Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Public middle managers'

Globally, public management underwent substantial reforms over the past three decades. Known as new public management (NPM), reforms have sought to redefine the role of politicians and public managers, redesign public organisations for enhanced autonomy and effectiveness, and restructure service delivery by integrating private organisations to ensure competition believed as necessary for efficiency. Premised on tensional forces of public choice' and `managerialism' the NPM model potentially creates conflicts between managers and professionals. Developed in OECD countries, and applied to less developed countries (LCDs) with generally ineffective public sectors; and admittedly an engrained corruption culture, NPM reforms are typified by increased bureaucratic centralisation, which restricts professionals' discretion. Using semi-structured interviews and a range of qualitative analytic devices, this thesis examines the challenges professional managers encounter under senior managers, when some support functions were privately outsourced, in line with NPM, in two corporatised hospitals in Ghana. Findings suggest professionals feel by-passed, their discretion restricted, and their expertise ignored by senior managers, generating clashes over mediating the conflicting dualities of cost/quality, results/procedures, and output/outcome. Conceptualised as resistance strategies, professionals' response(s) to the encountered issues portrayed appreciable unconventionality and non-deviance, coming close to individualised version of work to rule, and professionalised version of weapons of the weak. Such professionals' resistance strategies elucidate the complexities of Ghana's embedded political, economic and socio-cultural context. The findings suggest the true outcomes of NPM reforms within this and similar contexts are masked, distorted by the refracting effects of corruption, producing a type of bureaucracy that encourages reduced devolution, tending to inhibit rather than aid effective delivery of public services.

The research problem addressed in this study was to identify what management skills do middle managers require to manage the organisational units effectively. To achieve this objective a theoretical model of management skills required by middle managers to effectively manage a public hospital was developed, using relevant literature in which management skills are identified. The theoretical model consisted of the following categories of management skills whose correct application can promote managerial effectiveness in managing organisational units: General management skills; Technical skills; Human skills; Leadership skills; Financial management skills; Computer skills. Each category of the management skills was broken down into elements that were then analysed using literature identified during the literature study. The model was then used to develop a questionnaire to assess the degree to which managers responsible for running the clinical, nursing and paramedical departments of a public hospital in the Eastern Cape rate the elements in terms of importance. The empirical results obtained indicate that a wide variety of skills are regarded by middle managers as important to performance of their managerial roles. This resulted in the theoretical model being confirmed and the identified management skills being accepted as management skills required by middle managers to effectively manage a public hospital in the Eastern Cape.

This study compares the value systems of public school principals and middle managers in manufacturing industries in four counties in Upper East Tennessee. The purpose of the study is to provide information for persons involved in planning policies and providing funds for public school education programs. This is a descriptive study which uses data gathered from the administration of the Rokeach Value Survey to principals and managers selected for the study. The data presented include comparisons of median scores of individual values in terms of their relationships and differences by main research groups as well as sex and age subgroups. With a few exceptions, the value systems of principals and managers were found to be similar and overlapping. Conclusions of the study indicate a need for cooperative planning for and implementation of educational programs which relate to the common value systems of the leaders of educational and manufacturing institutions.

Accounting is generally regarded as a stressful occupation. Research suggests that the most stressful positions in a public accounting firm are those of middle management. Given the pivotal role these individuals play in the accounting firm, it is important to gain an understanding of the stressors they encounter and the consequences of those stressors, as well as any possible moderating effects of personal characteristics. This study of stress in public accounting was conducted to address the following research questions: What environmental factors (both work-related and home-related) contribute to stress at the middle-management level in public accounting? What are the consequences of this stress? Are the consequences of stress modified by the personal characteristics of the individual? Data for the study were collected through questionnaires mailed to a national sample of certified public accountants. The sample consisted of two groups—1,593 individuals presently employed in public accounting positions, and 340 individuals who were employed in public accounting firms but have recently switched to nonpublic accounting jobs. Of the 1,933 individuals sampled, approximately 1,200 (62%) responded. The results of the study suggest that middle-management level public accountants are most stressed by home-related factors (conflict with leisure and conflict with family roles) as well as work-related factors (time pressure and quantitative overload). This stress is associated with several negative outcomes—job-related tension, job dissatisfaction, propensity to leave public accounting, and turnover. Gender and personality type are important moderators of the relationships between the stressors and stress outcomes.
Ph. D.

This study focused on the early career socialization experiences of men and women who currently hold middle management positions with the federal government or with school systems to determine how those experiences influence their use of power. The theoretical and conceptual framework for the study emerged from the sociology of Georg Simmel (Simmel, 1902, 1950, 1984; Levine, 1971) and the concepts of tokenism (Kanter, 1977a); organizational socialization (Ortiz, 1982; Pfeffer, 1982); and organizational and individual power (Kanter, 1977a). An underlying assumption of this study was that gender is less a predictor of style of power use, the exercise of power, than early career socialization experiences, the experiencing of organizational power. That is, those to whom the organization extends more opportunities to learn about and develop within the organization early in their careers will be better equipped to exercise power as managers than those who receive few such experiences. A second assumption was that gender will act as an intervening variable, influencing the organization's decision making as to who should receive these opportunities and who should be denied them. The methodology used involved semi-structured interviews with men and women middle managers. Focus groups and elite interviews were used before interviewing to validate the literature review and the interview guide, and focus groups were used again following the analysis of interview data to validate the interpretations made. A number of managers who had been interviewed participated in the final set of focus groups. The framework which guided this study incorporated related literature on gender, tokenism, organizational socialization, and power. The product of the literature review was a socialization-to-power framework. The following five research questions guided this study: (I) Do the early career patterns of female middle managers differ from those of male middle managers in terms of the range and number of organization initiated opportunities provided them for power-related socialization? (II) (a) Do female middle managers perceive more barriers to their advancement to senior levels of management than do their male peers? (b) Do female and male middle managers perceive different barriers to advancement? (III) Do female and male middle managers view power differently? (IV) Do female and male middle managers identify the same people in their organizations as being powerful? (V) Do female and male middle managers exercise power differently? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Middle managers play a crucial role in contributing to strategy. Much existing research focuses on trying to understand the desired characteristics and competencies of these managers, in order to explain their ability to sell issues to top executives (upwards) and external stakeholders (outwards). Though this yields valuable insights, it does not account for the role of an institution as: 'more or less taken for granted behaviour that is underpinned by normative systems and cognitive understanding that give meaning to social exchange and thus enable self-reproducing social order' (Greenwood, Oliver, Sahlin and Suddaby; 2008:4). This thesis examines how middle managers sell issues upwards and outwards, in a setting where attending to institutions is central: public service reform, concerning home improvement. It does so by looking through the lens of institutional work. This allows insight into how different jurisdictions and organizational and professional boundaries overlap and at times conflict. In analysing interviews and observations, the thesis mobilizes a central concept in institutional work: the concept of institutional pillars, to explain differential levels of success in implementing reform. These pillars can be regulatory (to do with policies and conventions), cultural ('the way we do things around here'), or normative (concerning basic values). In broad terms the thesis demonstrates that reform in this setting is progressively less likely to be implemented as one moves from the regulatory domain, to the cultural and normative domains. This complements accounts of middle manager competence, with a more fine-grained insight into how contextual complexities can prefigure the likelihood of successful strategy implementation.

Critical scholars have written about the ‘squeezed middle' and the new labour process of front line and middle managers generally, but there is a gap in the literature relating to both how changes to managerial work have affected those subjected to them and how individuals and organisations have attempted to respond to, and cope with, public sector cuts and challenges. Much of contemporary HRD writing on change management suggests that leadership development has a privileged role in adjusting the ‘worker' to the situation. However, given the implicitly unitarist nature of much HRD writing, this thesis argues that insights from such literature is inadequate or incomplete because it fails to consider the interests of managers as employees. The focus of this thesis is on middle managers' (MM) ability to overcome the public sector challenges associated with work intensification; control and skills adaption via learning and development initiatives. This qualitative research comprises a data set of 17 in-depth interviews and 34 complementary semi-structured questionnaire's with middle managers in the Hong Kong Civil Service. Thematic analysis revealed that whilst managers and the organisation benefit from leadership development in terms of human capital development, power differentials and structural impediments limit the capacity to benefit from social capital and networking opportunities provided. As such LDP cannot compensate for work intensification, leading to a stressed-out, disempowered, squeezed middle management cadre, which in turn impacts on public service delivery.

