ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Business organisational structure
A consultancy firm removes several layers of middle management so that senior partners directly supervise a much larger number of staff. Which statement best describes the effect of this change?
The span of control widens and the hierarchy becomes flatter. Removing layers of middle management means fewer levels in the structure, and each remaining manager must supervise more staff, which is the opposite of a tall hierarchy with narrow spans.
- AThe span of control widens and the hierarchy becomes flatterCorrect
- BThe span of control narrows and the hierarchy becomes taller
- CThe span of control narrows and the hierarchy becomes flatter
- DThe span of control widens and the hierarchy becomes taller
Explanation
Removing management layers makes the structure flatter. With fewer supervisors, each manager oversees more subordinates, so the span of control widens. A taller hierarchy has more layers and typically narrower spans.
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