The Resurrection of Span of Control

Abstract

Operating environments have been undergoing unique changes that are causing management to reexamine factors that impact organization design. In attempting to respond to this design challenge, it became clear that there is a need for high quality empirical research directed at the organizational concept of span of control (SOC). The concept of SOC refers to the number of subordinates that one leader can effectively command and control. The purpose of this research paper is to summarize the outcome of a comprehensive analysis of the literature relevant to SOC and to discuss research issues on this topic. Six interrelated factors emerged from the literature review as important in determining a leader's proper SOC. The critical factors are tradition, environmental uncertainty, level of technology, subordinate's task characteristics, leadership behavior, and leader's workload. A research program is being developed to investigate these six factors with the goal of establishing a theoretical groundwork for the concept of SOC. Additionally, democratization as a design principle is introduced as an innovative approach to organization design.