Middle Managers in Europe (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies, 1)

BOOK COVER......Page 1
HALF-TITLE......Page 2
TITLE......Page 4
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 6
FIGURES......Page 8
TABLES......Page 9
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS......Page 10
FOREWORD......Page 12
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 14
ABBREVIATIONS......Page 15
1 INTRODUCTION......Page 16
MIDDLE MANAGERS: A FIRST DEFINITION......Page 18
CHANGES IN MIDDLE MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE......Page 20
Quantitative reduction......Page 21
Reduction/change due to information technology......Page 22
Increased commitment to quality improvement and cost reduction......Page 23
Less supervisory responsibility due to increased autonomy and self-direction of work groups......Page 24
Shift in balance of work from professional to managerial......Page 25
New set of roles......Page 26
Development of new attitudes and competencies......Page 27
Pressure and stress......Page 28
PRESENTATION OF THIS BOOK......Page 29
REFERENCES......Page 34
TOWARDS AN INTERNATIONAL DEFINITION OF THE NOTION OF ‘MANAGER’?......Page 40
DIFFERENCES WITHIN EUROPE......Page 44
CONCLUSION......Page 50
NOTES......Page 51
REFERENCES......Page 52
INTRODUCTION......Page 54
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT DEFINED......Page 57
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION......Page 58
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT FROM A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE......Page 62
REFERENCES......Page 65
THE RESEARCH APPROACH......Page 68
THE RESEARCH RESULTS......Page 72
Increased commitment (and the nature of the opposite, resistance, alienation)......Page 73
Reduction/change due to information technology......Page 74
Less tightly specified role, more self-determination......Page 75
Quantitative reduction......Page 76
Less supervisory responsibility due to increased autonomy and self-direction of work groups......Page 77
New set of roles—teacher, coach, facilitator, etc.......Page 78
Involvement in strategy......Page 79
Development of new attitudes and competencies: people-oriented skills......Page 80
Key players in moving from ‘old’ to the ‘new’......Page 81
Shift in balance from professional to more managerial work......Page 82
Patterns in the observations......Page 83
CONCLUSIONS......Page 84
IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH, THEORY AND PRACTICE......Page 89
NOTES......Page 90
REFERENCES......Page 91
5 MIDDLE MANAGEMENT IN CRISIS: WHO SHOULD BE BLAMED?......Page 92
LISTENING TO THE MIDDLE MANAGERS......Page 94
Looking for an exit door......Page 95
The upper management view......Page 97
The new generation......Page 99
DOES THE ORGANIZATION REALLY SUPPORT MIDDLE MANAGERS?......Page 100
Does the managerial model always fit the middle managers’ work reality?......Page 101
Decentralization and local management......Page 102
A need for a better insertion......Page 103
CONCLUSION: MIDDLE MANAGERS’ DISCOMFORT AS A SYMPTOM......Page 104
REFERENCES......Page 105
INTRODUCTION......Page 106
METHODOLOGY......Page 107
Middle managers’ activities and authority......Page 108
Changes reported in middle managers’ role and work......Page 110
REFERENCES......Page 113
INTRODUCTION......Page 116
THE ROLE OF THE MIDDLE MANAGER IN KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATIONS......Page 117
The integrative role......Page 118
Cultural flexibility......Page 119
Experiential learning......Page 121
Human resource management responsibility......Page 123
The management development programme......Page 125
Discussion......Page 130
‘Think the unthinkable’......Page 133
Discussion......Page 135
Semi-autonomous groups......Page 137
Back to middle managers......Page 138
Discussion......Page 139
CONCLUSION......Page 142
REFERENCES......Page 143
8 THE NEW FOREMEN ARE HERE!1......Page 146
DEFINITION OF THE OBJECT OF STUDY......Page 147
A few recent transformations of socio-productive systems......Page 149
The evolution of employment structures and of the work-force......Page 150
Line management: change and stability......Page 151
BROADENING THE NEO—CLASSICAL THEORY OF SEGMENTATION: FROM ‘MARKET’ TO ‘SOCIAL REGULATION’......Page 154
The invisible ‘specific qualifications’ linked to line management in the French context......Page 156
The market of supervisory jobs does not function like a ‘market’......Page 157
ACTORS’ STRATEGIES AND RESTRUCTURING OF SUPERVISORY STAFF......Page 158
CONCLUSIONS......Page 160
NOTES......Page 162
REFERENCES......Page 163
INTRODUCTION......Page 164
Definition of total quality management......Page 165
Levels or stages of total quality management......Page 168
Quality improvement and middle management roles......Page 169
Evidence of a specialist and separate function......Page 172
Organization-wide special initiatives......Page 173
Quality is integrated into organizational processes......Page 174
Core organizing principle: total quality management......Page 175
Qualitative observations of the levels or stages of quality management and their effect on middle management roles......Page 176
CONCLUSIONS......Page 178
REFERENCES......Page 179
INTRODUCTION......Page 182
RESEARCH BASE......Page 183
CHANGES TO MIDDLE MANAGERS’ CONTRACTS......Page 184
Knowledge contract......Page 186
Motivation contract......Page 188
Goals and means contract......Page 189
Ethics contract......Page 190
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT CAREERS......Page 191
Networking......Page 192
Exit......Page 193
MIDDLE MANAGERS’ REACTIONS......Page 194
Contrary......Page 196
Double-bind......Page 197
ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSES TO MIDDLE MANAGERS......Page 198
DISCUSSION......Page 199
REFERENCES......Page 200
SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL DIVERSITY AND IDENTITY......Page 202
PRESENT UNCERTAINTY......Page 203
Strengthening the European Union......Page 205
Promoting a model of European management......Page 206
Recognizing qualifications and diplomas......Page 207
NOTES......Page 209
12 CONCLUSIONS......Page 212
THE RATE OF CHANGE MAY BE SLOWER THAN FREQUENTLY ASSUMED......Page 213
THERE IS A STRONG CONVERGENCE IN THE MIDDLE MANAGER’S ORGANIZATIONAL SITUATION......Page 214
INDEX......Page 218