The depowerment of European middle managers

Abstract

This paper is based on the research of middle managers in three countries (The Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK) in public and private sector organisations. The findings indicate that increasing pressures on managers to perform within a surge of management initiatives and policy moves to make organisations more profitable (in the private sector) and more “efficient” and accountable (in the public sector) invariably lead to contradictions in their performance and perceived roles. In the context of the oxymoron that “they are to do more with less”, this will lead to increased stresses and strains on those performing this pivotal operational role. Terminologically, middle managers are becoming increasingly “depowered”.