. Less
organizational assistants require narrow span of control.
• Control standards:
When control standards are clear and can be quantified – Wide span of control
When control standards are not clear – Narrow span of control.
• Geographical dispersion of functions i.e. how closely the functions are located to managers.
Greater geographical dispersion – Narrow span of control
Lesser geographical dispersion – Broad span of control.
Kavungya answered the question on May 18, 2019 at 08:04

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