middle managers is supervising the
first-line managers and being
responsible for finding the best way to organize human and other resources to
achieve organizational goals. Middle management is probably the largest group
of managers in most organizations. Common middle-management titles include
plant manager, operations manager, and division head. Middle managers are
primarily responsible for implementing the policies and plans developed by top
managers and for supervising and coordinating the activities of lower-level
managers (Bill Woolridge, 2008) . To increase
efficiency, middle managers must find ways to help first-line managers and
nonmanagerial employees better use resources to reduce manufacturing costs or
improve customer service. To increase effectiveness, middle managers evaluate
whether the organization’s goals are appropriate and suggest to top managers
how goals should be changed. Often the suggestions that middle managers make to
top managers can dramatically increase organizational performance. A major part
of the middle manager’s job is developing and fine-tuning skills and know-how,
that allow the organization to be efficient and effective. Middle managers make
thousands of specific decisions about the production of goods and services. Yet
even as middle management levels have been reduced, the middle manager’s job
has taken on a new vitality. Rather than managing the flow of information up
and down the hierarchy, middle managers create horizontal networks that can
help the organization act quickly. Research shows that middle managers play a
crucial role in driving innovation and enabling organizations to respond to
rapid shifts in the environment (Kanter, 2003) . As Ralph Stayer,
CEO of Johnsonville Sausage said,
“Leaders
can design wonderful strategies, but the success of the organization resides in
the execution of those strategies. The people in the middle are the ones who
make it work.” (Haneberg, 2005) .
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