Dr Nadeem NazirSPAN OF COMMAND, CENTRALIZATION VS. DE-CENTRALIZATION AND LINE VS.STAFF AUTHORITYMethods of Vertical CoordinationVertical coordination is the linking of activities at the top of the organization with those at the middle andlower levels in order to achieve organizational goals.Formalization is the degree to which written policies, rules, procedures, job descriptions, and otherdocuments specify what actions are (or are not) to be taken under a given set of circumstances.1. Most organizations need some degree of formalization so that fundamental decisions do not have to be made more than once and so that inequities will be less likely to occur. 2. Being too highly formalized can lead to cumbersome operations, slowness in reacting to change, and low levels of creativity and innovation. Span of management or span of control is the number of subordinates who report directly to a specificmanager.1. Managers should have neither too many nor too few subordinates. 2. Research indicates that there is no universally correct span of management for all managers. Rather, spans of management can be narrower or broader depending on the circumstances of each managerial job. a. Subordinates’ work is such that little interaction with others is required. b. Managers and/or their subordinates are highly competent. c. The work of subordinates is similar. d. Problems are infrequent. e. Subordinates are located within close physical proximity of one another. f. Managers have few non supervisory duties to perform. g. Managers have additional help such as secretaries or assistants. h. The work is challenging enough to motivate subordinates to do a good job.Spans of management determine the number of hierarchical levels in an organization.a. A tall structure is one that has narrow spans of management and many hierarchical levels in an organization. b. A flat structure is one that has broader spans of management and few hierarchical levels and wide spans of control. The number of hierarchical levels in an organization affects organizational effectiveness.a. Very tall organizations raise administrative overhead, slow communication and decision making, make it more difficult to pinpoint responsibility for various tasks, and encourage the formation of dull, routine jobs. b. Downsizing is the process of significantly reducing the layers of middle management, expandingthe spans of control.