LDRLB

AUGUST 8, 2012

For the past few decades, the business press and management consultants have pushed for large organizations to flatten their structure. Flattening usually refers taking two actions to change organizational structure – removing layers of middle management while widening the span of control for the managers that are left.

Decentralization 141

Decentralization Span of Control Middle Management Morale 141

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 1, 2014

A healthcare industry sales executive recently told us that as part of a continued effort to cut costs, her company had reduced the number of first-line sales managers from 66 down to 30 over a period of several years. The average span of control for U.S. Managers may micromanage their people. People management.

Span of Control 8

Span of Control Company Merchandising Management 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 2, 2014

You also have support staff, including the people in marketing, finance, HR, and other functions. Not long ago my colleagues and I studied the cost of adding a manager or executive, and we found a kind of multiplier effect (see the graphic below). Take into account, however, that different jobs require different spans of control.

Cost 9

Cost Span of Control Management Bureaucracy 9

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 19, 2013

During his entire career, he worked in his father''s span of control, reporting directly to his dad within six years of joining the business. Has he reported within his parent''s span of control for most/all of his career? Is the family member paid above the market-based compensation for his position?

Span of Control 8

Span of Control Long-term Short-term Career 8