Middle Managers as Strategy Formulators: A Longitudinal Study of Liminal Activity

Abstract

This article offers insight into how middle managers formulate strategy while working with external strategy consultants. We claim two significant contributions. First, we challenge the view that middle managers cannot be strategists because their involvement is essentially part-time. Our empirical study details how in a twenty-two month strategy formulation process a small team of middle managers were the dominant actors and deserved to be regarded as strategists, albeit temporary ones. Second, we theorize how middle managers work with external strategy consultants through focusing on liminality and their liminal actions. The construct of liminality allows us to theorize middle managers’ strategizing as tentative, identity-related actions that unfold in places where norms of work are suspended and new conventions emerge.