Since the beginnings of venture creation the traditional role of the entrepreneur changed from only being the owner of a small business to include those individuals within a large company who has entrepreneurial skills and applies these to benefit the company. In an ever faster growing global economy the role of the entrepreneur within the large organization becomes more and more important to ensure the company keeps the competitive edge. Corporate entrepreneurship is characterized by individuals who are innovative, creative, spend time and take risks. To support these entrepreneurial activities, the organization needs a climate and culture that is beneficial to these activities. An entrepreneurial orientation within an organisation is marked by dimensions such as innovativeness, pro-activeness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy. The entrepreneurial behaviour among middle level managers is most critical to the effective implementation of corporate entrepreneurship. Middle managers are in a position to influence their subordinates' commitment to entrepreneurial activities once they have been initiated. BHPBilliton is a world class company with a world class management strategy and systems to support the strategy. Part of the BHPBilliton Management strategy is "innovation", wanting to give all employees the opportunity to contribute to improvement by sharing their ideas with the company. This study was done at Metalloys, Meyerton, part of the Manganese Customer Sector Group, within BHPBilliton. Metalloys embarked on various programmes to create opportunities for employees to think in an entrepreneurial way. Middle managers at Metalloys play an important role in the innovation programs implemented at Metalloys. Against this background, this study seeks to confirm whether Metalloys, Meyerton has a true entrepreneurial climate and whether the middle management level involved with these initiatives share this perception. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The rapid changes in the world of online technology during the last two decades brought along new challenges and opportunities for public relations practitioners. Literature has proven that the interactive capabilities of web-based technology have the possibility to build and maintain relationships with stakeholders and create two-way symmetrical communication opportunities. One such technology is an intranet, which could have an immense impact on an organisation's internal communication environment. If managed and applied correctly the intranet has the possibility to build two-way symmetrical relationships with an organisation's internal stakeholders - often described as one of the organisation's most strategic stakeholder groups. In this applied research study, the contribution of an international mining organisation's intranet to internal two-way symmetrical communication was explored and described. An extensive literature study was conducted to determine how an intranet could contribute theoretically to two-way symmetrical communication. The empirical findings were obtained by means of two main research methods: a qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews with middle management employees. The content analysis described how the basic principles of two-way symmetrical communication were applied on the Lonmin Platinum intranet. The semistructured interviews with middle management explored and described how they perceived and used the intranet with regard to two-way symmetrical communication. It was concluded that the Lonmin intranet did not contribute to two-way symmetrical communication. A critical conclusion is that an intranet as a mediated communication medium could not contribute to two-way symmetrical communication if the internal communication climate does not facilitate the specific values related to the Excellence Theory and two-way symmetrical communication principles. Another conclusion is that Lonmin's intranet was too technologically focussed. There was no management of strategic communication or ownership, and as a result the intranet did not contribute to two-way symmetrical communication in the organisation. It is suggested that future studies describe the contribution of the Lonmin intranet to two-way symmetrical communication after the communication department had commenced with strategic intranet management. The relation between the contribution of the intranet to two-way symmetrical communication in the organisation and the general communication climate could also be explored in future research studies. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This study is concerned with identifying the factors which produce job satisfaction and which are clearly associated with job characteristics as perceived by the nursing educators who serve in middle management positions. Following are purposes of this study: 1. To identify the actual and ideal job characteristics that are factors associated with job satisfaction, as perceived by nursing educators in middle management positions; 2. To determine the interrelationships among the job satisfaction factors that are identified with the actual and ideal job characteristics, as perceived by nursing educators in middle management positions. Responses to a three-part survey instrument, which contained sixteen independent variables, were received from 152 of a possible 292 middle manager nursing educators working in accredited baccalaureate schools of nursing.