This thesis concerns the role of middle managers in strategic change in the NHS. It addresses a research gap identified by Dopson and Stewart (1990) who called for more empirical studies of the role of middle managers in specific contexts and highlighted the public sector as being of particular interest. It reports qualitative research carried out across 5 successive case studies in the NHS. The contextual backdrop to the study is one of competing tensions around the role of the middle manager, both generally in organisations and specifically in NHS trusts. On the one hand, it is argued that the role of the middle manager is one of diminishing importance. On the other, it is argued that the role of middle managers is one that should be enhanced. Both sets of commentaries tend towards the speculative and lack an empirical foundation. In the NHS such tensions are reflected in government policy. An enhanced middle manager role is encouraged through the development of a general management ethos. Simultaneously there have been attacks upon middle managers from the Minister for Health in the past Conservative Government and the present Labour Government. Theoretically, a typology of involvement of middle managers upon strategic change developed by Floyd and Wooldridge (1992, 1994, 1997) is brought to bear as a conceptual lens with which to view the role of middle managers in strategic change in the NHS. Using this typology the role of middle managers is found mainly to be with the implementation of strategic change, rather than other roles, such as 'synthesising information', 'facilitating adaptability' or 'championing alternatives', although there are some illustrations of a role for middle managers beyond implementation of strategy. Despite their main role remaining within the implementation of deliberate strategy, the case studies illustrate that there is a possibility for an enhanced middle manager role in strategic change within this. However, Floyd and Wooldridge's typology does not sufficiently distinguish between the differing influence that middle managers may enjoy within the implementation of deliberate strategy. Therefore, one suggestion is that further constructs for the influence of middle managers upon strategic change be developed. It is also noted that middle managers operate under significant constraints that impact upon the possibility of taking up an enhanced role, within the implementation of deliberate strategy and in roles outside this. Principal amongst these constraints is the presence of significant medical group power and the influence of central government intervention. Therefore, middle managers' influence may be limited, on the one hand, to that which converges with the strategy set out by executive management that in turn has been driven by government prescription. On the other, it is likely to be limited mainly to that of the administrative domain rather than the medical domain or where influence is exerted upon the medical domain to changes with which the medical group is agreeable. The empirical findings also illustrate that any enhanced role for middle managers, within the constraints of government policy and medical group power, may require the presence of certain conditions. Firstly, where strategic change allows for emergence as well as deliberateness, then middle manager may exert more influence upon strategic change. Secondly, they may exert more influence upon strategic change, where it is not solely conceived in top-down rational planning terms, but where is combined with a political element of strategic change. As a result the formulation and implementation of strategic change are likely to be intertwined rather than separate and sequential. This may allow for more involvement of middle managers in the strategic change process. Finally, in order that middle managers can take up the potential for an enhanced role under these conditions, there may need to be some investment in organisation and management development and organisational structures that facilitate boundary-spanning opportunities for middle managers. NB. This ethesis has been created by scanning the typescript original and may contain inaccuracies. In case of difficulty, please refer to the original text.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2002.
"Thesis submitted ... in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Law and Business, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia" Bibliography : leaves 186-196.

This thesis investigates the contribution of management and leadership development (MLD) for middle managers. Its central hypothesis is that MLD plays an important role in enabling strategic change through middle managers, but that greater contextualisation is required to understand the precise nature of its effects and its limitations. The thesis builds on organisational contingency theory (Mintzberg 1979) to develop and test a model of changes to middle management roles and associated outcomes of MLD. The thesis differentiates between the MLD options of management development, leader development and leadership development (Day 2001) and hypothesises a range of MLD outcomes across organisational types. For its empirical base, the thesis focuses on public service organisations (PSOs), in which substantial investments in MLD have been made at all levels of management in recent years. Three case studies show how, as PSOs seek greater flexibility, the devolution of a broader range of responsibilities to middle managers creates various development needs according to different directions of organisational change. The thesis finds that: i) when the machine bureaucracy divisionalises, investment in line management training makes a significant contribution to organisational stability, while leader development is most effective in the customer-facing divisions of the business; ii) when the safety bureaucracy professionalises, investment in competence-based management development and leader development can successfully promote more participatory forms of management, but that the potential for political obstacles to MLD is accentuated; and iii) when the professional bureaucracy adhocratises, investment in MLD makes a significant contribution to balancing ongoing organisational effectiveness with the building of adaptive capacity for the future. The thesis adds to academic knowledge of MLD options and their expected outcomes. The thesis also develops the academic literature by contextualising changes to middle management roles and explaining the contingent role of MLD in organisational change.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Successful strategy execution remains critical for any organisation. Yet many organisations seem to have difficulties in implementing their strategies, especially in the public sector. This study explores the role of middle managers in executing organisational strategies in the local government sector. The study adopted a qualitative research method and followed a case study strategy, using a local authority council (LAC) in Namibia. Using semi-structured individual interviews, I interviewed 10 middle managers, selected through applying purposive sampling and representing diverse characteristics of the target group. I introduced a theoretical framework consisting of four research focus areas to guide the study: the value-adding role of middle managers, the key enablers for middle managers to execute strategies successfully, the key processes they follow and the key tools they use to implement corporate strategies. I also conducted a critical literature review on the above focus areas. The findings suggest that middle managers interpret, communicate and translate organisational strategic goals into actions in their value-adding role as champions, synthesisers, facilitators and implementers. The results of the research study also indicates that communication and the availability of resources are key enabling factors, whereas systems, structures, policies and communication channels are key processes impacting on the middle managers' effective implementation of corporate strategies in this LAC. In the same vein, resources – information technology (IT) in particular, performance management systems and laws – were found to be the key tools. Some disconfirming evidence also emerged from the study, suggesting that some middle managers play a value-subtracting role, characterised by disruptive behaviour and being bogged down in routine duties. This research study is, at best, an explorative one, as it used a limited sample. Further research is necessary to gain more in-depth insights about the different roles of middle managers and their influence on strategy generation and implementation versus the role of top/senior managers. As the study employed a case study design, the generalisability of the findings is also limited to this LAC. Further, while I aimed to give a trustworthy account of the experiences of the research participants, many factors may have interfered with the processes of fair collection and interpretation of data, including personal emotional involvement with the topic, presuppositions formed from reading the literature, and various aspects of the interaction with the research participants. Further research is therefore needed to validate the assumed relationships that are expressed in the thematic map. This study is of value to the LAC in that, in the present context of this organisation, top management formulate the organisational strategic goals (vision, mission, strategic thrusts and objectives), with little involvement of middle managers. The study records the views of middle managers, indicating that there is a gap between the agenda setting and leadership of top managers and the observed roles of middle managers. Yet, effective strategy execution requires constant feedback, commenting on and questioning the strategy in order to facilitate understanding. Middle managers thus correctly argue that continuous dialogue and interaction with senior managers increases the alignment of their tactical initiatives with top management's conception of corporate strategy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suksesvolle strategieuitvoering bly van deurslaggewende belang vir enige organisasie. Tog is dit oënskynlik vir menige instansie moeilik om hulle strategieë ten uitvoer te bring, veral in die openbare sektor. Hierdie studie ondersoek die rol van middelvlakbestuurders in die toepassing van organisatoriese strategieë in die plaaslike regeringsektor. Met behulp van ʼn kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetode en ʼn gevallestudieontwerp, is ʼn Namibiese plaaslike regeringsraad ('n sogenaamde LAC) onder die loep geneem. Semi-gestruktureerde afsonderlike onderhoude is met tien middelvlakbestuurders gevoer, welke tiental deur doelgerigte steekproefneming gekies is en die diverse kenmerke van die teikengroep verteenwoordig. Die studie word gerig deur ʼn teoretiese raamwerk met vier navorsingsfokusgebiede, naamlik die waardetoevoegingsrol van middelvlakbestuurders; die kerninstaatstellers vir middelvlakbestuurders om strategieë suksesvol in werking te stel; en die kernprosesse wat middelvlakbestuurders volg, sowel as die kerninstrumente wat hulle gebruik om korporatiewe strategieë uit te voer. ʼn Oorsig van kritieke literatuur is ook op elk van voormelde fokusgebiede onderneem. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat middelvlakbestuurders, in hulle waardetoevoegingsrol as kampvegters, sintetiseerders, fasiliteerders en toepassers, organisatoriese strategiese doelwitte vertolk, oordra en in dade omskakel. Die navorsing bevind ook dat kommunikasie en die beskikbaarheid van hulpbronne kerninstaatstellers is, terwyl stelsels, struktuur, beleid en kommunikasiekanale die kernprosesse is wat middelvlakbestuurders se doeltreffende inwerkingstelling van korporatiewe strategieë in die LAC onder beskouing beïnvloed. In dieselfde trant blyk hulpbronne – veral inligtingstegnologie, ʼn prestasiebestuurstelsel en wette – die kerninstrumente te wees. Die studie lewer egter ook teenstellende bewyse op dat sommige middelvlakbestuurders inderwaarheid ʼn waardeverminderingsrol speel, omdat hulle ontwrigtend optree en in roetinetake vasval. Hierdie navorsingstudie is hoogstens ondersoekend, met ʼn beperkte steekproef. Verdere navorsing is dus nodig om ʼn dieper insig in die verskillende rolle van middelvlakbestuurders en hulle invloed op die formulering en inwerkingstelling van strategie teenoor dié van top-/senior bestuurders te verkry. Aangesien die studie van ʼn gevallestudieontwerp gebruik maak, is die veralgemeenbaarheid van die bevindinge ook beperk tot die onderhawige LAC. Voorts, hoewel die studie 'n betroubare weergawe van die navorsingsdeelnemers se ervaringe probeer gee, kon verskeie faktore met die prosesse van billike datainsameling en datavertolking ingemeng het, wat persoonlike betrokkenheid by die onderwerp, vooronderstellings uit die literatuur, en vele aspekte met betrekking tot wisselwerking met navorsingsdeelnemers insluit. Die aangenome verhoudinge in die tematiese kaart moet dus deur middel van verdere navorsing bekragtig word. Die studie is van waarde vir die betrokke LAC, aangesien die topbestuur van die organisasie tans die organisatoriese strategiese doelwitte (visie, misie, strategiese fokuspunte en oogmerke) sonder veel oorleg met middelvlakbestuurders bepaal. Middelvlakbestuurders kon dus deur hierdie studie ook húlle menings lug, waaruit duidelik blyk dat daar ʼn gaping is tussen topbestuurders se agendabepaling en leierskap, en die waargenome rolle van middelvlakbestuurders. Doeltreffende strategieuitvoering verg egter deurlopende terugvoering oor, kommentaar op, en bevraagtekening van die strategie ten einde werklike begrip in die hand te werk. Middelvlakbestuurders het dus gelyk dat voortdurende gesprekvoering en wisselwerking met senior bestuurders nodig is om te verseker dat taktiese projekte op middelvlak in pas is met die topbestuur se gedagtes oor korporatiewe strategie.

