ON THE FRONTLINE: THE MIDDLE MANAGER

(Part 1 out of 3)

MBAs – prospective, studying, or degree holding – are an ambitious demographic. The 2013 QS TopMBA.com Applicant Surveyshowed that 43.2% of surveyed MBA applicants saw themselves as a CEO or director of a large company in a decade’s time.

However, it’s fairly unlikely that one will come out of one’s MBA and simply fall into such a role. There are a few steps on the career ladder that will have to be negotiated first – namely ones that fall into the category of middle manager, typically defined as managers who have at least two hierarchical levels below them.

The middle manager, like the bureaucrat, often gets a negative press. Neither can it be said that the term carries with it strong connotations of glamour or power. However, is this reputation somewhat unfair?  In terms of strategic decision making, people management and implementation, these middle levels of management are surely an instrumental part of any larger organization’s success – or failure.

Role of middle managers in business strategy

Dr Ioannis Christodoulou, a senior lecturer in business strategy at Westminster Business School, emphasizes the strategic importance of the middle manager: “Like it or not, the middle manager is a crucial part of the contemporary business world. Unique attention should be paid to them as a totally crucial workforce inside an organization. Middle managers are always involved in the frontline action.”

Despite this, Dr Christodoulou argues, the role of the middle manager and their strategic importance has been somewhat overlooked. “Although plenty of previous authors have made efforts to identify how middle managers should be managed by a top level perspective, very few have actually looked into what exactly middle managers do inside an organization in terms of strategic decision making and behavior, in terms of what makes them successful or a threat and how this is linked to the performance of the company.”

The actions of middle managers, he continues, can also be a window into an organization, allowing insight into how business strategy is implemented, how strategic decision making is translated into action, how change processes are managed, and the creation of core competences and competitive advantage is maintained.

Strategic Decision Making to Create Success

The military metaphor of middle managers being on the frontline is apt. Their role is to interpret and translate the larger tactical notions of the business strategy of generals into action from the foot soldiers, reacting when things don’t go to plan and moving quickly to seize unexpected opportunities.

“Middle managers have a clear effect on a company's implementation processes; as competition rates and the pace of change are increasing rapidly, they are more empowered to take strategic actions and hold a greater amount of responsibility to deliver them successfully,” says Dr Christodoulou.

The metaphor extends to communications, as they work to both convey orders from above, as well as conditions in the trenches.

“Middle managers clearly affect how strategic decision making is formulated and implemented. At the same time they are responsible for the effective two way communication from the bottom to the highest levels of hierarchy. That implies that they are the information gatekeepers, responsible for transforming and giving meaning to information from all levels of the organization. In some cases they translate the vision of the top management to the lower levels but in some other cases they communicate upward, channeling ideas from the lower levels towards the top.”

Knowledge is power as they say, and it’s clear how being in possession of information which others need puts the middle manager in a position of power and responsibility.  Consciously or not, this gatekeeper role means the personal stamp of the middle manager will be put on operations.

Fuente: QS TOP MBA

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