The Importance Of Middle Management And Frontline Management

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Rudhumbu (2015) citing Madden (2013) stated that using the positional context, middle managers are defined as people occupying a position at the intermediary level of the organisation, a position that is two or three levels from top managers and one level above front-line managers, i.e., a position that enables them to supervise supervisors and are also in turn to be supervised by others.
Academic middle managers can also be described using non-positional definitions. According to Floyd & Wooldridge (2000), academic middle managers are people who perform a coordinating role where they mediate, negotiate and interpret connections between top management and the operational levels , and hence are the people who are directly involved in the planning …show more content…

They are the faculty members assigned to spearhead programs/institutes/colleges in State Universities and Colleges of North Luzon for the second semester of school year 2016 to 2017. They are given titles as Deans, Coordinators, Directors, and Program Heads.
Other authorities view academic middle managers as administrators whose tasks and responsibilities typically encompass the management of human resources within the subject departments, paired with the coordinating responsibilities, budget administration and instructional planning (Dimmen, 2000).
Further, academic middle managers can best be understood in two context, i.e., the school wide context and department context (Wise, 2001). In the school wide context, by virtue of their position in the school hierarchy, middle managers are seen as operating at the interface between different levels and different sources of influence and change with their role shifting towards managerialism in which the middle managers find themselves managing the intersection of traditional and new organisational cultures and trying to exert school-wide influence (Wise, 2001; Hancook & Hellawell, 2003). In the department context, middle managers are tasked with ensuring good teaching and learning, a role that has traditionally been recognised as at the heart of the middle manager’s …show more content…

Many executives are dissatisfied with their middle managers and are questioning the value of this position within the organization. Some executives are actually blaming middle managers for holding back the organization from achieving its full potential. This ambiguity about the role is not only confined at executive level as many middle managers themselves are unsure of the jobs key tasks and more importantly what is required from them within the role. One thing is certain, this ambiguity is causing a great deal of concern and cost within organizations. So what do middle managers actually do and more importantly what are they meant to achieve within an organization (Dance, 2001)? The conduct of this study will attempt to answer all the queries raised above. The information generated will serve as a benchmark for policy makers in state universities and colleges to create mechanisms and systems to strengthen middle management in these institutions. School administrators will also be given a clear description on how the professional profile of middle managers interact with their leadership and management role performance which can serve as a basis in the formulation of a sound, relevant and holistic empowerment program for academic middle managers which will propel the institution in

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