Question

You want the salespeople on your staff to perform at their best, thus you want to make sure they are properly supervised. In determining span of control—the optimal ratio of sales representatives to sales managers—you will consider all of the following factors except:

Answer 1

Answer: The number six is given as the effective span, but as the number of subordinates supervised increased so the number of relationships between them and their supervisor also increases this is the limiting factor.

Explanation:

span of control refers to the number of subordinate who can effectively supervised directly by one manager,supervisor or other person in authority. Sometimes the number six is given as the effective span but this can only be applicable in few cases. The number in fact depends on several circumstances. It has been shown that as the number of subordinates supervised increased so the number of relationships between them and their supervisor also increases but disproportionately. However, the following factors must be taken into consideration when determining the amount of supervision an organization need

1 the ability of those being supervised

2 the complexity of the work done

3 The consistency of operations

4 How effective is the communication process

5 the ability and the personality of the supervisor

6 The level of Labour turnover of the organization.

The ability of those being supervised, we mean how competent and well trained are the workers being supervised, if they are competent they will need less supervision

The complexity of the work done we mean, that if the work is more complex then closer supervision of the workers is needed.

The consistency of the operation we mean,that if the work varies a good deal of supervision will have to be given by the supervisor.

How effective is the communication process we mean that the supervisor must be able to make his instructions clear and understandable to his subordinates

The ability and personality of the supervisor we mean that if the supervisor is technically competent and fully conversant with the work of his subordinates the workers will give such supervisors the deserved respect

The level of labour turnover we mean that when there is constantly changing workforce in an organization, then there is need to be training them and supervising their work closely untill they are fully competent on the job.

Answer 2

Answer:

Factors to consider:

1. Specialisation role

2. Complexity of sales process

3.Tenure

4.Geographical coverage

5. Sales Representative leadership

6. Support network

7. Internal Bureaucracy

8. Value add of managers

Factors not to consider;

1. Market share

2. Production process

3. Distribution process

4. Personal affiliation, race or religion

Explanation:

When considering a company's span of control, which simply means the number of junior staff a manager should manage, it is important to note factors relating to geographical coverage, a wide coverage can create difficulties in supervision to a manager. Consequently reducing the span of control.

Specialisation also help in ensuring the manager is an expert in the area he or she supervise. Experienced manager with good understanding of the tasks, good knowledge of the workers and good relationships with the workers, will be able to supervise more workers

The complexity of a sale process can affect a manager's supervision performance. if the sale process for example require an online payment to a final user who may not be physically available. Supervising such sales requires adequate training.

Other factors like; Tenure, Sales Representative leadership, Support network, Internal Bureaucracy, Value add of managers are paramount in determining span of control. However, market share, production process, distribution process and personal affiliation, race and religion should not affect the span of control.