Krishna Harsh Law illustration
Management / Organization / Efficiency
Management / Organization / Efficiency

Krishna Harsh Law

More managers than optimal is counterproductive.

Popularity
Usefulness
Aliases
Kochner's law / overstaffing-management principle
Domains
Management, organization, efficiency, staffing

Definition

  • Krishna Harsh Law (Kochner's Law) holds that when the number of managers exceeds the optimal level, working hours do not fall but rise, and work costs grow exponentially — too many managers make work slower and costlier.

Core Idea

  • More managers than optimal is counterproductive.
  • Excess management increases hours and cost, not output.
  • There is an optimal — and lean — number of managers.

How It Works

  • Beyond the optimal point, each added manager creates coordination, communication, and oversight overhead.
  • This overhead consumes time and multiplies cost rather than improving results.
  • The relationship is non-linear: costs rise exponentially as bloat grows.

Usage Example

  • A company that keeps adding management layers finds decisions slowing and costs ballooning — and improves both by stripping back to a lean management structure.

Famous Example

  • Example: A close cousin of Parkinson's Law, illustrating how managerial overstaffing inflates time and cost.
  • Why it fits this rule: It states the diseconomy of excess management directly.
  • Verification status: A management adage (attributed to "Kochner/Krishna"); the attribution is unverified, but it aligns closely with Parkinson's Law.

Use Cases / Situations Where It Applies

  • Organization design and delayering.
  • Management span and staffing decisions.
  • Cost and efficiency control.

When Not to Use or Common Misuse

  • Do not cut management so far that necessary coordination collapses.
  • Do not assume fewer managers always means better; there is an optimum.
  • Do not confuse manager headcount with management quality.

Rule Invention / Origin

  • Invented by: Attributed to "Kochner/Krishna" in management literature; source unverified.
  • Year of invention: Modern; not firmly dated.
  • Country / context of origin: Popular management literature.

Evidence / Research Basis

  • Consistent with Parkinson's Law and research on bureaucracy and coordination costs.