Krav på ansvarstagande för offentliga chefer har ökat under de senaste åren, och detta har i sin tur lett till ökat krav på offentliga chefer som dessutom får ta allt mer ansvar. De behöver också lägga ner allt mer av sin arbetstid på att arbeta med just ansvar. Dessa ökade krav är dock inte jämnt fördelade över organisationens chefer. Därför har ansvaret blivit stort för de chefer som ansvarstagandet faller på. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till en ökad förståelse för ansvarstagande i offentlig sektor. Genom att i praktiken undersöka hur offentliga chefer utkrävs på ansvarstagande samt hur en offentliga organisation internt hanterar krav på ansvarstagande hoppas vi kunna bidra till en ökad förståelse kring begreppet ansvarstagande. Utifrån vårt syfte är två forskningsfrågor formulerade för att med hjälp av dessa kunna besvara syftet med studien.Studien som genomförts är kvalitativ med en abduktiv ansats. Till studien har det tillämpats ett hermeneutiskt synsätt för att kunna förstå och tolka det insamlade empiriska materialet. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomfördes med nio respondenter vid en enhet vid Jönköpings kommun. Vi har intervjuat en högre chef, fyra enhetschefer och fyra mellanchefer som arbetar vid samma enhet. Detta för att med hjälp av respondenternas svar kunna fastställa hur en offentlig organisation och dess chefer utkrävs på ansvarstagande och internt hanterar krav på ansvarstagande.Den insamlade empirin har sedan satts i relation till den vetenskapliga litteratur som vi använt oss av i den teoretiska referensramen. Den teoretiska referensramen har utvecklats med hjälp av tidigare litteratur och behandlar tre huvudområden vilka är styrning i offentlig sektor, att förstå ansvarstagande och mellanchefer. Denna teori har sedan använts för att problematisera och analysera det empiriska materialet. Detta har i sin tur mynnat ut i slutsatserna för studien.I studien framkommer det att de undersökta cheferna kopplar begreppet ansvarstagande till ansvar och därigenom även till deras arbetsbeskrivningar. Cheferna utkrävs på så sätt på ansvarstagande genom de olika ansvarsförhållandena som kräver att de utför vissa arbetsuppgifter och sköter vissa ansvarsområden och därmed genomsyrar ansvarstagandet deras arbete. Trots de hinder som kan uppkomma för mellanchefer fungerar mellancheferna i denna organisation som en avlastning för enhetscheferna och underlättar därmed kravet på ansvarstagande som ligger på enhetscheferna.
Demands of accountability for public managers have increased in recent years which have resulted in increased demands on public managers, who must take more responsibility. Therefore, they must devote more of their working hours to work with responsibility. However, these increasing demands are not evenly distributed among the organization’s managers. Thereby the responsibility has become heavy for the mangers who deal with accountability. The purpose with this thesis is to generate knowledge about accountability in public sector. By examining how public managers are pressed for accountability and how an organization internally manage demands of accountability, we hope to contribute to an increased understanding around the concept of accountability. Two research questions are formulated to help us answer the purpose with the thesis.The study is conducted by means of qualitative method where we apply an abductive approach. It has applied a hermeneutical perspective to interpret and understand the collected empirical material. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews with nine respondents at a unit at Jönköpings kommun. We have been interviewing a senior manager, four unit mangers, and four middle managers who work within the same unit. With help from the respondents answers we would like to determine how public managers are pressed for accountability and how an organization internally handle demands of accountability.The collected data has been related to the academic literature which we used in the theoretical framework. The theoretical framework has been developed by using former literature and discusses three major topics, which are public sector governance, understanding accountability and middle managers. This theory has then been used to problematize and analyze the empirical material. All the above have led to the conclusions of this study.In this study, it appears that the examined mangers connect the concept accountability to responsibility and therefore to their job descriptions. The managers are pressed for accountability through their accountability relationships which demand that they perform their working tasks and manage their responsibilities, and thereby accountability permeates their work. Despite the obstacles that can appear for middle managers the middle managers in this organization work as a relief for the unit managers and thereby they ease the demand of accountability, which are lying on the unit managers.This thesis is written in Swedish.

This study aimed to explore the experiences of middle managers in the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at a public organisation in Botswana. The BSC is regarded as the most widely used tool in measuring organisational performance globally. The public organisation in Botswana has followed global best practice and implemented the BSC to measure organisational performance; however, the organisation is repeatedly unable to meet its set objectives. To gain an improved understanding of managers’ experiences of using the BSC, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight middle managers at the public organization. Interview data were thematically analysed yielding five key themes: inconsistencies in training, the culture of the organisation, lack of communication, use of information technology and the disparity between individual and organisational performance. Based on the study findings, recommendations are offered to conduct needs analyses prior to introducing new systems, to assess the viability of such a system, and automating the balanced scorecard to reduce fatigue.

The possibility to be able to better manage the Swedish public health care has been a focus from way back to the middle of the 20th century. This study focuses on a middle managerial position called Base-unit Executive Officer, which we feel is of great influence to the public health care. Because of the changes to the public health care organisations over a long period of time we find it important and interesting to research a managerial role in the midst of these changes. By going through information containing opinions, attitudes, and other information from employees within a CCDO we will try to enlighten what we feel are informational currents of opinions surrounding the notion of competence, leadership and management. The purpose of our study is to be able to help create an environment of open reflections and new ideas of what sort of competencies are required for the manager role.

The study is defined by our research problem which give use the following question:

What room is there for a broader comprehension of what kinds of competencies are desirable and useable in the role as a Base-unit Executive Officer?