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The purpose of this essay is to investigate the factors that influence the middle-managers' way of handling challenging situations at work. The questions include in which way managers handle the demands and expectations of the professional role, but also what factors they consider as important to be able to cope with these challenges. The material that forms the basis for this study is four dissertations which all deal with issues concerning the leadership that is conducted at the operational level. The theoretical basis of the study includes various theoretical concepts such as social action, coping strategies and social support. Also, parts from the dramatic perspective have been retrieved where Erving Goffman's theory about “the mediator” is relevant to current essay. Previous research explains how middle managers get in a difficult position between the different actors' interests within the organization. The research also describes the complexity of middle-level leadership. The results of the present study shows that managers handle difficult situations at work by balancing loyalties, seeking support at work, and relate to the leadership role in a certain way. The factors that affect whether managers can handle challenges are due to personal or organizational factors, such as the orientation of the organization, the amount of social support or the influence of the personal life. / Studien syftar till att undersöka vilka faktorer som har betydelse för hur mellanchefer hanterar de utmaningar som präglar ledarskapet.Forskningsfrågorna besvarar på vilket sätt cheferna hanterar de krav och förväntningar som ställs på yrkesrollen, men också vilka faktorer som de anser skapar förutsättningar för att kunna hantera dessa krav och förväntningar. Det material som analyserats och som utgör grunden för studien är fyra avhandlingar som alla behandlar frågeställningar kring det ledarskap som bedrivs närmast verksamheten inom vård och omsorg. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter innefattar olika teoretiska begrepp såsom socialt handlande, copingstrategier samt socialt stöd. Även delar från det dramaturgiska perspektivet har hämtats där Erving Goffmans teori ommedlaren utgör relevans för föreliggande studie. Tidigare forskning redogör för hur mellanchefer hamnar i en klämd position mellan olika aktörers intressen inom organisationen, forskningen beskriver också den komplexitet som ett ledarskap på mellannivå innebär. Föreliggande studies resultat visar att chefer hanterar svåra situationer i arbetet genom att balansera lojaliteter, söka stöd i arbetet och förhålla sig på ett visst sätt till ledarrollen. De faktorer som påverkar huruvida cheferna anser att de kan hantera utmaningar beror på personliga alternativt organisatoriska faktorer, såsom verksamhetens inriktning, upplevt stöd och privatlivets karaktär.

En centralisering av den svenska sjukvården har medfört att enhetschefer fått högre krav på sig under senaste decenniet. Undersökningen fokuserar på hur enhetschefer inom psykiatrin upplever sin position mellan medarbetare och överordnad ledning, samt dimensioner av positionen. Studien genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer, 10 enhetschefer från psykiatrin deltog. Enhetscheferna återfanns inom samma region i Mellansverige. IPA-metoden följdes genom hela förfarandet. Resultatet presenterades genom tre huvudteman som speglade enhetschefernas upplevelser av positionen. I diskussionen lyftes det viktigaste från respektive huvudtema. Det ledde fram till slutsatser som visade att erfarenhet kunde vara avgörande för hur enhetschefer hanterade sitt uppdrag. Informationsflödet var högt och tenderade att orsaka stress hos flera av deltagarna. Relationen till verksamhetschefer var viktig för att enhetschefer skulle må bra samt framställdes som resursstärkande. Det finns många organisatoriska krav som enhetschefer har att leva upp till, resurser kan vara avgörande för hur kraven hanteras.

Diploma thesis deals with the recruitment process and focuses specifically on the method of advertisements on the internet. I decided to analyze and categorize the job offers for middle managers, which were publicated on selected job website for certain period and then contact companies that advertised with questionnaire. The aim of the thesis is to find out whether the companies were able to obtain sufficient number of suitable applicants and to what extent was it influenced by the fact whether the advertisers acted in the way they could attract suitable candidates for the job in middle management positions.

