Global Logistics Nigeria Limited has a span of control of 6 managers per supervisor. The company has 1,296 frontline operatives at the lowest level. Assuming a uniform span of control of 6 at every level and that the CEO occupies the apex, how many levels of management hierarchy does the organisation have (including both the CEO level and the frontline operative level)?

With a uniform span of control of 6, the number of personnel at each level from the top follows the pattern: Level 1 (CEO) = $6^0 = 1$; Level 2 = $6^1 = 6$; Level 3 = $6^2 = 36$; Level 4 = $6^3 = 216$; Level 5 = $6^4 = 1,296$ (frontline operatives). Since $6^4 = 1,296$, the frontline operatives are at Level 5, meaning there are 5 levels of hierarchy in total including both the CEO level and the operative level. A wider span of control results in a flatter hierarchy with fewer levels.