<p>Most organizations of today are more or less influenced by the globalization. This phenomenon has led to that changes belong to the everyday concern of companies in order to be ahead of the competition. Simultaneously, when it comes to discussions about change failures and successes, it mainly is the top management standing in the spotlight. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to take a glance backstage of organizational changes while focusing on middle management. The purpose of this research is to examine how the middle manager can become a change agent and what contributions this new role can bring to the company. A glimpse on the historical evolution of the middle manager´s role and status helps to identify the underlying causes for the existing stereotype of this management group as well as the reasons for why middle management seems to belong to the ‘forgotten breed’ in organizations. Furthermore, the concept of changes and change management is outlined in order to clarify why changes fail and how those failures can be prevented with the help of a change agent. Based on this theoretical framework, the potential of middle managers acting as change agents is discussed. Additionally, due to the fact that the middle manager’s role as a change agent is not fully recognized yet, an own developed concept is outlined. This model is created as a result of empirical research in terms of interviews with consultants as well as extensive literature studies within this research area. The concept demonstrates how a middle manager can become a change agent and which contributions this new role can bring to the organization. Overall, it can be concluded from the research that it is time for organizations to recognize the potential of middle managers; they are the ones who can make changes happen.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-5763 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Tegethoff, Katrin, Viklund, Sissy |
| Publisher | Linnaeus University, Linnaeus School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Linnaeus School of Business and Economics |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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