To be able to interpret the primary data of the study a theoretic framework was created in the purpose to function as a tool for continuation of the study. The study was done with the use of hermeneutical paradigm together with a compromise between deductive and inductive approach.

The primary data of the study was collected with a qualitative method through semi-structured interviews with six employees of whom three were Base-unit Executive Officers. The reason for the use of a qualitative method was that it gives us conditions to gather the opinions, thoughts, values etc. of the respondents.

By merging the tools of our theoretic framework and the collected data we were able to establish an analysis. We concluded that the analysis consisted of both congruence and discrepancy related to our theoretical framework. The discrepancy showed that there exist a room for a broader comprehension of what kinds of competencies are desirable and useable in the role as a Base-unit Executive Officer. There is room to develop the comprehension of competence in areas such as management and leadership as defined by our theoretical framework.

Because of our path between deductive and inductive approach the reader should carefully evaluate the truth criteria in the study. Validation in the inductive sense is a tough task for a short and small study such as this one. We do however believe that give our preconditions have reached an acceptable level in the truth criteria. When taken into practical application we have hope that our initial thoughts of enlightment will enable a positive development of the managerial role of the Base-unit Executive Officers.

Syfte: Syftet med denna undersökning har varit att utröna hurenhetschefer upplever sin yrkesposition. Många av Sveriges kommuner står idag inför stora besparingskrav där metoder för att kostnadseffektivisera verksamheterna tillämpas. Undersökningens syfte var därför även att utröna huruvida enhetschefers uppfattning av sin yrkesposition förändras vid organisatoriska förändringar.

 Metod: Undersökningen har haft en kvalitativ ansats där intervjuer med åtta enhetschefer inom Socialförvaltningen i en mindre kommun i södra Sverige har utförts.

 Huvudresultat: Respondenterna har uppgett att de ekonomiska kraven har hårdnat till följd av en turbulent tid präglad av konkurrensutsättning, kundval och decentralisering.

Respondenterna menar att de upplever en ökad grad av kontroll sedan den turbulenta tiden, detta kopplat till det ökade beslutsutrymme som ecentraliseringen inneburit. Å andra sidan upplever de att det inte går att ha fullständig kontroll i arbetet, i synnerhet inte i frågor som rör ekonomin. Stöd uppger respondenterna främst komma från kollegor samt ekonomer.

Intressant var här att vid frågor som rör ekonomi efterfrågas endast stöd från ekonomer medan vid frågor som rör personal- och andra driftsfrågor efterfrågas kollegialt stöd. Sammantaget synliggjordes en upplevd kunskapslucka hos enhetscheferna vad gäller ekonomi.

Purpose: The purpose of this study has been to investigate how

middle-managers experience their operational position. Many of

Sweden’s municipalities stand before large economic cutbacks,

where methods for reducing costs in organizations are utilized. The

purpose of the study was thereby also to investigate if middlemanagers’

consider that their operational position transforms in

times of change.

Method: This study have had a qualitative approach where

interviews with eight middle-managers within SocialServices in a

smaller municipality in the southern of Sweden has been

performed.

Main results: The respondents has claimed that the economic

demands have toughened as a result of a time of turbulence that has

been characterized by; parts of the organisation has been exposed

to competition, customers’ right to choose among alternative

health-care institutions as well as decentralization. The respondents

indicate that they have experienced a higher degree of control since

the time of turbulence, as a result from an increasing decisionmaking

freedom due to decentralization. On the other hand they

imply that one cannot have absolute control in the work, especially

not for questions concerning economy. Support is claimed to

emerge from colleagues and from economists. Interesting hereby is

that in questions concerning economy the respondents always

consult an economist, whereas questions concerning personnel or

other questions regarding the daily work are refereed to colleagues.

Altogether a knowledge-shortage was uncovered among the

middle-managers regarding economy.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka förändringar i en mellanchefs roll i samband med en omorganisation. Få en djupare förståelse om olika beslutsfattande chefers situationer och vad de ställs inför. Hur ska organisationen kommunicera i och under en förändringsprocess för involvering av alla berörda parter.  Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär. Resultatet har samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer med Länsstyrelsen Värmlands nio enhetschefer. Organisationen har genomgått en stor organisatorisk förändring. Resultatet har tolkats och analyserats mot tidigare forskning. Studien som presenteras är en vetenskaplig studie.  Länsstyrelsen Värmlands omorganisation har resulterat i en hög belastning för mellancheferna och en komplexitet i utförandet av omorganisationen. Kommunikationen inom organisationen har påvisat dysfunktionalitet och informationsflödet har ansetts för högt.  Mellanchefens roll handlar hela tiden om växelverkan. Rollen ska hantera både ledning och medarbetares förväntningar, mellanchefen agerar språkrör. En generalisering till organisationer, även internationellt sett då mellanchefens position finns i många verksamheter. Mellanchefen måste anpassa sig och infinna sig i rollen som handlar om växelverkan.  Inställningen till omorganisationen var från början positiv och tanken bakom den var god, dock blev det inte som förväntat varken för ledning eller mellanchefer.
The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in a middle management role related to a reorganization. The purpose is to provide a deeper understanding about different situations of a decision-making manager and what they face. How should the organization communicate during a process of change for involvement of all affected parties.  The study is of a qualitative nature. The results have been collected through semi-structured interviews with nine unit managers at the county administrative board of Värmland. The organization has undergone a major organizational change. The result has been interpreted and analyzed against previous research. The presented study is a scientific study.  The reorganization of the county administrative board of Värmland has resulted in a high load and great complexity for the middle managers. Communication within the organization has demonstrated dysfunctionality and the information flow has been considered too high.  The middle management role is always about intercommunion. The role must handle expectations from both top management and employees. The middle manager acts as a spokesperson. A generalization to organizations, even internationally, is the middle manager position found in many businesses. The middle manager must adapt to the role with intercommunion.  The attitudes towards the reorganization was positive from the beginning and the idea behind it was good, but the top management and the middle managers didn’t expect the result of the planned outcome.

Titel: Den kommunalt fängslade mellanchefen: En kvalitativ beskrivning av mellanchefers utövande av ledarskap.  Inledning: Kommunal verksamhet är starkt påverkbar av sin omgivning och måste kontinuerligt anpassa sig till denna samtidigt som den strävar efter en förutsägbarhet. Denna komplexa miljö inverkar på mellanchefers möjlighet att utöva sitt personliga ledarskap, och därför ställs det krav på att man som chef är anpassningsbar och medveten om sitt personliga ledarskap. Problemformulering: Hur ser chefer i olika hierarkiska positioner på sin möjlighet att utöva sitt personliga ledarskap? Syfte: Syftet med vårt arbete är att undersöka, beskriva och skapa en förståelse för chefers möjlighet att, på olika hierarkiska nivåer, utöva sitt personliga ledarskap i ett sammanhang påverkat av inre och yttre faktorer. Metod: För att besvara vårt forskningsproblem valde vi att använda oss av en kvalitativ metod. Genom ett hermeneutiskt tolkningssätt och ett abduktivt angreppssätt så analyserade vi de sex semi-strukturerade intervjuer vi utförde. Slutsats: Den slutsats vi drog är att ledarskapsutbildningens utformning och den begränsade rörelsefrihet som ges, resulterar i en konflikt mellan organisationens mål och en chefs möjlighet att utöva sitt personliga ledarskap.
Title: The municipally captured middle manager: A qualitative description of middle managers exercises of Leadership. Background: Municipal agencies are strongly influenced by the environment and must continuously adapt while striving for predictability. This complex environment impact middle managers possibility to practice one's own Personal leadership, and therefore demands are places upon managers for adaptability and a consciousness regarding ones personal leadership. Research Question: How do middle managers at different hierarchical positions view their opportunity to practice their own personal leadership? Purpose: The purpose of our study is to investigate, describe and create an understanding for how managers, on different hierarchical levels, practice their personal leadership in a context affected by internal and external influences. Method: To answer our research question we chose to utilize a qualitative methodology. Through a hermeneutic interpretation method and an abductive approach we analysed the six semi structured interviews we conducted. Conclusions: The conclusion we derived to is that the design of the leadership education and the restriction of freedom of movement that exists create a conflict between the goals of the organisation and managers ability to practice their own personal leadership.

