Span of management is defined as:

• A. The number of direct reports a manager has.
• B. The range of responsibilities across departments.
• C. The level of education required for a manager.
• D. The sum of all budgets controlled by the manager.

Answer: (A)

Span of management (also called span of control) is the number of direct reports a manager has. This defines how wide a manager’s set of supervisees is and shapes the organization’s structure: a wider span means more people reporting directly to the manager, which can streamline hierarchy but increase supervision load; a narrower span creates more layers of management and closer oversight. The other options describe different ideas—responsibilities across departments refers to breadth of duties, not how many people report to the manager; level of education is about qualifications, not supervision scope; and the budgets controlled relate to financial responsibility rather than subordinates.