The Impact of Middle Manager Leadership on Strategy Implementation Effectiveness

Strategy implementation effectiveness is a critical component of organizational performance and middle managers play a key role in the implementation process. However, little has been done to identify the critical dimensions of strategy implementation effectiveness and the impact of middle manager leadership on the process of strategy implementation is not well understood. As a result, strategy research often overlooks the impact of middle management leadership as a source of performance heterogeneity. To improve our understanding of the strategy implementation process, I develop and test a theoretical model that investigates the indirect impact of three types of middle manager leadership behaviors on strategy implementation effectiveness through three mediating mechanisms that are influenced by three moderating contingency factors. The findings, based on survey data gathered from top managers, middle managers, and their teams at Houston METRO Transit Authority, confirm various aspects of the model and highlight the importance of middle manager leadership and team coordination on strategy implementation effectiveness, as well as the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on team commitment to implement strategy.