Role of middle managers in strategic decisions - a triad perspective

Abstract

Previous research has tried to bring out the critical role played by middle managers in formulation and implementation of strategic decisions. The current research builds and extends the typology of middle management role proposed by previous research. No previous study has tried to present a triad perspective to these roles. This research through an in–depth case study of an Indian power solution company has tried to present three perspectives, of top, middle and operational level management, of the role of middle level managers in strategic decisions. Although the paper suffers from the limitation of reporting findings from a single case study, it contributes to literature by bringing out similarities and differences in the mentioned perspectives. It also presents the relative importance of the different roles of middle level managers. The study serves as an indicator to the top management of the efforts to be made to include middle managers in different strategic decisions. It can also serve as a motivator to the middle managers by bringing out clarity in roles played by them.