A History of the Span of Management

This historical essay provides new insight into the span of management concept through an integration of the diverse literature on the topic. Early and ancient approaches are expanded upon; an encyclopedic bibliography is provided; and current conceptual models are identified.

[1]  Robert Albanese Managing : toward accountability for performance , 1975 .

[2]  D. L. Helmich The executive interface and president's leadership behavior , 1975 .

[3]  Kenneth D. Mackenzie,et al.  Measuring a person's capacity for interaction in a problem solving group , 1974 .

[4]  W. Ouchi,et al.  Defining the Span of Control. , 1974 .

[5]  George P. Huber,et al.  Effects of size and spatial arrangements on group decision making. , 1974 .

[6]  L. Urwick V. A. GRAICUNAS AND THE SPAN OF CONTROL , 1974 .

[7]  A. Bedeian VYTAUTAS ANDRIUS GRAICUNAS: A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE , 1974 .

[8]  William Foote Whyte,et al.  Men at work , 1974 .

[9]  John W. Slocum,et al.  Management;: A contingency approach , 1974 .

[10]  B. H. Mayhew, System Size and Ruling Elites , 1973 .

[11]  E. Ghiselli,et al.  LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL SUCCESS IN TALL AND FLAT ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES , 1972 .

[12]  D. Mcfarland Management: Principles and Practice , 1972 .

[13]  Marshall W. Meyer Size and the Structure of Organizations: A Causal Analysis , 1972 .

[14]  D. Fleet AN APPROACH TO A HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT: THE SPAN OF MANAGEMENT. , 1972 .

[15]  A. Bedeian Relationship in Organization: a Clarification , 1972 .

[16]  S. Thomson The Span of Accountability. , 1972 .

[17]  J. Brewer FLOW OF COMMUNICATIONS, EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL AUTHORITY STRUCTURES * , 1971 .

[18]  E. Holdaway,et al.  Administrative Ratios and Organization Size: A Longitudinal Examination. , 1971 .

[19]  D. Seidman,et al.  The Morphology of Organizations. , 1970 .

[20]  P. Blau A FORMAL THEORY OF DIFFERENTIATION IN ORGANIZATIONS , 1970 .

[21]  Robert B. Brumbaugh Territoriality: Necessary Concept in Conflict Theories of Organization?. , 1970 .

[22]  J. Hackman,et al.  Effects of size and task type on group performance and member reactions , 1970 .

[23]  John B. Miner,et al.  Merging Management and Behavioral Theory: The Interaction Between Span of Control and Group Size , 1969 .

[24]  Rocco Carzo,et al.  Effects of Flat and Tall Organization Structure. , 1969 .

[25]  L. Pondy Effects of Size, Complexity, and Ownership on Administrative Intensity , 1969 .

[26]  Harold Stieglitz,et al.  The chief executive and his job , 1969 .

[27]  Ernest Dale,et al.  Management: Theory and Practice , 1969 .

[28]  Marshall W. Meyer Expertness and the Span of Control , 1968 .

[29]  Marshall W. Meyer Automation and Bureaucratic Structure , 1968, American Journal of Sociology.

[30]  Andre L. Delbecq,et al.  The world within the "span of control" , 1968 .

[31]  Raymond E. Miles,et al.  Organizational Structure and Managerial Decision Behavior , 1968 .

[32]  E. Nelson Economic Size of Organizations , 1968 .

[33]  Organizational correlates of executive roles. , 1968, The Journal of applied psychology.

[34]  P. Blau,et al.  The Hierarchy of Authority in Organizations , 1968, American Journal of Sociology.

[35]  N. Carter General and Industrial Management , 1986 .

[36]  Jon G. Udell An Empirical Test of Hypotheses Relating to Span of Control , 1967 .

[37]  Edna E. Raphael The Anderson-Warkov Hypotheses in Local Unions: A Comparative Study , 1967 .

[38]  Gerald D. Bell Determinants of Span of Control , 1967, American Journal of Sociology.

[39]  Henry Tosi,et al.  Administrative Ratios and Organizational Size , 1967 .

[40]  O. Williamson Hierarchical Control and Optimum Firm Size , 1967, Journal of Political Economy.

[41]  V. Subramaniam The Classical Organization Theory and its Critics , 1966 .

[42]  H. Koontz MAKING THEORY OPERATIONAL: THE SPAN OF MANAGEMENT , 1966 .

[43]  William H. Button,et al.  Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice , 1966 .

[44]  Arlyn Melcher Organizational Structure: A Framework for Analysis and Integration. , 1965 .

[45]  Lyman W. Porter,et al.  Relationships of Tall and Flat Organization Structures to the Satisfactions of Foreign Managers , 1965 .

[46]  Elliott Jaques Too Many Management Levels , 1965 .

[47]  E. Lawler,et al.  PROPERTIES OF ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE IN RELATION TO JOB ATTITUDES AND JOB BEHAVIOR. , 1965, Psychological bulletin.

[48]  Lyman W. Porter,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF “TALL” VERSUS “FLAT” ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES ON MANAGERIAL JOB SATISFACTION , 1964 .

[49]  R. Thompson Span of control conceptions and misconceptions , 1964 .

[50]  H. Creel The Beginnings of Bureaucracy in China: The Origin of the Hsien , 1964, The Journal of Asian Studies.

[51]  F. G. Moore Management : organization and practice , 1964 .

[52]  T. Lupton,et al.  A Conceptual Scheme for Organizational Analysis , 1963 .