The group of elderly people in Sweden will increase significantly in the future and science point out that the future elderly people will not accept today’s standards and offers of assistance in today’s public elderly care. Therefore public elderly care stands before a significant challenge in terms of development that has to be sustainable. New research also points out that middle managers can be a great strategic resource, and a founder of success, in the challenge of sustainable development. The aim of the report was to increase the knowledge about what middle managers in public elderly care think sustainable development has to embrace, when it comes to quality and personnel administration, in order to meet the needs of the future elderly people. The aim was also to deepen the knowledge of how formal and informal organizational factors facilitate or limit middle managers possibilities to work with development in general and sustainable development in specific in their units. Interviews, as a qualitative method, were used to gather empirical data and the result was analyzed with theories as Domain theory, New Public Management and Situational leadership. Our findings showed that middle managers have little possibilities to work with sustainable development in their units and that formal factors as budget had a great impact of the middle managers overall possibilities in their work. According to the result it seemed that development and long term planning in this particular organization were tasks mainly for the management and political domain. According to our findings it seemed as if the introduction of New Public Management increased the underlying initial problems of human service organizations. According to Domain theory these problems consists of disjunction, discordance and conflicts due to the differences between the three domains when it comes to principles, success measures, structure and work modes.

Ledarskapet är en viktig del i att skapa framgångsrika och konkurrenskraftiga organisationer där medarbetare mår bra och kan utvecklas (Granberg, 2011). Ledaren är den som har störst inflytande över de anställda då de med hjälp av sitt beteende kan påverka hur medarbetarna tänker och agerar (Granberg, 2011; Jacobsen & Thorsvik, 2014). Därför är det viktigt att första linjens chefer har de förutsättningar som krävs för att kunna utöva en ledarskapsstil som främjar motivation och engagemang, då det är en ledare som arbetar nära sina medarbetare. Chefernas ledarskap och arbetssituation inom äldreomsorgen har i stor utsträckning påverkats av Covid-19 pandemin och de restriktioner som upprättats (Coronakommissionen, 2020).Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur första linjens chefer inom äldreomsorgen upplever att pandemin har påverkat deras förutsättningar att utöva sitt ledarskap. Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsansats och datainsamlingen bygger på åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer. Empirin har analyserats med hjälp av tidigare forskning kring olika ledarskapsstilar.Resultatet visar att linjecheferna upplever en påverkan på både förutsättningar och ledarskap. Ständigt nya riktlinjer och rutiner har krävt ett mer flexibelt ledarskap, och nya arbetsuppgifter har lett till en högre arbetsbelastning. Pandemin har också skapat en stor oro hos både medar-betarna och cheferna, vilket har gjort att behovet av stöd från både organisationen och kollegor har ökat. Samtidigt har övergången från fysiska till digitala möten försvårat kommunikationen med medarbetare och kollegor, vilket i sin tur påverkat möjligheten att ge och få stöd.En slutsats som kan dras av resultatet är att cheferna har behövt kombinera olika ledarskapssti-lar under pandemin. För att kunna stötta oroliga medarbetare och se till att de nya riktlinjerna följs behövs en blandning av ett empatiskt och ett styrande ledarskap.
Leadership is an important part of creating successful and competitive organizations where em-ployees feel good and can develop (Granberg, 2011). The leader is the one who has the greatest influence over the employees as they can use their behavior to influence how the employees think and act (Granberg, 2011; Jacobsen & Thorsvik, 2014). Therefore, it is important that first-line managers practice a leadership style that promotes motivation and commitment as it is a leader who works closely with his employees. Managers' leadership and work situation in el-derly care have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions that have been established (Coronakommissionen, 2020).The purpose of this study is to investigate how first-line managers in elderly care, feel that the pandemic has affected their ability to exercise their leadership. The study has a qualitative re-search approach, and the data collection is based on eight semi-structured interviews. The em-pirics have been analyzed with the help of previous research on different leadership styles.The results show that the line managers experience an impact on both conditions and leadership. Constantly changing guidelines and routines have required a more flexible leadership, and new tasks have led to a higher workload. The pandemic has also caused great concern among both employees and managers, which has increased the need for support from both the organization and colleagues. At the same time, the transition from physical to digital meetings has made it more difficult to communicate with employees and colleagues, which in turn has affected the ability to give and receive support.One conclusion that can be drawn from the result is that the managers had to combine different leadership styles during the pandemic. To be able to support anxious employees and ensure that the new guidelines are followed, a mixture of empathic and governing leadership is needed.

Denna studie behandlar mellanchefer inom vården i den offentliga sektorns arbetssituation. Mellanchefer inom vården innehar ofta en roll som sjuksköterska och en roll som avdelningschef. Den dubbla rollen kan vara problematisk då man ska tillgodose den etik och moral som professionen innebär samtidigt som resultat ska levereras till verksamheten. Syftet med studien var att söka ökad förståelse för om det finns en konflikt mellan profession och verksamhetskrav samt hur denna konflikt uppstår. Intentionen var också att undersöka om det kan leder till brott mot Det psykologiska kontraktet. Resultatet visade att professionen som sjuksköterska kommer i konflikt med verksamhetskraven och att detta kan leda till brott mot Det psykologiska kontraktet. Av studien framgick även att konflikt kan uppstå mellan de olika professionerna på sjukhusen, framförallt mellan sjuksköterskor och läkare. Även politisk påverkan har en effekt på verksamheterna dock leder det troligen inte till upplevt brott mot Det psykologiska kontraktet.
The purpose of this study is to seek greater understanding of middle managers in public sector work situation. This is by studying whether there is a conflict between their profession and business requirements and how this conflict can arise. The intention was also to investigate whether or not this could lead to violations of the psychological contract. The study deals with middle managers in healthcare that often has a role as a nurse and a role as the manager. The dual role can be problematic as they are aimed to satisfy the ethics and morals that the profession means and at the same time deliverer result to the business. The results showed that the profession as a nurse comes into conflict with the business requirements and that this may lead to violations of the psychological contract. The study also showed that the conflict may occur between the different professions in hospitals, particularly between nurses and doctors. Also the political influence has an effect on operations; however this does not lead to violations of the psychological contract.

The study’s primary research interest is in the area of leadership and creativity. Investigating the literature indicates that there is a gap in knowledge regarding the effect of the Full Range of Leadership styles, especially the influence of transformational leadership on employees’ creative performance. Examining this relationship in different sectors (for example: public government sector); in different cultures (for example: Arab Islamic culture); and from multi-perspectives (for example: leaders and employees) is strongly encouraged by research. The Omani civil service sector was used as a case study, thus the aim of the study was to investigate the degree to which Omani civil service managers practised the Full Range of Leadership styles to influence employees’ creative performance. The study set six objectives which provided the foundation for the structure of the study and the way its research questions were formulated. Accordingly, the study methodology was designed in a way that points towards the achievement of the study objectives. The study adopted a mixed-methods research approach by combining survey questionnaires with semi-structured interviews. This triangulation technique was utilized to enable more accurate investigation and allow in-depth coverage of the issues examined. The probability sampling method as represented by the random sampling technique was adopted for this study and applied to the two groups of managers and employees. The total size of the managers’ sample was 269 participants, while the employees’ sample was 371 participants. In addition, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted to supplement the quantitative results. The results of this study show that the Omani managers are performing both transformational and transactional leadership styles. Examining the relationship, the study confirms that there is an overall statistically significant relationship between managers’ use of transformational and transactional leadership styles and employees’ creative performance from both managers’ and employees’ perspectives. The results also reveal that Omani managers are infrequently practicing passive/avoidant leadership style and that this style does not contribute to the employees’ creative performance. Further, the study demonstrate that Omani managers’ personal characteristics have a slight effect on managers’ perceptions towards transformational leadership styles and do not have any impact on their perceptions toward employees’ creative performance. Finally, this study contributed to knowledge in several areas where scholars who are interested in investigating the relationship between leadership and creativity will find it valuable.

