Span of Control and Public Organizations: Implementing Luther Gulick’s Research Design

Abstract

s classic essay "Notes on the Theory of Organization," he argued that span of control structures relationships between leaders and subordinates in organizations. Commenting on the state of knowledge about span of control, Gulick lamented the lack of systematic research on what he viewed as three key determinants of span of control: diversification of function, time, and space. This study adopts Gulick's approach to studying span of control by examining the effects of diversity of function, time, and space in structuring relationships among personnel in a sample of 678 Texas public school districts. We then investigate Joan Woodward's link between span of control and organizational performance. Our results reveal that although Gulick was correct in asserting that diversity of function, time, and space play a role in determining how spans of control are structured, these variables have different meanings that depend on the level of organizational hierarchy analyzed."Span of control" refers to the way relations are structured between leaders and subordinates in an organization. A wide span of control exists when a manager oversees many subordinates; a narrow span of control exists when a manager oversees few subordinates. Although it is a simple concept, span of control has widespread implications for the study of organizations. For example, span of control is at the foundation of two different approaches to studying organizations. The concept is a key element in economic theories of organization that focus on hierarchical design (Alchian and Demsetz 1972;Fama 1980;Williamson 1975) because spans of control ultimately determine the number of levels-and thus transaction costs-in an organization (Perrow 1986, 30). The concept is also relevant to the human relations approach to organizations (McGregor 1960;Tannenbaum 1968;Worthy 1950) because span of control is a tool that orders relationships between leaders and subordinates in organizations and influences management styles. Thus, span of control not only has implications for *Financial support for this project was provided by the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M University. All data and documentation necessary to replicate this analysis are available from the senior author. understanding organizational design, but also for understanding behavior within organizations.Although span of control has virtually disappeared from academic work, it remains an interest among practical managers who must establish reporting relationships. President Nixon's proposal to create a set of supercabinet administrators, for example, was grounded in the notion that a limited span of control was a positive feature. The National Performance Review includes limiting spans as one aspect of its efforts (Kettl and DiIulio 1995). Our examination of span of control proceeds in four steps: First, a brief review of the literature will show that almost no re-

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