Abstract
There is no question that in the last quarter century the work load of the executive has greatly increased. The top management man has new functions that he cannot possibly delegate completely; take, for instance, his new responsibilities in public relations and industrial relations. Businesses have grown in size, in complexity, and in geographical coverage ; the duties and problems of the top executives have increased immeasurably. | As any enterprise increases in size, the question of how many employees can be adequately supervised by a single executive arises. This question of proper span of administration presents itself time and again at all levels in the executive hierarchy; no administrative organization can be created without attention to it. And this is no new problem. The issue of a leader attempting to direct too many people was serious enough in the early history of the Israelites to be recorded in the Bible.