Span of management refers to the number of subordinates that a manager can efficiently handle. It is the determining factor for the nature and structure of an organisation. Span of management can be classified into the following two categories.
i. Narrow Span of Management: If the number of subordinates reporting to a particular manager is small, the span of management is said to be narrow. Narrow span of management leads to tall organisational structures that have multiple levels of management.
ii. Wide Span of Management: Span of management is said to be wide if, there are large number of subordinated reporting to a manager. Wide span of management leads to flatter organisational structures with only a few levels of management.
Span of management depends on various factors such as ability of the manager in terms of leadership, control, etc., extent of decentralisation followed in the organisation, working ability of the subordinates, nature of work, etc.
