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C.11.5 Subordinates Reluctance to Accept Delegated Authority
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- C.12 Span of Control
| C.11.5 Subordinates Reluctance to Accept Delegated Authority (i) Some subordinates want to avoid responsibility and risks, and therefore prefer their managers to make all the decisions. Such subordinates avoid or abhor delegated authority. ii) The fear of criticism for mistakes discourage subordinates interest in delegated authority. iii) Fear of work overload on the part of the subordinates. The subordinates may already have more work than they can do. iv) Lack of self-confidence on the part of the subordinates. v) Additional responsibility should attract additional incentives, but when this situation is not the practice in the organisation, subordinates may not be interested in delegated assignment. vi) Some subordinates feel that they do not have relevant information to guide them in the delegated assignment. C.12 Span of Control Span of control is defined as the number of employees that a manager can effectively and efficiently supervise. Span of control is important because it determines how tall or flat the hierarchy of an organization would be. In an organization where the span of control is narrow, say 4 – 5 subordinates, the hierarchy would be tall. This means the organization structure would have several layers and therefore several supervisors to man the hierarchy. On the other hand, if in same organization, the span of control is wide, say 10-15 subordinates, the organizational structure would be flat with drastically reduced number of supervisory roles. It becomes clear that the structure with a wide span of control would be more cost effective since a fewer number of supervisors would be on the payroll. 158 Traditionally, the recommended span of control is between 5-7 subordinates per manager. However, this depends on the skills and abilities of the manager and the subordinates and the nature of job involved. If the subordinates are skilled and experienced, they are likely to be able to perform their duties with minimum supervision and hence the span of control can be wide. Also, if the subordinates tasks are similar, the procedures for carrying out the tasks are standardized and the organisations information system is sophisticated, then the span of control tends to be large. Download 3.37 Mb. Share with your friends:
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