Question

assume you are the supervisor of workers who have very limited education and experience, and that their work is routine. generally you would:

• be able to handle only a narrow span of control
• strive for low centralization and low formalization
• use the human relations model
• be able to have a wide span of control

Explanation:

🆕 New Concept Discovered: Span of Control in Management
How many subordinates a manager can effectively oversee.

Step 1: Understand "Span of Control"

The term span of control refers to the number of subordinates who report directly to a single manager or supervisor.

• A narrow span of control means a supervisor manages only a few people. This is usually necessary when tasks are complex, non-routine, or when employees require close supervision and frequent guidance.
• A wide span of control means a supervisor manages a large number of people. This is effective when tasks are highly standardized, repetitive, and routine, because employees do not need constant individual direction.

Step 2: Analyze the characteristics of the workers and tasks

We are given three key pieces of information about the work environment:

1. Limited education: The workers do not have advanced training.
2. Limited experience: They do not have a deep background in the field.
3. Routine work: The tasks are highly repetitive, standardized, and predictable.

Step 3: Evaluate the impact of routine work on supervision

Even though the workers have limited education and experience, the most critical factor determining the span of control here is that the work is routine.

When work is highly routine and standardized:

• Rules, procedures, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) guide the daily work.
• Employees quickly learn their repetitive tasks and require very little active, hands-on decision-making or problem-solving from their supervisor.
• Because the supervisor does not need to spend much time directing or correcting individual tasks, they can easily oversee a large number of workers.

Therefore, a supervisor in this scenario is generally able to maintain a wide span of control.

Answer:

be able to have a wide span of control