Household A typical imaginary situation might be the following. The sequence of operations in the processing of a product involves nickel plating as a final process. An unanticipated breakdown in the electrical controls of 'B' plant put this vital equipment out of action for a period of a minimum of two to three days. In order that an important production batch should not be interrupted, the Production Manager of 'B' plant decides, after consultation with his Maintenance Engineer, to see whether the process can be met by an outside subcontractor. This is organized, and not only is the work done to a standard higher than anything which the Company itself has been able previously to achieve, but also the process time is shorter and the Works Accountant reports that the cost was lower than the Company's ovm normal process cost. This was a crisis decision which has quite rightly been dealt with by the Production Manager within his delegated sphere of authority. The Works Director, in any case, was away in Western Europe with the Managing Director, looking into certain implications of the 'Outer Seven' agreement, in connexion with overseas manufacturing. On his return, the crisis being resolved, questions of policy arise. Is it right for the Company to retain its plating plant (which in any case is only a process and not part of the main manufacturing plant) when outside subcontractors can meet their requirement more quickly, njore cheaply, and more efTectively? Is future design policy likely to lead to more or less high finish plating? Will the size of future products (which affects plating tanks particularly) be likely to vary? If the Company's own small plating shop is to be eliminated altogether, what would happen to the workpeople and could they be absorbed elsewhere? What negotiations would be necessary? Is the space so released suitable for badlyneeded expansion? The list is a formidable one and only a few sample problems are put down. These are policy matters which arise from a crisis a crisis which only delegated and trusted'authority could solve at once. The foregoing must not be taken to suggest that management is delegated purely to cope with crises. In the normal running of a business there are as many routine as there are crisis decisions. The crisis point is simply emphasized to underline the fact that a top management should not allow itself to go off at tangents. Immediate problems are more appropriately handled by men on the spot who should have the assurance which truly delegated authority confers. A senior executive should have an empty desk and an open mind. 'Rule' four suggested that the number of subordinates responsible to one executive should normally not exceed eight except in special circumstances. The question of the span of control must depend to a great extent on the personalities involved and the technical nature of the operation. There are certain types of manager whose energy is prodigious and whose appetite for work voracious. interior Planning