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Describes a 1988 study by Quinn which identified eight managerial roles that managers must display if they are to be effective. The eight roles are innovator, broker, producer, director, co‐ordinator, monitor, facilitator and mentor. Reports on the present study where 149 managers, of which 35 per cent were females, responded to a survey exploring the extent to which they displayed each of Quinn’s managerial roles. The self‐perceptions of all managers was that the female managers displayed co‐ordinator, monitor and mentor roles more than did male managers. For each manager, their staff, peers and boss were also asked to respond to the questionnaire. Their staff reported that their female managers displayed five roles (innovator, producer, director, co‐ordinator and mentor) more frequently than did the male managers. Peers reported a difference in two of the managerial roles: broker and mentor (females displaying each role more frequently). Bosses did not see the male and female managers differently. The managers and their peers reported that female managers were more effective than male managers. Concludes that these findings have significance for how managers need to interact with their staff and peers and the need for male managers to develop their managerial roles more if they are to be more effective.

A common approach towards enhancing managerial effectiveness is to focus attention on improving the knowledge and skill of the manager, i.e. training. This approach assumes that the main barrier to effectiveness is some deficiency in the individual. A quick and simple approach to diagnosing problems associated with the manager′s role which arise from the way it has been defined and structured is presented that relies heavily on Mintzberg′s description of a manager in terms of a set of roles.

The purpose of this paper is to: address how the library middle management role has changed; assist middle managers in identifying new opportunities and broadening their horizon within middle management; offer strategies for middle managers to be more efficient and effective in the changing era; and lay out the challenges middle managers are facing to further discussions.

Both authors have been middle managers for many years and are experiencing the change from the traditional roles. As the new roles are emerging, the authors have done literature reviews in order to understand what factors have caused the changes, how middle managers can deal with these changes, and identify the challenges they will face. Through research, the authors have also studied how business managers handle changes and identify areas from which library middle managers can gain insight.

The authors identify the causes of the changes that impact middle managers in academic libraries, through evaluation of day‐to‐day experiences and literature research.

Since this is a new trend, the data are difficult to collect and the best practices are still under development in many academic libraries. Research implications are in the new roles for middle managers, including roles in communication channels, management teams, collaboration, and responsibilities.

The authors identify the new roles in middle management in a few areas: communication, management teams, collaboration, and responsibilities. The paper also outlines keys for being effective in middle management, including total quality management, staff readiness, and thinking outside of the box.

The paper addresses the cause of the changing roles for middle management and the specific impact that these changes are having on middle managers. This paper also identifies the new roles being undertaken by middle managers.

Evidence suggests that product managers' need to communicate across organizational and environmental boundaries under conditions of uncertainty can give rise to powerful role pressures of conflict and ambiguity. These pressures are generally associated with negative or dysfunctional personal outcomes such as job‐related tension, dissatisfaction, and poorer performance. Moreover, in situations where role conflict is particularly high, experienced product managers are susceptible to “burnout.” Some practical approaches to overcoming these difficulties are discussed.

This study aims to investigate the role of team problem-solving creativity in new product development (NPD) in the bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) in business-to-business firms. This study synthesizes perspectives from NPD, creativity and leadership to examine how work-related factors such as NPD managers’ role ambiguity and individual-related factors such as CEO’s ambidextrous leadership style interact to determine team problem-solving creativity and its effect on new product performance (NPP).

The hypotheses are tested using data from a multi-informant survey of 274 middle-level managers within 137 local BoP manufacturing firms in a sub-Saharan African country.

The results show that an NPD team’s ability to solve problems creatively determines NPP in BoP markets. The findings also show that NPD managers’ role ambiguity has a negative effect on team problem-solving creativity. However, a CEO’s ambidextrous leadership neutralizes the negative impact of role ambiguity on problem-solving creativity.

This study combines three distinct streams of literature, including NPD, creativity and leadership, to explore the antecedents and outcomes of problem-solving creativity. Drawing on creativity and leadership theories, this study reports that the success of creative idea exchanges depends heavily on a supportive environment for NPD team members and minimizing the NPD manager’s role ambiguity.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study which explores trends in the role (what is done) of human resources (HR) in general and the role of line managers in managing people. The study developed from claims for the transformation of the HR role. It aims to explore trends in the role and new competencies which are being developed.

