Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2010
Let A be a C*-algebra and let ΘA be the canonical contraction form the Haagerup tensor product of M(A) with itself to the space of completely bounded maps on A. In this paper we consider the following conditions on A: (a) A is a finitely generated module over the centre of M(A); (b) the image of ΘA is equal to the set E(A) of all elementary operators on A; and (c) the lengths of elementary operators on A are uniformly bounded. We show that A satisfies (a) if and only if it is a finite direct sum of unital homogeneous C*-algebras. We also show that if a separable A satisfies (b) or (c), then A is necessarily subhomogeneous and the C*-bundles corresponding to the homogeneous subquotients of A must be of finite type.