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The purpose of the article is to provide practical recommendations and insights for leaders and/or organizations to consider as they guide new middle managers in their efforts to develop a preliminary foundation for effective communication practices.

The article is framed within the context of new middle managers. Emphasis is placed on providing examples of ways that leaders and organizations can assist or guide new middle managers in developing a foundation for preliminary communication practices.

Guidance from upper-level leaders related to the foundation should include, among other things, an overview of expectations, organizational goals, and vision. The article also includes some examples of preliminary communication practices that upper-level leaders might suggest for consideration by new middle managers. The examples include, preferred communication channels, preferences related to responsiveness, preferred characteristics of electronic communication, being intentional, and promoting balance/wellbeing.

Middle managers are important to the success of organizations. The role of middle managers encompasses several requisite skill sets. Among those skill sets is the need for effective communication. The article approaches the topic of effective communication in the context of new middle managers, with an emphasis on leader/organizational guidance that can contribute to a preliminary foundation for effective communication practices. The foundation and examples can then serve as a platform for ongoing development of a more comprehensive communication plan.

The need to develop new skills among middle managers has been increasing since the early 1990s. This need arises from the changes in the workplace environment associated with the realities of downsizing, the quality movement, and the increased use of teams. This article reports on the experience of one downsized, quality‐conscious, team‐based organization in identifying the development needs of its middle managers. The process used by the case study organization to identify the development needs among its middle managers is outlined. This process can be seen as an example of how development needs can be identified. The findings from the identification process within the case study organization present an initial list of development needs among today’s middle managers. Recommendations on training courses for middle management development are proposed. These recommendations provide initial guidance to organizations interested in developing their middle management assets.

Empowerment has been added to the long list of environmental hazards facing the organizationally endangered species known as “middle managers”. For the sake of balance and interest, the author asked middle managers for their views regarding empowerment. This article presents the views of middle managers along with those found in the literature. Definitions are set forth, pros and cons are covered, and dos and don’ts are delineated. The author closes with the following advice for those seeking to implement empowerment: organizations should set the unifying vision for empowerment at the top management level; organizations should train and develop their line employees prior to giving them full empowerment; and organizations should rely on middle managers to provide two‐way communication and coaching for line employees as they are trained for empowerment. The article concludes that organizations should view middle managers as “bridges” rather than “blockages” to the implementation of empowerment.

The purpose of this paper is to build on the research-supported view that interactions between top and middle management enhances effective implementation of organizational strategies by exploring the role of internal actors in driving organizational strategy at the intersection between strategy formulation and strategy implementation.

Adopting a social practice perspective, we undertook semi-structured interviews of 27 top and middle level managers drawn from a single case organization. Data collected were analysed using thematic analysis.

Differences in managerial perception of strategy has significant impact on implementation of strategic decisions as well as creating tensions in recursive communication practices between internal social actors. Furthermore, individual perceptions cannot only limit the extent of strategy awareness amongst key actors, the manifestations through social interaction between top and middle managers is a critical determinant of effective communication and realization of organizational strategy.

The research contributes to the strategy process and practice literature by exploring the dynamic interactions taking place at the intersections of strategy formulation-implementation phases of organizational strategy. It particularly highlights practical issues in top and middle manager interactions and implications for successful strategy implementation.

This study aims to identify managerial competencies required for successful middle managers in China.

First a questionnaire survey was distributed among MBA and EMBA students at a major university in China, and then two case studies were conducted to collect more in‐depth data.

The findings of this study suggest that team building, communication, coordination, execution and continual learning are critical competencies for the success of middle managers in China. Implications for future research and practices are also discussed.

The literature review shows that although previous leadership competency studies are extensive, little research has been conducted to explore the competencies required for middle managers. This study would contribute to fill the gap in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of middle managers in the corporate entrepreneurship process that drives new capability development. Middle managers are highlighted as key entrepreneurial agents because of their special position in an organization.

The paper draws on existing capability development and corporate entrepreneurship literature and develops a conceptual model and research propositions that are illustrated through three examples from a Chinese private firm.

This paper contends the dual role of middle managers, both as change implementers to follow pre-set rules of an existing corporate entrepreneurship system and as change initiators to bring new rules to improve the existing system.

The paper is conceptual in nature, advancing the understanding of middle managers’ role in corporate entrepreneurship. The paper provides directions for future empirical research.

The interactions between middle managers and other organizational agents are discussed in the propositions. This paper suggests the importance of empowering middle managers to facilitate changes in complex internal environments.

The paper provides a unique theoretical contribution by introducing the interface-based, multi-level conceptual model of corporate entrepreneurship toward new capability development.

The purpose of this paper is to address a missing link between top management and employees when it comes to understanding how to successfully implement and embed workplace health promotion (WHP) as a strategy within organizations: the role of the middle managers.

A conceptual framework based on review of theory is applied within an empirical multi-case study that is part of a health intervention research project on increased physical activity among office workers. The study involves six Danish organizations.