Chaque année, près de 700 attachés d'administration de l'État sont recrutés par concours. Ni agents de guichet ni hauts fonctionnaires, ce personnel peuple les échelons intermédiaires de la fonction publique, mais reste invisible aux usagers et peu connu des sciences sociales. Depuis 1970, les Instituts régionaux d'administration (IRA) ont la charge d’unifier le recrutement et d’homogénéiser les pratiques de ces fonctionnaires. L'étude de cette formation permet d’entrer dans l’atelier où se construit le mandat confié par l’État à ces cadres intermédiaires.Alliant sociologie de l'administration et sociologie de la socialisation, nous adoptons trois regards sur la formation de cet encadrement administratif intermédiaire. D'abord, l'analyse socio-historique des réformes des IRA éclaire à la fois les obstacles à la constitution d'un « corps interministériel » des attachés, et les compromis entre ministères qui permettent de stabiliser l'architecture de formation. À l'échelle de l'institution ensuite, l'étude des savoirs prescrits et enseignés donne à voir comment sont valorisées les activités des cadres intermédiaires au cours de leur formation, modélisant différentes figures de l'attaché. L'approche ethnographique du travail socialisateur de l'institution montre enfin que le mandat de l'attaché se fabrique aussi dans la variation des modes d'appropriations et dans les décalages par rapport aux attentes institutionnelles. Ces trois scènes d'investigation constituent un observatoire de la double tension qui travaille l'encadrement administratif intermédiaire : celle qui oppose l’unification du groupe à sa dispersion, et celle qui défend l’autonomie de l’attaché dans le processus de délégation hétéronome des tâches. À la fois encadré et encadrant, « technique » et « généraliste », « juriste » et « manager », le mandat de l'attaché oscille en fonction de ce que l'État – depuis les administrateurs des ministères jusqu'aux formateurs des IRA – veut faire de son administration
Every year in France, about 700 administrative officers (French attachés) get hired thanks to a competition. They are neither street level bureaucrats nor top civil servants, but these civil servants constitute most of the intermediate administrative staff of public services. Yet, they remain mostly invisible to citizens and little known to social scientists. Since 1970, Regional Administration Institutes (IRA) have been designed to merge and homogenize the recruitment, training, and practices of these public agents. The study of those educational institutions sheds light on the process through which the State assigns these middle managers a specific mandate.Combining sociological approaches of public administration and of socialization, three perspectives related to the middle managers’ training are being developed. First, a socio-historical analysis of the reforms of the IRA sheds light on hardships encountered by the administration in establishing an inter-ministerial “corps”. This approach allows us to understand compromises between ministries that allow the stabilization of the training’s organization. Then, within the IRA institution, the study of prescribed and taught knowledge enlightens the different activities entrusted to middle managers during their training. These skills shape various figures of the public services' middle managers. Finally, an ethnographic approach of processes of socialization within the IRA institution shows that the mandate of the attaché also stems from various modes of appropriation and discrepancies from institutional expectations.These three sites of investigation constitute an interesting vantage point of two type of deep-seated tensions among middle management. First, the tension between the unification of the group and its scattering. Then, that between the attachés’ autonomy and their participation in the “dirty work” chain of delegation. Both manager and managed, both technician and non-specialist, both legal expert and team leader, the mandate of these middle managers fluctuates depending on what the State wants to achieve with its administration

La formation de la stratégie a été étudiée dans son processus, elle l’est depuis quelques années au travers des pratiques quotidiennes de ses acteurs. Dans les organisations publiques, et plus particulièrement dans les organisations publiques de recherche, la formation de la stratégie semble privilégier la voie de la planification. Or, d’une part le dialogue scientifique sur l’utilité de la planification n’est toujours pas clos, d’autre part ces organisations sont réputées fonctionner au moyen de stratégies déconnectées. Les cadres intermédiaires y jouent normalement le rôle de courroie de transmission mais aussi de contributeurs directs de la stratégie émergente.A l’aide d’un cadre conceptuel intégrant la formation des stratégies dans les bureaucraties professionnelles, les théories de la pratique et le courant strategy-as-practice, notre recherche vise à comprendre comment les cadres intermédiaires scientifiques intègrent, dans leurs pratiques, la stratégie de leur institut.Notre travail s’appuie sur deux études de cas approfondies. Nous comparons les pratiques des cadres intermédiaires scientifiques dans deux organisations publiques de recherche à un moment particulier de leur histoire managériale, l’élaboration de leur plan stratégique. Nous avons mené 54 interviews et avons observé 15 moments stratégiques.Nos résultats mettent en évidence 1) que les cadres intermédiaires cherchent à se connecter à la stratégie institutionnelle aux moments importants de la vie de leurs équipes scientifiques ; 2) qu’ils sont pour cela capable d’utiliser des stratégies « écran » ; 3) que la motivation à participer au processus de planification stratégique est essentiellement liée à la visibilité de leurs recherches ; et enfin, 4) que les cadres intermédiaires scientifiques ne servent pas toujours de courroie de transmission à la stratégie institutionnelle.Notre thèse contribue ainsi à une compréhension approfondie des pratiques que les cadres intermédiaires mobilisent pour s’aligner, au moins en apparence, à la stratégie institutionnelle
Strategy formation has been studied in its process, and for some years through the daily practices of its actors. In public organizations, and more particularly in public research organizations (PRO), strategy formation seems to favour the planning mode. However, on the one hand, the scientific dialogue on the usefulness of planning is still ongoing, and on the other hand, these organizations are said to operate with disconnected strategies. Middle managers normally act as an organizational linker but also as direct contributors to the emerging strategy.Using a conceptual framework that integrates strategy formation in professional bureaucracies, theories of practice and strategy-as-practice field, our research aims to understand how scientific middle managers integrate the strategy of their PRO into their own practices.Our work is based on two in-depth case studies. We compare the practices of scientific middle managers in two French PROs at a particular moment in their managerial life, the elaboration of their strategic plan. The analysis of 54 interviews and observation of 15 strategic moments resulted in the findings 1) middle managers aim to connect to the institutional strategy at important moments in the lifecycle of their scientific teams; 2) they are therefore able to use "screen" strategies; 3) the motivation to participate in the strategic planning process is essentially linked to the visibility of their research; and finally, 4) scientific middle managers do not always act as a organizational linker for the institutional strategy.The thesis thus contributes to a better understanding of the practices that middle managers mobilize to align the team’s strategy, at least apparently, with the institutional strategy

