Combining the four roles

Floyd and Wooldridge (1996: 10 a gue that the e is a g eat deal of

interdependence among the four roles, and effective middle managers move from o e to the e t i a al ost sea less se ies of a ti ities. I Flo d a d

Woold idge s , , odel, e e uti g st ateg is i herent in the experimentation of the facilitating role which relies on the activities of synthesizing and championing. Executing strategy entails controlling, closure, instrumentality, rather than exploration in the divergent roles of championing and facilitating. As Hambrick and Cannella (1989) indicate, strategy implementation entails the ability to sell the substance of an argument that has been carefully s thesized. The otio of deli e ate st ateg has o otatio s of deli e atio s, which the synthesizing role suggests, and also of intended strategy that neglects the inevitable adaptations (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985; Burgelman, 1991) of official policies. This role of implementing strategy was commonly assigned to the middle manager in the strategic management literature, especially where there was a commander type top leadership style (Bourgeois and Brodwin, 1984). Burgelman (1983a) and Schilit (1987) in particular e og ised iddle a age s entrepreneurial contributions to strategy making.

Some scholars suggest that middle managers resist implementing deliberate strategy out of self-interest (Guth and Macmillan, 1986) or to sabotage change

50 (Meyer, 2006). These middle managers may, however, be justified in doing so because they understand the impracticalities of the official plan (Balogun, 2003). In an age of performance management, middle managers are often measured on results rather than on how goals are achieved. Ideally, however, there should be sufficient slack in the system to allow flexibility for experimentation and some deviance from the stated strategy (Frohman and Johnson, 1993). Middle managers are in a position to influence and learn from peers and counterparts beyond their immediate position and thereby adjust to circumstances.

4.2 Critique of Floyd and Wooldridge’s model

Flo d a d Woold idge s (1992, 1994, 1996) model is located in strategy as process research. As such, it does not detail the actual everyday situated practices of middle managers, their strategizing behaviours or circumstances. It neglects empirical data on specific contingencies that link these practices for particular individuals over time. Nevertheless, the framework provides a broad orienting

odel fo o side i g iddle a age s up a ds a d do ards influencing and the extent of their alignment with deliberate strategy.

The o t i utio of this thesis is to e te d Flo d a d Woold idge s (ibid) typology using a strategy-as-practice approach and contingency theory to analyse

qualitative data on hybrid professionalised business unit managers in a single public sector industry in the UK. Floyd and Wooldridge (1992) noted a gap in the literature, which this thesis attempts to fill. They recommend that esea h should continue to investigate contingencies that affect how middle managers

51 contribute to strategy. In particular, future studies should examine involvement in

a ious e i o e tal a d o petiti e setti gs i id: –166).

The next sections critically examine Flo d a d Woold idge s (1992, 1994, 1996) framework on middle management strategic roles by exploring contingencies and time-based perspectives. The strengths and limitations of their model are

highlighted. Articles that draw on the co-autho s theoretical framework are also reviewed.

Research gaps identified in the Floyd and Wooldridge (1992, 1994, 1996) typology of four strategic middle management roles form a useful foundation from which to explore questions about how UK business school deans strategize in different contexts. Woold idge a d Flo d : ad o ate o e esea h o the organizational conditions that facilitate/inhibit strategy involvement by middle

a age s. Their well-established model can be expanded theoretically using practice and contingency perspectives by its application to empirical evidence that provide contextualised and personalised evidence. The broad typology in their model is based on an eclectic, cross-sectional survey (Floyd and Wooldridge, 1996). This lends itself to further elaboration in qualitative, comparative case studies which specify categories of middle managers, their social behaviours in particular competitive environments. Using the framework, there is scope to e plo e diffe e es i iddle a age s deg ees of auto o as a age s and leaders and their relationships at different organisational levels and externally. In the current model, the two dimensions of influencing up and down and deviations from or compliance with existing strategy can be contested from critical

52 perspectives. The existing framework allows researchers to pursue studies that extend the model by demonstrating greater sensitivity. This thesis considers emergence and temporal considerations such as how strategic actors change their practices and reflect on their strategizing activities during the seasons of their executive tenures (Hambrick and Fukutomi, 1991) as institutional and industry lifecycles shift.

