Business Studies Multiple Choice Question – 30 January 2022

In May December 2021, The New Little Fawn announced it would recruit 30 new members of staff.

This will widen the span of control of its existing managers.

What would be one benefit to The New Little Fawn of a wider span of control?

Select ONE answer:

1. It can provide more management positions
2. Managers will have more time to supervise each employee
3. The organisational structure will remain the same
4. It will be easier to control a greater number of employees

Show your workings to arrive at your answer, and explain and justify your reasons:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This multiple-choice question is suitable for Accounting KS5 classes.

The answer is 3

1. Not correct – because there will be fewer management positions as no additional managers are being employed.
2. Not correct – because an increased span of control means managers have less time with each employee.
3. Correct – Definition of span of control e.g. the number of employees under a manager’s direct control or definition of organisational structure e.g. the number of layers in the business or definition of wider span of control e.g. managers will have more employees to control/supervise. Although more employees have been recruited there has been no change to the number of layers within the organisational structure. This will increase output without increasing layers/overheads
4. Not correct – because it will be more difficult to control the increased number of employees because the number of managers has not increased.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.