Middle managers play a key role in successful implementation of WHP, but feel uncertain about their role, especially when it comes to engaging with their employees. Uncertainty about their role appears to make middle managers reluctant to take action on WHP and leave further action to top management instead.

Limitations included the middle managers’ low attendance at the half-day seminar on strategic health (50 percent attendance), the fact that they were all office workers and they were all from Denmark.

Middle managers ask for more knowledge and skills if they are to work with WHP in daily business.

Implementing and embedding WHP as a health strategy raises ethical issues of interfering with employees’ health, is seen as the employee’s personal responsibility.

This study adds to knowledge of the difficulties of implementing and embedding WHP activities in the workplace and suggests an explicit and detailed research design.

This article aims to examine middle managers in health care and how their role has changed in times of fiscal constraints. It seeks to focus particularly on how cost savings influence the position of middle managers in the organisation between governance and advocacy pressure.

A total of 25 Swedish middle managers from public health care organisations during fiscal constraints were interviewed about what contributes to their positioning in the organisation.

The loyalty of middle managers is tested in the “in between” role. Excessive loyalty, in any direction, can distance a middle manager from their expected position. In times of a weakening economy, middle managers are expected to be a tool that is used by the management to communicate savings, personnel reductions, redundancies and closures. This contributes to middle managers sliding out of their role in between.

Middle managers’ skills are within care itself. In times of cost savings, demands are placed on their ability to handle advanced management tasks. They need to gain a clearer insight into management control, understanding conflict management and leadership.

The article explains not only why middle managers slide up (take on governance roles) and down (take on advocacy roles) in the organisation, which has been described previously. It also explains why middle managers slide out (abdicate responsibility) of the role between governance and advocacy during times of fiscal limitations.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the Pelz Effect to explain the effects of incongruence between senior managers' orientations and underlying assumptions of total quality management (TQM) on middle managers' own orientations and on TQM itself.

Using a multi‐case study approach of three organisations from different sectors, the authors conducted 68 semi‐structured interviews with managers at both senior and middle levels.

The findings largely support the Pelz Effect in that senior management exerts a major influence in establishing the tone and atmosphere of the TQM organisation by their orientations and attitudes towards the underlying principles of it. It has been found that senior managers' reliance on detection, reactive strategies and hard aspects of TQM – as opposed to prevention, proactive strategies and soft people‐based issues – resulted in: first, middle managers' compliance with short‐term tactical orientations rather than long‐term commitment; second, middle managers' increased control over the workforce rather than the work‐related processes; third, middle managers' tendency to agree about TQM objectives in a way to prioritise and fulfil their own self‐interests rather than TQM intended objectives and organisational interests; and finally the inability of middle managers to run TQM effectively.

The findings suggest that the nature of middle management's orientation towards TQM and the degree of their supportive behaviour towards first line managers is affected by the senior management's orientation towards TQM and their supportive behaviour towards middle managers.

The results reveal that the current practice of TQM can be characterised by inspection and quality control approach, a top‐down process based upon a culture of procedure‐dominated with a heavy bureaucratic base, and the dominance of senior management's unilateral control. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The purpose of this article attempts to portray the unique and complex role of library middle managers. This important and influential position can be a proving ground for new and old managers as libraries continue to evolve, adjust policies, introduce new services and meet the needs of their users. Circulation managers as influential middle managers are realistically depicted as busy, overwhelmed and isolated, but welcome the opportunity to provide leadership and enhance their professional development.

This viewpoint is solely based on the author's varied experiences and personal reflections as a circulation department head providing leadership alongside colleagues in a busy academic library.

Department heads as managers of circulation departments are pivotal positions in every library. Circulation heads performing as middle managers are responsible for a full range of administrative, managerial and organizational services. Circulation heads are well positioned as change agents simultaneously directing frontline staff members, policies and services while providing valuable insight to library administration. Yet, circulation managers experiencing constantly evolving responsibilities, are too often found to be caught in the middle negotiating inconsistencies. Successful circulation managers require an eclectic mix of essential skills initiating and deploying change, defining success, dealing with people, actively participating in professional development and providing leadership.

The study and research of library middle managers in public and academic libraries is practically nonexistent. As libraries increasingly create, adjust and reinvent library services, spaces and visions due to increasing digitization, in response to emerging online environments and new service models – middle managers and circulation librarians are excellent and proven pivots to negotiate and successfully implement this change.

As a crafted article written by a former head of a circulation department every staff member, student and librarian serving in access/borrowing/circulation departments should consult this article as required reading.

The voices of library middle managers are too often muted, not valued and rarely celebrated. This viewpoint article written in a conversational voice depicts circulation librarians as middle managers that bring value to all libraries and should be heard.

This paper depicts the opportunities and challenges faced by, as well as the skills and competencies required by librarians serving as circulation departments heads.