[53]  A. Filley Decisions and Research in Staff Utilization , 1963 .

[54]  Lawrence S. Hill THE APPLICATION OF QUEUING THEORY TO THE SPAN OF CONTROL , 1963 .

[55]  K. K. White Understanding the company organization chart , 1963 .

[56]  M. Collett Strategy versus Tactics As the Object of Research in Public Administration , 1962 .

[57]  C. Keene Administrative Reality: Advances, not Solutions , 1962 .

[58]  John M. Pfiffner Why Not Make Social Science Operational , 1962 .

[59]  Richard L. Simpson,et al.  Goals, Environmental Pressures, and Organizational Characteristics , 1962 .

[60]  R. Parker NEW CONCEPTS OF ADMINISTRATION—ITS MEANING AND PURPOSE , 1962 .

[61]  R. Likert,et al.  New Patterns of Management. , 1963 .

[62]  H. Landsberger The Horizontal Dimension in Bureaucracy , 1961 .

[63]  S. H. Mansbridge ORGANIZATION THEORY AND PRACTICE , 1961 .

[64]  John James,et al.  The Equilibrium Size Distribution of Freely-Forming Groups , 1961 .

[65]  Doris R. Entwisle,et al.  Observations on the Span of Control , 1961 .

[66]  Theodore R. Anderson,et al.  Organizational size and functional complexity: a study of administration In hospitals , 1961 .

[67]  Martin J. Beckmann,et al.  Some Aspects of Returns to Scale in Business Administration , 1960 .

[68]  John Wesley Masland,et al.  The Professional Soldier , 1960 .

[69]  T. Levitt,et al.  Big business and free men , 1960 .

[70]  M. Haire,et al.  Modern Organization Theory. , 1960 .

[71]  A. Stinchcombe Stratification and Organization: Bureaucratic and craft administration of production: a comparative study , 1959 .

[72]  S. H. Udy, The Structure of Authority in Non-Industrial Production Organizations , 1959, American Journal of Sociology.

[73]  R. Golembiewski The Small Group and Public Administration , 1959 .

[74]  B. S. Georgopoulos,et al.  The Distribution of Control in Formal Organizations , 1957 .

[75]  P. Blau Formal Organization: Dimensions of Analysis , 1957, American Journal of Sociology.

[76]  L. Urwick THE SPAN OF CONTROL , 1957 .

[77]  Lyndall F. Urwick The pattern of management , 1956 .

[78]  G. A. Miller THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW THE MAGICAL NUMBER SEVEN, PLUS OR MINUS TWO: SOME LIMITS ON OUR CAPACITY FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION 1 , 1956 .

[79]  G. Contenau,et al.  Everyday Life in Babylon and Assyria , 1966 .

[80]  R. Weiss,et al.  A Method for the Analysis of the Structure of Complex Organizations , 1955 .

[81]  T. Burns The Reference of Conduct in Small Groups , 1955 .

[82]  J. L. Meij Some Fundamental Principles of a General Theory of Management , 1955 .

[83]  D. Mills,et al.  The Effect of Changing Size Upon the Internal Structure of Organizations , 1955 .

[84]  P. Drucker,et al.  管理的实践=The practice of management , 1954 .

[85]  I. Hill Factors influencing employee morale. , 1954, American journal of mental deficiency.

[86]  John James,et al.  The Distribution of Free-Forming Small Group Size , 1953 .

[87]  Frederick F. Stephan,et al.  The Distribution of Participation in Small Groups: An Exponential Approximation , 1952 .

[88]  R. C. Davis The fundamentals of top management , 1952 .

[89]  E. Dale Planning and developing the company organization structure , 1952 .

[90]  L. Urwick Notes on the theory of organization , 1952 .

[91]  N. S. Ross Management and the Size of the Firm , 1952 .

[92]  J. James A Preliminary Study of the Size Determinant in Small Group Interaction , 1951 .

[93]  Seymour Melman,et al.  The rise of administrative overhead in the manufacturing industries of The United States, 1899-1947 , 1951 .

[94]  E. Trist,et al.  Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Longwall Method of Coal-Getting , 1951 .

[95]  W. Kephart,et al.  A Quantitative Analysis of Intragroup Relationships , 1950, American Journal of Sociology.

[96]  J. Worthy Organizational structure and employe morale. , 1950 .

[97]  H. Schroeder Spans of responsibility; an evaluation of the organization of selected institutions of higher education , 1950 .

[98]  D. Yoder,et al.  Organization of industry , 1948 .

[99]  W. Moore Industrial Relations And The Social Order , 1946 .

[100]  H. Simon,et al.  The Proverbs of Administration , 1946 .

[101]  C. Balderston Management of an enterprise , 1946 .

[102]  D. Irvine,et al.  National Security and the General Staff. , 1946 .

[103]  Lyndall F. Urwick,et al.  The elements of administration , 1944 .

[104]  Leon Pratt Alford Principles of industrial management for engineers , 1940 .

[105]  C. Barnard The Functions of the Executive , 1939 .

[106]  P. Sargant Florence,et al.  The Logic of Industrial Organization , 2003, Nature.

[107]  H. P. Dutton Principles of Organization As Applied to Business , 1931 .

[108]  J. Toutain The economic life of the ancient world , 1930 .

[109]  Ralph Currier Davis,et al.  Industrial organization and management , 1928 .

[110]  Ferdinand Foch,et al.  The Principles Of War , 1970 .