Cette thèse a pour but d‟analyser la relation entre la proactivité au travail, la qualité de vie au travail (QVT), le comportement innovant et la performance au travail des cadres hospitaliers. En premier lieu, nous proposons une synthèse de la revue de la littérature sur le concept de la proactivité au travail. Par la suite, nous présentons les trois études empiriques réalisées. Dans l‟étude 1, nous analysons la relation entre les caractéristiques du travail et les processus cognitifs motivationnels dans l‟activation du comportement proactif au travail. Puis, nous examinons la relation entre le comportement proactif et la performance au travail ainsi que le comportement d‟innovation au travail. Les résultats de cette étude soulignent l‟existence d‟une double médiation entre les caractéristiques du travail et le comportement d‟innovation au travail ainsi que la performance au travail via l‟habilitation psychologique et la proactivité au travail. Dans l‟étude 2, nous étudions le rôle des processus cognitifs motivationnels dans l‟activation du comportement proactif au travail. Puis nous analysons les effets du comportement proactif sur des indicateurs de QVT et d‟efficacité au travail après une période de six mois. Les résultats de cette étude indiquent qu‟il n‟y a pas de relation entre le comportement proactif au travail et la QVT ainsi que la performance au travail après six mois, mais les résultats mettent en évidence la présence d‟une relation positive entre le comportement proactif au travail et le comportement d‟innovation au travail après une période de six mois. Par ailleurs, les résultats montrent que le comportement proactif au travail joue un rôle médiateur dans la relation entre les processus cognitifs motivationnels (sentiment de capabilité, émotions positives) et le comportement d‟innovation. Dans l‟étude 3, nous analysons la relation entre le comportement proactif au travail et la QVT. Les résultats obtenus montrent que le sentiment de capabilité contribue à activer le comportement proactif au travail et que la proactivité à son tour a des effets positifs sur les indicateurs de QVT. Les résultats soulignent la médiation totale du comportement proactif dans la relation entre le sentiment de capabilité et l‟engagement affectif organisationnel. Dans une étude complémentaire, nous étudions les effets de la qualité des échanges avec le supérieur (leader-member exchange) en tant que modérateur dans la relation entre le comportement proactif au travail et l‟engagement affectif à l‟égard de l‟organisation. Les résultats indiquent que l‟interaction entre la proactivité au travail et la qualité des échanges avec le supérieur contribue à renforcer l‟engagement affectif à l‟égard de l‟organisation. Les résultats de ces études contribuent à clarifier le rôle des processus cognitifs motivationnels dans l‟activation du comportement proactif au travail et permettent d‟alimenter la réflexion sur la relation entre le comportement proactif au travail, la QVT, le comportement d‟innovation et la performance au travail des cadres hospitaliers
This thesis aims to analyse the relationship between hospital middle managers‟ proactivity at work, quality of work life, innovative behaviour, and job performance. First, literature on the concept of proactivity is reviewed. Next, three empirical studies are conducted. Study 1 analyses the role of job characteristics and the role of cognitive motivational states in the activation of proactive work behaviour. Then, the effects of proactive work behaviour on job performance and on innovative work behaviour are analysed. Results from this study highlight the existence of a double mediation between job characteristics and innovative behaviour as well as job performance through psychological empowerment and proactive work behaviour. Study 2 examines the role of cognitive motivational states in the activation of proactive work behaviour. Then, the effects of proactive work behaviour on indicators of quality of work life (QWL) and indicators of job effectiveness after a period of six months are analysed. The results of this study show no relationship between proactive work behaviour and QWL indicators and job performance after six months, but the findings reveal the existence of a positive relationship between proactive behaviour at work and innovative behaviour after a period of six months. Furthermore, the results also indicate the existence of an indirect effect between cognitive motivational states (i.e., feeling capable, positive emotions) and innovative work behaviour through proactive work behaviour. Study 3 investigates the relationship between proactive work behaviour and QWL. Results suggest that feeling capable contributes to activate proactive work behaviour, which in turn has positive effects on QWL indicators. The mediating role of proactive work behaviour in the relationship between feeling capable and affective organizational commitment is also highlighted. A final complementary study proposes and shows that high-quality leader–member exchange as moderator strengthens the relationship between proactive work behaviour and affective organizational commitment. Results from these studies help to clarify the role of cognitive motivational processes in the activation of proactive work behaviour and contribute to reflection on the relationship between proactive work behaviour, QWL, innovative work behaviour, and job performance of hospital middle managers

Sammanfattning Denna studie belyser det upplevda sambandet mellan socialt kapital och chefers hälsa inom svensk offentlig sektor. Studiens frågeställningar är ”Hur ser relationen mellan sociala resurser och friskfaktorer ut för chefer inom svensk offentlig sektor?”, ”Vilken roll har socialt kapital för chefernas självupplevda hälsa?”. Den teoretiska referensramen består av Pierre Bourdieus resonemang kring socialt kapital (1986) och Robert D. Putnams resonemang att socialt kapital påverkar individens omgivning (2006). Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod där empirin har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer.   Resultatet visar att utbildning och yrkeserfarenhet ökar chefernas tillgång till socialt kapital.  Utbildning och yrkeserfarenhet ger individuella fördelar genom att öka chefers tillgång till socialt kapital. Chefer använder sig av sociala nätverk på arbetsplatsen för att skapa ett effektivare arbetsflöde. Chefer utpekar att stödresurser i form av kompetensutveckling, chefsgrupper, HR- och ekonomistöd understödjer ett hållbart ledarskap. Tillit och förtroende för närmaste chef och kollegor anges som en av de viktigaste förutsättningar för att kunna utöva chefsuppdraget. Stödresurser och ledarskap har betydelse för chefers självupplevda hälsa. Chefer med större socialt kapital och organisatoriska stödresurser har i högre utsträckning förmåga att sätta gränser, inte ta med sig arbetet hem och tydliggöra för andra när man är tillgänglig. Stödresurser och organisatoriska förutsättningar motiverar chefer att ta hand om och vårda sin hälsa genom träning, avkoppling eller andra fritidsaktiviteter. Tillgången till socialt kapital ökar chefernas medvetenhet om betydelsen av att vårda hälsan.  Slutsatsen är att socialt kapital har stor betydelse för chefers självupplevda hälsa.   Nyckelord: Chef, Mellanchef, Offentlig sektor, Socialt kapital, Friskfaktorer, Hälsa
Abstract   This study highlights the perceived relationship between social capital and the affects on public sector managers health. The study's questions are "What is the relationship between social resources and health factors for managers in Swedish public sector?”, "What role does social capital play in relation to managers' health?". The theoretical frame of reference consists of Pierre Bourdieu's reasoning about social capital (1986) and Robert Putnam’s reasoning that social capital affects the individual's environment (2006). The study is based on a qualitative method where the empiricism has been gathered in semi-structured interviews.   The result shows that education and work experience increase managers access to social capital. Education and professional experience provide individual benefits by increasing access to social capital. Managers use social networks at workplaces to create a better workflow. The managers point out that support resources in the form of skills development, management groups, human resource management and financial support sustainable leadership. Trust and confidence in the nearest manager and colleagues are stated as one of the most important prerequisites for managing management tasks. Support resources and leadership affect managers self-perceived health. Managers with greater social capital and organizational support resources to a greater extent have the ability to set boundaries, not take work-related stress home and make it clear to others when fortified. Support resources and organizational conditions motivate managers to take care of and nurture their health through exercise, relaxation or other leisure activities. Access to social capital increases manager's awareness of the importance of health care. The conclusion is that social capital is of great importance for the managers' self-perceived health. Keywords: Manager, Middle manager, Public sector, Social capital, Health factors, Health

Syftet med vår studie var att undersöka hur organisatoriska faktorer som krav i arbetet och stödfunktioner kan påverka grundskolans mellanchefers förutsättningar att vara tillgängliga för medarbetare enligt medarbetarnas förväntningar. För att får svar på vårt syfte använde vi oss av en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet från vår kvalitativa undersökning analyserade vi med hjälp av teorier kring krav i arbetet, kontrollspannetsbetydelse, mellanchefers behov av stöd och chefen som stötdämpare. Resultatet visar att medarbetarna förväntar sig att chefen är nåbar och tar sig tid genom att faktiskt lyssna aktivt när medarbetaren behöver det. Hur stödet ser ut påverkar hur mycket tid chefen kan lägga på att vara tillgänglig enligt medarbetarnas förväntningar. Ett stöd som fungerar frigör tid med medarbetarna medan ett ofungerande stöd istället tar tid från medarbetarna. Kraven på cheferna ökar, möjliga faktorer handlar om att omvärlden förändras och då ändras även arbetets förutsättningar som exempelvis fler uppgifter att hantera.
The aim of our study was to examine how organizational factors such as job demands and support can influence primary school middle managers opportunities to be available to subordinates under subordinates' expectations. To answer our purpose, we used a qualitative approach with semi structured interviews. The results was analyzed using theories of job demands, span of control, middle managers need for support and a theory about middle managers acting as a shock absorber between subordinates wishes and the managements demands. What kind of support the manager have affects how much time the manager can spend on being available for the subordinates. If the support isn´t adapted for the managers situation, the result will be more unnecessary duties for the manager and less time for the subordinates. The results show that subordinates expect the middle manager to be reachable and to take time to priority the subordinate when the subordinate needs it. Even if the manager can prioritize subordinates needs today, changes inside and outside the organization leads to higher demands on the managers.

