Middle management
In traditional organizations, middle managers are the implementers of resource allocation
decisions made at the top. In more contemporary organizational forms, however,
middle managers provide a strategic coordinating level of management— the
"boosting level" of management as described by Vila and Syvertsen (2000)—in linking
the firm's resources, skills, and knowledge (Bartlett and Ghoshal 1993; Mintzberg
1994). Thus, in more contemporary forms of organizations (Pettigrew and Fenton
2000), a middle manager's individual knowledge is mostly built on the knowledge
domains of company knowledge and environmental knowledge, and less directly on
the functional and technical knowledge domains. Of course, middle managers require
a certain level of understanding of technical and functional knowledge before they can
understand possibilities (and constraints) in linking different resources and knowledge
(Leonard-Barton 1995). Yet it is environmental and company-specific forms of
knowledge that enable middle managers to craft implementation designs for linking
required resources and knowledge effectively, and that enable them to determine when
to do so, whom to involve, and where to find essential resources.
The relative importance of environmental versus company-specific knowledge
depends on the scope of decision making accorded to middle managers by top management.
This scope may range from a strict focus on implementing a well-defined and
precisely bounded part of a strategic plan formulated by top management (as in a
traditional hierarchy) to being active participants with top management in defining an
evolving set of strategic goals (as in an organization with a more decentralized and
"empowered" form of strategic management, see e.g. van Wijk and ven den Bosch
2000a). Functional and technical knowledge predominate in the former case, while
company-specific and environmental knowledge gain importance in the latter case.
Middle managementIn traditional organizations, middle managers are the implementers of resource allocationdecisions made at the top. In more contemporary organizational forms, however,middle managers provide a strategic coordinating level of management— the"boosting level" of management as described by Vila and Syvertsen (2000)—in linkingthe firm's resources, skills, and knowledge (Bartlett and Ghoshal 1993; Mintzberg1994). Thus, in more contemporary forms of organizations (Pettigrew and Fenton2000), a middle manager's individual knowledge is mostly built on the knowledgedomains of company knowledge and environmental knowledge, and less directly onthe functional and technical knowledge domains. Of course, middle managers requirea certain level of understanding of technical and functional knowledge before they canunderstand possibilities (and constraints) in linking different resources and knowledge(Leonard-Barton 1995). Yet it is environmental and company-specific forms ofknowledge that enable middle managers to craft implementation designs for linkingrequired resources and knowledge effectively, and that enable them to determine whento do so, whom to involve, and where to find essential resources.The relative importance of environmental versus company-specific knowledgedepends on the scope of decision making accorded to middle managers by top management.This scope may range from a strict focus on implementing a well-defined andprecisely bounded part of a strategic plan formulated by top management (as in atraditional hierarchy) to being active participants with top management in defining anevolving set of strategic goals (as in an organization with a more decentralized and"empowered" form of strategic management, see e.g. van Wijk and ven den Bosch2000a). Functional and technical knowledge predominate in the former case, whilecompany-specific and environmental knowledge gain importance in the latter case.
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