The purpose of this thesis was to gain an updated understanding of the needs of thehospitality industry, and the desirable competencies for middle managers. Most previous studieshave stated the importance of continuant research on desirable competencies to update hospitalityeducators and students. This study was conducted to explore what competencies are desirable,why they are desirable, and how one can acquire them. Few, if any previous studies haveexplored how desirable competencies can be acquired. This thesis adapted qualitative methods togain a better understanding of the informants’ perception of desirable competencies. Theinformants were the general, front-office, food and beverage, and housekeeping managers, atthree different hotels of three different hotel-chains. The informants were personally interviewedwith the use of semi-structured interview guides and fake CV’s the informants had to rank duringthe interviews. The result demonstrated desirable competencies in seven different competencydomains: conceptual/ creative, leadership, human resource, interpersonal/communication, finance,technical and culture/language. The first six competencies are similar to Sandwith’s CompetencyDomain Model (1993); however, this thesis adds another competency domain, culture/language.The competencies were found to be desirable for all manager but were utilized in various waysdepending on the manager’s position. According to the informants, most competencies could betaught and developed through a mixture of formal education and work experience, while somecompetencies were considering part of one’s personality or upbringing. The results provide abetter understanding of desirable competencies in the hospitality industry and the importance ofcultural/language competencies which has not been highlighted in previous studies.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 virus has greatly impacted all of Sweden. This has led to Schools closing and multiple organisations restructuring to offer their employees the ability to work from home. In this study we examine how the middle managements leadership at Social Services have been affected by the virus and the change from a predominantly analogue workplace, to an increasingly digital workplace. There is many organisations that has been affected by covid-19, but the Social Services is a clear example of a organisation that has faced many challenges.To define the research area, focus has been placed on how middle management within the Social Services have handled the readjustment, how the middle management finds the change has affected their leadership and the impact on social interactions within the group. Middle management constitutes an interesting position to study since middle management is located between higher management and collaborators. Previous research shows that virtual teams, groups working via web-based platforms, have a harder time connecting, which has increased the use of digital tools can lead to technostress. Using the qualitative research method, six interviews were conducted. From the data, it can be concluded that there has been a change in the middle management leadership when it comes to how they plan the incoming work tasks. The results also show that social interaction has changed, with the increased usage of digital work tools, highlighting a different type of interaction. In addition, it was found that more interpersonal type of meetings and lunch breaks with colleagues have stopped. / Utbrottet av viruset covid-19 kom att ställa om det svenska samhället på flera plan. Skolor stängde och ett flertal organisationer ställde om sin verksamhet för att kunna erbjuda sina anställda att arbeta hemifrån. I den här studien undersöks hur mellanchefer på socialtjänsten anser att deras ledarskap påverkats av viruset covid-19 och hur den digitala omställningen påverkat sociala interaktioner. Det finns flera organisationer som har påverkats av covid-19 och som har fått ställa om men socialtjänsten är ett tydligt exempel på en organisation som har många utmaningar. För att avgränsa forskningsområdet är forskningen inriktad på hur mellanchefer inom socialtjänsten hanterat omställningen och hur mellancheferna anser att omställningen påverkat deras ledarskap och gruppens sociala interaktioner. Mellanchefer utgör en intressant position att studera då mellancheferna befinner sig mellan ledningen och sina medarbetare. Tidigare forskning visar att virtuella team, arbetsgrupper som arbetar via webbaserade plattformar, har svårare att knyta samman och att ökat arbete via digitala arbetsverktyg kan leda till ökad stress för de anställda. Med kvalitativ metod genomförde vi sex intervjuer och utifrån våra insamlade data dras slutsatsen att det skett en förändring i mellanchefernas ledarskap gällande hur de bland annat planerar och fördelar arbetet. Resultatet visar även att den sociala interaktionen förändrats och att de digitala arbetsredskapen möjliggjort en annan typ av interaktion men att mer personliga möten fallit bort.

Purpose - In order to capture the implications of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted in-depth interviews with 8 middle level managers employed at a Large Enterprise based in Sweden.  Problem - The influence of the middle managers on change management initiatives is prominent. We conducted this research regarding remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to understand the managerial perspective on the phenomenon.  Method - We have adopted a qualitative research method and utilized social constructivism for the analysis of the interviews. We applied the theories of change management and dynamic managerial capabilities to the empirical data that we collected through in-depth interviews.  Results - The results of the analysis include the middle management perspective on change management, in our case; the impact of switching to remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research has provided us with their subjective perspective on remote work, as well as related issues regarding organizational changes in general. Conclusion - Finally, we reflect on the perspectives that we gained through the interviews and discuss the limitations of this thesis, as well as further research possibilities.