Abstract:
Organisations undergo various change initiatives as a result of both external and internal pressures in order to survive and prosper, yet it is estimated that approximately 70% of change initiatives fail. Middle managers play a vital role in change initiatives; however, little is known about their views regarding the factors that enable them to commit to change initiatives. The purpose of this study is to ascertain which factors influence middle managers to enable or inhibit change.
Qualitative, exploratory research methods were employed in this study, with the data being analysed utilising thematic content analysis. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with middle managers from four different industries, representing nine different companies in South Africa. The study was conducted in one city (Durban), with middle managers who had been through a change initiative in the past three years.
The findings identified four broad factors (categories) which enable or inhibit middle managers in their role as change agents, namely personal factors, social factors, organisational factors and change-specific factors. For each of these factors multiple contributing factors were identified. The underlying factor that enables middle managers to commit to change is good leadership that engages employees, i.e. leaders must provide consultation, communication, and support.
There is ample literature on the roles of middle managers in implementing change initiatives, but there is a lack of research on the factors that influence them to enable or inhibit change initiatives. Two models of enabling and inhibiting factors were thus developed to illustrate the myriad of factors contributing to middle managers acting as change agents. This will assist senior managers to prepare for successful change initiatives.