TITEL: Den offentliga sektorns förändringsagent - En kvalitativ flerfallsstudie av hur mellanchefen inom den offentliga sektorn bedriver förändringsledning vid digital transformation FÖRFATTARE: Ebba Jonsson och Jennifer Lindén HANDLEDARE: Janet Johansson BAKGRUND: Samhället genomgår en digital transformation. Människor har i allt högre grad digitaliserat sina vardagliga liv och ställer krav på att den offentliga sektorn följer med i utvecklingen. Den digitala transformationen kräver teknisk kompetens men studier visar att ledarskapet är avgörande för en lyckad digital transformation. Mellanchefen som befinner sig mellan den strategiska ledningen och den operativa verksamheten har en viktig roll i förändringsarbetet vid den digitala transformationen. Den digitala transformationen innebär stora förändringar varför denna blir intressant att undersöka i kontexten av offentlig sektor, som enligt litteraturen är stabil och trögrörlig. SYFTE & FORSKNINGSFRÅGOR: Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en djupare förståelse för hur mellanchefen inom den offentliga sektorn bedriver förändringsledning vid digital transformation. - Utifrån Kotters modell, hur arbetar mellanchefer inom den offentliga sektorn för att skapa en grund för och vidare implementera förändring? - Hur arbetar mellanchefer inom den offentliga sektorn för att bemöta hindrande faktorer, liksom motstånd från medarbetarna, vid förändringsledning? SLUTSATS & KUNSKAPSBIDRAG: Studien bidrar till litteraturen kring ledarskap och förändringsledning vid digital transformation genom att rikta fokus på mellanchefen inom offentlig sektor. Studien visar att mellanchefsrollen är mångsidig och komplex. Med hjälp av en organisationsstruktur som uppmuntrar till förändring och ett tydligt uppdrag kan mellanchefen hantera och balansera ett tryck från både externa och interna intressenter. Mellanchefens strukturella närhet till den operativa styrkan men även den strategiska ledningen leder till att den digitala transformationen kan förankras i och anpassas efter verksamheten. Mellanchefen kan i sin position arbeta för att involvera, motivera och engagera medarbetarna i förändringsarbetet vid digital transformation. NYCKELORD: Förändringsledning, mellanchef, digital transformation, ledarskap, offentlig sektor.
TITLE: The Change Agent within the Public Sector - A qualitative multiple case study of how the middle manager in the public sector conducts change management in digital transformation AUTHORS: Ebba Jonsson and Jennifer Lindén SUPERVISOR: Janet Johansson BACKGROUND: The society is going through a digital transformation. Citizens are increasingly digitalizing their everyday life and they require that the public sector is following the technological development. The digital transformation requires technical competencies, but studies show that leadership is crucial for a successful digital transformation. The middle manager situated between the strategic management and the operational level will have an important role in the change process. The digital transformation comes with major and rapid organizational changes. An interest awakens to examine the digital transformation in the context of the public sector, which according to previous literature is stable and inert. AIM & RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The aim of this study is to create deeper understanding of how the middle manager within the public sector conducts change management within digital transformation. - Based on Kotter’s model, how do the middle managers within the public sector create a solid ground for implementing a change? - How do the middle managers within the public sector handle hindering factors, such as resistance to change from the employees, when leading a change? CONCLUSION & CONTRIBUTION: The study contributes to the literature on leadership and change management in digital transformation by focusing on the middle manager in the public sector. The study shows that the middle manager role is complex and versatile. Having an organizational structure that encourages change together with a clear mission, the middle manager can handle and balance pressure and interests from both external and internal stakeholders. The middle manager's structural proximity to both the operational forces and the strategic management lead to that the change can be anchored in all parts of the organization and adapted to the operations. The middle manager can be a key player, working as a change agent, within the digital transformation. KEY WORDS: Change Management, Middle Manager, Digital Transformation, Leadership, Public Sector.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this c-level essay shall try to illustrate how a good leader is formed. We have investigated what influences leadership style, personal characteristics or individual competence have when recruiting a new manager. This study has been carried out with comparative applications because we wanted to study the similarities and differences between the Unemployment Office, the Social Insurance Office and the Social Welfare Administration.

We have used a qualitative method in interviews both with employers as well as the from the trade union representative’s perspective. Part of our results indicates that the trade union representatives and the employers are not always unanimous and do not request equivalent characteristics and knowledge at recruitment. We have also found certain differences in the recruitment process between the organisations despite the fact that they are all politically governed and have many organisational similarities. We do not claim any empirical generalisations about our results as we have studied only one municipality. Our conclusions establish how certain key factors relate to recruitment of mangers just in this municipality and in these organisations. The results, however, indicates the prominence of some key factors that might be of general importance.

One of the most important result that we found in this study was that the trade union representatives had more similar opinions with each other than those they had with their respective organisations. Furthermore it became obvious from the study that great significance was given to inter-personal relationships when recruiting a new middle manager. The most significant resemblance between the three organisations was that they requested a management style that inclined towards democratic values.

碩士
輔仁大學
圖書資訊學系
98
This research identified the relationship between leadership of mid-level director of the Taipei Public Library (TPL) and the management of branches with interviews and the administrative reports of the interviewees in order to examine the diverse academic utilization patterns between public libraries and university libraries. The desired respondents of this research are the managers of outstanding-performing library branches in Taipei City, and hopefully the research result can be provided as a reference for operation management and guiding branch development in the long-run. A total of 15 mid-level public library leaders were selected for in-depth face-to-face interviews in Taiwan for inclusion in this study. Furthermore, the related literatures and documentary analysis of this study are directors from well-performance branches of Taipei Public Library. The findings support the team of leadership for communicated and sharing experiences in the field of public librarianship. The challenge for public library branch is to identify and consider the intercultural leadership skills and personal attributes that are essential to success. It should be concluded, from what has been said above, that middle manager leading to team working, which influence owns branch and librarians, the intercultural leadership skills and personal attributes that are connection to the community. Secondly, middle manager leadership attitude and core value of personality disappear on administrative of branch. Thirdly, middle manager shows leading value and professional learning of branch director from effective training in the TPL. Next, middle manager experiences presented leadership pattern and effective leadership in the TPL. Finally, according to the finding and conclusion address some suggestions and furthermore research ideas.

The purpose of this study was to explore how the middle manager implements strategy at a South African government department. This study was conducted in response to the call for more research to be done using the strategy-as-practice perspective to explore the involvement of middle managers in a South African government context with regard to strategy. The current study sought to identify the roles that the middle manager undertakes with regard to strategy implementation, inclusive of the barriers that they face on a daily basis. The study aimed at providing feedback on how the middle managers implement strategy, overcome the barriers they face and some changes that participating middle managers proposed to the current practices in strategy implementation in a government context. A single case study, utilising an exploratory qualitative research design, was undertaken at a government department in South Africa. The data was gathered using semi-structured interviews. The researcher used the interviews to provide rich, detailed descriptions of how strategy is implemented by middle managers. The study portrayed the participating middle managers as playing an integral role as interpreters, communicators and implementers of the strategy within the government context. Findings confirmed that most of the middle managers were not involved in the crafting of the high level strategy of the government department. The participating middle manager fulfilled eight key roles in the implementation of the strategy: leadership role, management role, implementation role, monitoring role, reporting role, supporting role, communication role and information-sharing role. The participating middle managers dealt with many barriers with regard to strategy implementation on a daily basis, such as lack of understanding of government work, monitoring, support, skilled personnel, skill development, funding and information. The participating middle managers were found to be innovative and creative in utilising strategy tools to overcome the barriers they faced. Although these results cannot be generalised but may be transferrable to similar contexts.
Business Management
M. Com (Business Management)

The objective of this study was (i) to determine the relationship between sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout; and (ii) to determine whether, in terms of the various socio-demographic groups, namely, gender, age, race, marital status, number of years in current position and number of years in public service, the sample differed significantly in terms of their levels of sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout. A quantitative study, using primary data, was conducted using a convenience sample (N = 172) of middle managers in a public service organisation. The psychometric properties of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Scale were investigated before the hypothesis was tested. The statistical analysis of the data included descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics. The Kaiser-Meyer Olkin and Bartlett’s test of sphericity techniques were used to determine the exploratory factor analysis of all three measuring scales. A correlation analysis between the one-factor sense of coherence, one-factor work engagement and the three burnout sub-dimensions (exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy) was conducted. The Pearson product-moment correlation was used to determine the strength of the relationships between the variables. The level of significance was set at a 95% confidence interval level (p 􀀂􀀁0,05). Standard multiple regression analysis was used to establish whether there is a significant relationship between sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout. The Wilk’s lambda technique was used to test the results for significance, while Levene's test of equality of error variances technique was used to test the results for significance on the sense of coherence and work engagement scales with regard to the demographic groups. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the participants’ sense of coherence, work engagement and burnout levels. Significant differences were also found between respondents in the marital status group and the burnout dimension, depersonalisation or cynicism. The results also reflected the wellbeing status of middle managers and indicated that the respondents were flourishing (feeling good as they scored a high sense of coherence and functioning well as indicated by a high score for work engagement). It is anticipated that the findings of the study will contribute valuable knowledge to employee wellbeing programmes in public service. The study concludes by making recommendations for future research practice.
Industrial and Organisational Psychology
M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)