Floyd and Wooldridges (1992, 1994, 1996) middle management role typology provides a broad categorisation without differentiating individuals by seniority vertically in terms of proximity to the upper echelons or laterally by functional expertise. It is decontextualised and depersonalised, lacking sensitivity to details in changing circumstances such as hypercompetition. The framework neglects

internal emotional and psychological struggles within the middle management positio . The fou th ole i the f a e o k of i ple e ti g deli erate strateg appears to neglect emergent or realised strategy. Furthermore, Floyd and Woold idge s ibid o k fails to disti guish i di idual a age s deg ees of autonomy over time or the dynamics of different industry sectors. This middle management typology is based on a cross-sectional US survey in the 1990s of an eclectic mix of 259 individuals in 25 private firms, many in manufacturing (Floyd and Wooldridge, 1996). There is no attempt at gaining detailed insights into

iddle a age s first-order reflections, how they actually practise strategy, what they and others think about their practices, or the complexity experienced by business unit managers in pluralised organisations. While Floyd and Wooldridge (ibid) highlight three negative stereotypes, they do not provide rich data on temporal changes in social and strategizing practices.

53 This thesis responds to these research gaps by considering meso level institutional contingencies and macro industry factors and their links with the everyday,

situated micro-practices of strategic actors. The type of middle manager is made explicit in this study. A category of hybrid upper middle manager within

professionalised business units is specified in the research design. As well as zooming out by contextualising the roles with reference to the SBU interface and broader changes in the sector and in society, connections are made between st ategizi g p a ti es ithi Flo d a d Woold idge s , , fou oles

zoo i g i o i di idual st ategists eha iou s. A combination of contingency and practice approaches in this thesis aims to address Vaara and Whitti gto s (2012: 286) call for greater e og itio of ho [ i o]a ti ities a e e edded i broader societal or macro-i stitutio al o te ts. Rich data are provided in this study from three datasets. The second dataset includes a sample of business school deans over the life time of a single institution who were interviewed at multiple points during 2008-2011. This thesis, therefore, expands Floyd and

Woold idge s , , odel while being i dful of Ca te s :

1053) arguments that strategy s hola ship eeds to e u de stood i its ultu al, organizational and political context.

This research acknowledges some of the limitations in the stream of literature on middle management roles. Wooldridge et al (2008) ote that the la k of

consistency in describing the roles has frustrated the development of cumulative esea h i to the o igi s a d o se ue es of iddle a age st ategi eha io (ibid: 1211). The p o le is that [a]uthors develop, describe, and label roles differently, thereby redu i g the t a spa e of li kages a oss studies i id:

54 1211). Wooldridge et al (ibid ad o ate a logically consistent and parsimonious set of iddle a age e t st ategi oles and suggest that futu e esea h ight e plo e iddle a age s st ategi i flue e i te s of u de l i g p a ti al skills (ibid: 1213). This thesis responds to these concerns by labelling a specific set of hybrid upper middle manager. The strategy-as-practice perspective in this thesis is combined with contingency theory. This allo s fo a fi e-grained approach to u o e i po ta t o ti ge elatio ships i id: 1209) between the various environmental factors and strategizing practices within particular roles from which a set of st ategist a het pes is ge e ated f o Flo d a d Woold idge s , 1994, 1996) middle management role typology. By combining their model with a strategy-as-practice perspective allows for dynamic and fine-grained insights. The application of contingency theory contextualises practices and allows for a greater understanding of micro-strategizing embedded in a wider setting. The typology of strategists generated in this thesis offers a useful heuristic of strategic actors against which patterns of behaviours can be compared for recruitment and development (Wissema, 1980).

Coincidentally, the first journal article (in Europe) on a strategy-as-practice (SAP) view (Whittington, 1996) was published in the same year that Floyd and

Wooldridge (1996) produced their book The Strategic Middle Manager (in the U“A f o hi h the odel that f a es iddle a age s oles is applied he e. SAP was not then within the general repertoire of strategic management scholars to apply to the phenomenon of middle managers. SAP, however, has since been explored by various scholars such as Rouleau (2005) who examined sales and fashion collection middle managers in a retail firm. Rouleau and Balogun (2011)

55 investigated considered unit and functional managers. Wooldridge et al (2008:

p aise the e efits of ‘ouleau s ualitati e stud o the asis that a examination of these everyday practices provides finer-grained insight into the ta ti s iddle a age s use i thei oles. Yet Wooldridge et al (2008: 1203)

o flate st ateg p a ti e a d p o ess, efe i g to ‘ouleau s stud as a micro-process app oa h i iddle a age e t esea h athe tha

acknowledging the micro-practice viewpoint that she adopts.