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Relational Empowerment in Practice : How Top Managers Empower Their Middle Managers in Top-Driven Strategic Renewal
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2013-08-09
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper uses a comparative case study of six multichannel retailers' adoption of new cross-channel solutions to explore how top managers empower their middle managers in top-down strategic renewal. Although there is significant research on how top managers maintain control over emergent strategy, we still have a relatively limited understanding of how top-managers empower their mid-levels in deliberate strategic change. Our study produces two empirical findings that somewhat contrast recent research: (i) While current studies recognize the limits to top managers' direct presence at middle levels in dynamic change settings and argue for an active role of middle managers, we find that top managers in firms with relative success in top-driven renewal personally engage with middle managers on a frequent basis, direct and evaluate their change activities through guiding mechanisms, and ensure accessibility to provide feedback to mid-levels. (ii) While prior research shows that middle management empowerment can result from top managers' symbolic invitation to play a broader strategic role, top managers in our successful cases revived hierarchies to maintain an active leadership function in the face of major change which, in turn, became a resource for middle management during deliberate strategic change. In contrast, in less successful cases, top managers refrained from playing an active leadership function, thereby refuting hierarchical relationships. Most fundamentally, we complement the recent focus on symbolic power as a critical means for empowering mid-levels in top-down change by showing how building relational power in the form of functioning hierarchies may be another effective way of fostering middle managers' contributions in deliberate strategic change.
Language
English
Keywords
Top-Driven Strategic Renewal
Middle Management Involvement in Strategy Process
Multiple Case Design
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Book title
Capitalism in Question
Publisher
Academy of Management
Publisher place
New York
Event Title
73rd Academy of Management Annual Meeting (AOM) 2013 "Capitalism in Question"
Event Location
Orlando, FL
Event Date
09.-13.08.2013
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
224232