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Making strategy work: The role of the middle manager

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Mari Jansen Van Rensburg ,
Annemarie Davis  and
Peet Venter
Mari Jansen Van Rensburg*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, Cnr Janadel and Alexandra Avenues, Midrand, South Africa
Annemarie Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Business Management, School of Management Sciences, University of South Africa, AJH Van Der Walt Building, Muckleneuk Campus, Preller Street, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Peet Venter
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, Cnr Janadel and Alexandra Avenues, Midrand, South Africa
*
Corresponding author: jvrenm@unisa.ac.za
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Abstract

In recognition of middle managers as influential strategists we collected 654 responses from South African middle managers detailing their spontaneous and unguided descriptions of their strategic roles in the organisation they represent. The results show that middle managers generally associate their strategic role strongly with the traditional perspectives on the roles as implementers of strategies and communicators linking their subordinates and higher levels of management. We add the roles of ‘advocacy’ and ‘improving operational performance’ to the conventional elements of strategy implementation, and the roles of ‘managing performance’ and ‘driving compliance’ to the role of downward influence. Focus group discussions contextualised and authenticated these roles within the South African private and public sectors.

Keywords

middle managersstrategic rolesstrategy-as-practice
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , March 2014 , pp. 165 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2014 

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