The authors carried out qualitative, semi‐structured interviews of 53 HR professionals across a range of industries and organisational sizes.

The findings indicate that managers expect HR will increasingly encompass responsibilities for developing human capital as a strategic imperative of business, as well as the traditional operational executor/functional expert roles.

While the paper identifies competencies expected in the HR role at present, as well as emerging competencies required by both HR and line managers, it invites a more generalizable study in the future.

The findings suggest a greater shift in strategic importance for HRM. Emergent competencies in other areas are identified, such as advocacy, conflict management, and succession and leadership development.

The paper shows that both HR and line managers will continue to be functional specialists, with a trend for role‐segmentation in the profession, as well as showing a need for a different mix of competencies, depending on career path and time.

Based on identity theory, identity represents a set of meanings individuals hold for themselves based on their role in the society. Hence, they often engage in the process of verifying their role, seeking for the compatibility between these meanings and those perceived in a specific lived situation. If this compatibility is not perceived, this is likely to generate negative emotions. that could compromise their mental health. This paper examines the contribution of a weak verification of role identity in the explanation of managers ‘burnout. It aims at integrating identity theory into occupational stress research by analysing the proposition that a low level of verification of a salient role-identity will be associated with a high level of burnout. Hence, we consider identity salience as a moderating variable.

Cross-sectional data of 314 Canadian managers employed in 56 Quebec firms. Multilevel regression analyses were performed to analyse the data.

Low levels of verification of some standards of managers' role identity, mainly work demands and recognition which encompasses (monetary and non-monetary recognition, career prospects and job security) are significantly associated with managers' burnout. Furthermore, as predicted, results show that identity salience plays a moderating role on the relation between a weak verification of some standards of managers' role identity and burnout, mainly work demands, superior support and recognition.

This study proposes a relatively unexplored approach for the study of managers' burnout. It broadens the scope of research on workplace mental health issues, by the integration of the identity theory.

Discusses a comprehensive programme for changing the role behaviour of a managerial cadre, steeped in traditional hierarchical norms, for greater effectiveness within a new organizational design. A significant component of the change programme was to educate the managers in role‐related concepts as a means of self‐appreciation of appropriate role behaviour. Relates the key aspects of the experience of changing the role behaviours of various types of managers against the distinctive backdrop of strategic transformation of a large banking organization in a developing country. The principal objective of the transformation was to re‐build the bank so it could successfully carry out an ambitious expansion of its branch network and business. The revamped organizational design demanded a new managerial outlook and new administrative practices. The article deals with the design of the training programme and the experience with it in the context of implementing the organizational transformation.

The purpose of this research is to analyze differences between the roles of HR managers at the corporate and unit level in the specific context of the hospitality industry.

Semi‐structured interviews with 12 HR managers in three countries, complemented by a short questionnaire, yielded quantitative data on Ulrich's HR roles, work time spent in various roles and various degrees of involvement in decision making. Respondents also provided qualitative accounts of their roles.

Distinct differences exist between HR work at the corporate and unit level. Whereas unit level managers tend to focus on their role as “administrative experts” and “employee champions”, corporate level managers stressed their role as “strategic partners” and “change agents”. Corporate level managers benefit from earlier involvement in organizational decisions than those at unit level.

A comparatively small convenience sample of 12 HR managers was used. This limitation is mitigated, however, by the inclusion of managers from three different countries and a good balance of corporate and unit level managers in the sample.

The research provides clear evidence of a lack of strategic HR orientation at both the unit and the corporate levels. These results should help corporate decision‐makers rethink and reorient the activities of HRM in their organizations and strengthen its role in organizational decision making.

Despite the popularity of the Ulrich model, there is hardly any empirical research on differences in HR management across organizational levels. The present study explores this topic with a particular focus on the hospitality industry.

Reviews the role of the clinical director in the NHS, based on data collected in a qualitative research study. Utilizes role theory to invite insight into a relatively new but important managerial role. Suggests that effectiveness in the role may be measured by the extent to which managers are able to meet the expectations of their role set, and also that the overall effectiveness of the clinical direction may be the extent to which he or she is able to influence, adapt, modify or change these role expectations.