In this essay we would be considering the changes affecting the role of middle managers.

It
discusses the impact modern technology, restructuring and surveillance has on the middle
management. We also look into how this may breach the psychological contract between
the organization and the employee. Psychological contract can be defined as a mutual
agreement between the organization and the employee, where employees are willing to put in
effort and skills into the organization in exchange of job security, pensions etc.
Management is the act of getting things done, through people, to attain required objectives
and desired results. Successful strategy implementation is directly proportionate to top
managements commitment in an organization. Management is a five step process of
planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization.
The system of power takes a pyramid form At the lowest point, are the front-line workers
who do what they are told to do. In between is the middle management who makes minor
decisions and assign tasks, and at the apex is the top management which makes all the
decisions and issues directives. Using middle managers as enforcers rather than enablers
reduces the performance capability of the employees making them feel redundant.
Senior managers try to preserve the organization hierarchy even though there have been new
information and technological changes that can facilitate lesser hierarchical organizations.
This serves top managers interests and protects them from close scrutiny just for their
exclusivity in the hierarchy.
Senior managers should demonstrate enduring physiognomies to show their commitment
towards achieving new strategies. Managers normally oversee the employees to attain goals,
but efficient top managers should actually motivate their employees. Senior managers should
create a homely environment which creates cohesiveness rather than fixing specific tasks.
They should inspire employees to spawn new ideas. These personal traits can be
distinguished further on roots like how they plan, organize, lead and control the organization.
RESTRUCTURING

"I've been promoted to middle management. I never thought I'd sink so low" (Tim Gould).
This is the impression we get from any article written about middle managers. There is a
portrayal of middle managers as gloomy, low, dissatisfied, and caught in the middle of a very
long hierarchy. There are many reasons for this dissatisfaction in the middle management, i.e.
having to meet incompatible expectations, loss of technical expertise and career
disillusionment.

The roles of middle managers have been challenging, as the research highlights job insecurity
survivor syndrome. Facts from Insitute of Management(xxx) show us that more than three-
quartes of the emplotees were personally affected due to restructuring. Authors such as
Brockner et al.(xxx) have argued that the managers who survive the restructuring
demonstrate decreased morale and stress, i.e. symptoms of survivor syndrome. In Dohrety
and Horsteds survey(xxx) it was shownthat a few employees offered some help but failed to
evaluate how much impact it had on the survivors. The other employers took no step to help
the surviviors. The survivors main complaint was that they did not understand there place in
the new organozation and that they did not see much career opprtunities. As Westerly (xxx)
says, if employers want the middle managers to have a better move into the new organization,
they did need to include them in imporatant strategic decisions. To achieve this managers
should share the objectives of the organization, which would involve sharing sensitive
information and allowing them to participate in organization decision making.

Thomas and Linstead(xxx), in of their researchs show why middle managers feel they are
losing their plot. The worry behind all is, there are no more jobs for life. 40 years ago, if
the employees were loyal to the firm and kept there nose clean they knew they would be with
the organization until they retire. But with constant delayering and reconstruction the fragility
of jobs and employees identity is increasing. For middle managers, absence of self-identity is
another major problem, as there is a disagreement over the definition of middle. Middle
managers feel there responsibility is blurred into both the senior managers and the floor-shop
level, sometimes pushing them to take up both the responsibilities. This restructuring casts
middle management as both disposable and necessary. On losing identity :one of the
employees who started 27 years ago from the bottom of the hierarchy- worked hard for long
hours and made his way to the top. Three years ago, he was made the manager and all of this
was knocked down from his feet subsequent to privatization and mergers. While restructuring
the hierarchy was flattened and ranks below this middle manager was knocked down his feet
calling it moving towards team work initiatives. This moved him from a manager to a
team leader. He felt he had lost his status, what he had worked for all these year also
bringing down his confidence.

Nevertheless, contrasting this pessimistic view authors argue that there is an optimistic view
to middle mamagement. Kanter(xxx) says, middle managers are not stuck in the middle and
there roles have been released from shackles of beuracracy. By delayering, the pyramid has
been flattned, making the middle managers closer to the apex. The new midddle management
has greater strategic emphasis, being more entrepreneurial and personally involved ith greater
job responsibilty.

SURVEILLANCE
According to organizational theory, surveillance was a neglected issue in the workplace.
Organizations are seeing greater surveillance systems day by day increasing monitoring and
intense scrutiny towards the employees. By 2015, 40 million employees are expected to be
under electronic surveillance in United Kingdom. Organizations view surveillance as a form
of achieving targets by a given time while using resources and time to the maximum utility.
Surveillance can be viewed as an electronic version of Benthams panopticon.
The word surveillance is described as a new feature in the contemporary organizations
which is controversial as this brings in a negative image of distrust, suspicion and
disobedience. This is ironic as we portray an image of moving towards a better workplace,
with trust, privacy and empowerment. The question that has to be answered here is if being
observed constantly makes you internalise the organizational goals or makes the managers
feel more mistrusted and de-motivated. Bata lift is one of the olden forms of surveillance.
Mr. Batas office was a room sized elevator which moved between levels to observe his
workers. Contemporary/electronic forms of surveillance include Call centres, CCTVs, secret
shoppers and revolving doors. The CCTVs are placed in supermarkets to observe their
workers rather than to observe the customers. This might cause a sense of distrust and lead to
negative performance and de-motivation in employees.


Remedies:
Organizations should embark upon lean theory to create flexibility in the organization. This
should start from redefining the traditional pyramid, and the role of middle managers, moving
them from enforcers to enablers. This increases the leadership channel. Middle managers
should have set achievable goals, provide physical or mental tools and skills to the shop floor
and remove barriers of hierarchy to enable the free flow of ideas. This makes the employees
loyal and makes them feel like the part of the family.