The Strategic Roles of Middle Managers - Assignment Example

Table of contents Introduction 2 Main Body 2 Conclusion 6 References 7 Introduction During the past years, research about strategy formulation and implementation in organizations which were previously reserved for executives only has expanded to include middle managers. Studies also indicate that the actions of the middle managers and the influence they have on strategy are significant for organizational survival and competitive advantage. As such, this paper has been designed to discuss the strategic roles of middle managers in the organization. The paper will also discuss participation in strategy making from a middle level management perspective. Main body In their study, Currie and Proctor (2005) concur with the literature that argues that organizational performance is mainly influenced by what takes place in the middle of the organization than what happens at the top. Based on the work of Floyd and Wooldridge (1992, 1994, 1997, 2000), Currie and Proctor (2005) argue that middle managers have a significant role to play in the ‘thinking’ as well as ‘doing’ of strategy in the organization. The middle managers can actually influence the direction of strategy from top to bottom or bottom to top. According to Currie and Proctor (2005), middle managers play four significant roles in strategic decisions in the organization. First, they synthesise information about the operations of the organisation which can be channelled upwards to the executives and can be used in strategy formulation. Second, the middle managers can reshape the strategies formulated by the executives since they are closer to all activities that occur in the organization. Thirdly, the middle managers can also exert downward influence especially in areas that are outside the reach of the executives. The fourth point is that middle managers are responsible for implementing deliberate strategy where they translate corporate strategy into action plans. Thus, it can be noted that from the middle management perspective, the middle managers have important strategic roles to make in an organization. Without middle managers, it may be difficult to achieve consistency in the performance of the organization. Raes et al (2011, p. 102) also suggest that “the interaction of the top management team (TMT) and middle managers (MMs) is central to effective strategy formulation and implementation.” It can be argued that the middle managers are at the center of all activities in the organization. For instance, they directly link with the top executives and the supervisors and other subordinates below them. This makes then significant in strategy formulation. They provide useful ideas to the executives which can be incorporated in the organization’s strategies and they also interpret these strategies to their subordinates. This makes them a bridging stone in the formulation and implementation of various strategies in the organization. The other important element is that the middle managers are directly responsible for the operations of the organization hence the reason why they are so important in strategic decision making and implementation in a particular organization. Wooldridge, Schmid & Floyd (2008) also concur with the notion that the middle managers are central to explaining key organizational outcomes from what they call a “middle management perspective.” There are several motivations have been described in the literature as the basis for a middle management perspective (Floyd & Wooldridge, 2000, as cited in Wooldridge, Schmid & Floyd, 2008). The middle managers for instance play an intermediary role and they serve as important interfaces disconnected parties in the organizations. For instance, there is no direct interaction between the subordinates in the organization and the senior executives. However, the middle managers bridge this gap through top and down communication to these disconnected actors in the organization. Therefore, to a larger extent, it can be observed that the middle managers have a significant role to play in as far as strategy formulation and implementation are concerned. They are at the center of all activities that take place in the organization. Their contribution in providing important information about the operations of the organization to the activities plays a role in the strategic decision making process of the company. This notion is also supported by Mantere (2008) who argues that the middle manager plays the role of agency. This implies that he or she is an agent between two distinct groups that do not directly interact in the organization. These groups constitute the top executives in the company and the subordinates who are at the lower level in the hierarchy of the organization. Middle managers often support or oppose a strategic decision on the basis of personal interests driven by emotions (Huy, 2011). For instance, it can be noted that emotions greatly influence the behaviour and quality of thinking of the middle managers which often affects their performance. In most cases, aspects such as self interest often take precedence in as far as middle management’s involvement in making strategic decisions is concerned. According to Huy (2011), empirical research has shown that self interest rather than aspects such as money, power or status play a significant role in influencing the middle managers in their behaviour. For example, they often consider issues such as duration or period working for the organization. This on the other hand conveys organizational loyalty, experience as well as competence that often distinguish them from senior executives who are often hired from other organizations to fill executive posts. By virtue of staying longer in the company compared to senior executives, middle managers feel that they have a great strategic role to play since they drive all the operations and have more than enough knowledge, skills and experience to run the organization. As such, they possess enough power to oppose or to support a strategic decision in the organization. Therefore, it can be argued that the middle managers play a strategic role in the organization in as far as decision making and implementation are concerned. The other element that impacts the middle managers in strategic decision making is related to the concept of organizational social identity. As noted above, the aspect of emotions can be extended to group focus in as far as strategy implementation in the organization is concerned. Middle managers often identify with the larger group of employees or co-workers that belong to their same group. In as far as decision making or implementation are concerned, it can be seen that the middle managers are often seen taking a side to support the employees with whom they identify with rather than the senior executives (Huy, 2011). In most cases, senior executives have a tendency of passing strategic decisions from the top to bottom but this may not auger well with the middle managers who may protest the decisions in solidarity with the members belonging to their groups. Some middle managers may not be happy about decisions they think are not fair in the organization. Therefore, it can be noted that middle managers play a significant strategic role in the organization since they may reject or support the strategic decisions that are often conveyed from the top to the bottom. In the event that there is discord in the strategic making decision from the middle management, it can be seen that this may be quite a challenging task for the senior management since it may not be possible to implement the decision without the blessings of the middle managers who have greater influence on the majority of the employees in the company. The middle managers constantly interact with the employees on a daily basis since they are responsible for supervising them. This means that they are in touch with the majority of employees in the organization and they know their needs and interests. In short, they have the support of the majority of members in the organization which entails that if they do not support a certain strategic idea, it may not be properly implemented in the organization. In multicultural organizations, the element of social identity also impacts on the middle managers’ strategic roles in the company. More often than not, senior executive posts in such organizations are reserved for whites and some middle managers are barely elevated to such positions on the basis of their race (Huy, 2011). This can negatively impact on the implementation of strategic decisions in the organization since the disadvantaged people who are often the middle managers can strenuously resist the move. Conclusion Various studies indicate that middle managers play a significant role in decision making and implementation in the organization. As discussed above, it can be noted that by virtue of their intermediary role, the middle managers are strategic in the formulation and implementation of strategy in the company. They link groups which are disconnected in the organization and they are also responsible for transforming corporate strategy into action plans. References Currie, G & Proctor, SJ2005. The Antecedents of Middle Managers’ Strategic Contribution: The Case of a Professional Bureaucracy. Journal of Management Studies 42:7. Huy, ON, 2011, How middle managers’ group-focus emotions and social identities influence strategy implementation. Strategic Management Journal 32: 1387–1410. Mantere, S 2008, Role Expectations and Middle Manager Strategic Agency. Journal of Management Studies 45:2 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00744.x. Raes, AML et al 2011, The interface of the top management, team and middle managers:A process model. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, 102–126. Wooldridge, B, Schmid, T & Floyd, FW, 2008, The Middle Management Perspective on Strategy Process: Contributions, Synthesis, and Future Research. Journal of Management, Vol. 34 No. 6, 1190-1221. Read More