Strategy Implementation Capability: The Role of Middle Manager Leadership and Coordination

Abstract

Strategy implementation (SI) is a critical component of organizational performance. We propose that SI can be conceptualized as a dual-purpose capability; i.e., a capability with operational and dynamic elements. At an operational level, we identify work team coordination as a critical process that is part of implementing strategy on a daily basis, and contributes to its effectiveness. At a dynamic level we propose that middle managers - who have primary responsibility for SI - use transformational and instrumental leadership to change the way work is done in an organization, and these leadership styles contribute to SI effectiveness. Using a sample of 44 work teams within an organization undergoing a large-scale strategic change, our results show that middle managers’ transformational and instrumental leadership styles directly affect SI effectiveness and that middle managers’ transformational leadership also has an indirect effect on SI effectiveness through coordination processes. Our findings show that middle manager leadership, and middle managers’ ability to coordinate strategy-supporting work, play an important role in the strategy implementation process.