Strategy implementation versus middle management self‐interest
Abstract
This paper focuses on middle management motivation to implement strategy. It uses expectancy theory to predict that middle managers will intervene in organizational decision‐making processes leading to strategy implementation when their self‐interest is at stake. It develops the notion of ‘counter effort’, as an extension of expectancy theory. The paper reports an empirical study of middle management intervention theory. The data and analysis of this study provide strong, if indirect, evidence that middle managers who believe that their self‐interest is being compromised can not only redirect a strategy, delay its implementation or reduce the quality of its implementation, but can also even totally sabotage the strategy. Implications of the study for the management of strategy implementation are developed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Lower- and middle-level leaders who oppose a superior-initiated change may use their leadership abilities to obstruct implementation.
“For example, research suggests that lower- and middle-level leaders who do not support a change initiated by their superiors may use their leadership skills to impede the implementation process (Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Guth & Macmillan, 1986; Rogers & Farson, 1955).”
From The Roles of System and Organizational Leadership in System-Wide Evidence-Based Intervention Sustainment: A Mixed-Method Study (2016) · cites this paper as Guth & Macmillan, 1986
Cites
External Control of Organizations: Resource Dependence Perspective
Miner, J. B. (2011) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315701967-54 · Cited by 14,229 · see citing works
The Social Psychology of Organizations.
Hackman, J. R., Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1979) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2989929 · Cited by 12,243 · see citing works
Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Hammer, T. H., Anderson, J. F., Gurdon, M. A., Jick, T. D., Petit, A., Stern, R. N., Schwartz, H., Vardi, Y., & Dunnette, M. D. (1977) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2391755 · Cited by 11,947 · see citing works
The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective
Reitz, H. J., Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (1979) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/257794 · Cited by 9,392 · see citing works
Men and Women of the Corporation.
Strauss, G., & Kanter, R. M. (1978) · Industrial and Labor Relations Review · doi:10.2307/2522922 · Cited by 7,292 · see citing works
Men and Women of the Corporation
Devanna, M. A. (1978) · The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science · doi:10.1177/002188637801400208 · Cited by 6,352 · see citing works
Johnsen, E. (1964) · Ledelse & erhvervsøkonomi · Cited by 4,996 · see citing works
Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
Holsti, O. R., & Allison, G. T. (1972) · The Western Political Quarterly · doi:10.2307/446741 · Cited by 3,662 · see citing works
A Behavioral Theory of the Firm
Baumöl, W. J., Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. (1964) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.2307/3150326 · Cited by 3,009 · see citing works
Strategy formulation : analytical concepts
Hofer, C. W., & Schendel, D. E. (1978) · Cited by 2,527 · see citing works
New work attitude measures of trust, organizational commitment and personal need non‐fulfilment
Cook, J. D., & Wall, T. D. (1980) · Journal of Occupational Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1980.tb00005.x · Cited by 2,354 · see citing works
Building Organizational Commitment: The Socialization of Managers in Work Organizations
Buchanan, B. (1974) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2391809 · Cited by 1,972 · see citing works
The Social Psychology of Organizations.
Hammer, T. H., Katz, D. M., & Kahn, R. L. (1979) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2577288 · Cited by 1,792 · see citing works
Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
Long, D. F., & Allison, G. T. (1972) · Journal of American History · doi:10.2307/1888485 · Cited by 1,734 · see citing works
Business policy: text and cases
Christensen, C. (1973) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,204 · see citing works
Ansoff, H. I. (1979) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-349-02971-6 · Cited by 796 · see citing works
Power and Politics in Organizations.
Lundberg, C. C., Bacharach, S. B., & Lawler, E. J. (1981) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392349 · Cited by 692 · see citing works
Organizational commitment and managerial turnover: A longitudinal study
Porter, L. W., Crampon, W. J., & SMITH, F. J. (1976) · Organizational Behavior and Human Performance · doi:10.1016/0030-5073(76)90030-1 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
Riepe, D. M., & Rapoport, A. (1961) · Philosophy and Phenomenological Research · doi:10.2307/2104853 · Cited by 636 · see citing works
Collins, C. J., & Kehoe, R. R. (2008) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203889015-19 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Power and politics in organizations
Weirich, T. W. (1981) · Evaluation and Program Planning · doi:10.1016/0149-7189(81)90039-2 · Cited by 340 · see citing works
Management Policy and Strategy
Steiner, G. A., & Miner, J. B. (1977) · Health Care Management Review · doi:10.1097/00004010-197702040-00016 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Lorange, P., & Malm, A. T. (1976) · Scandinavian Journal of Economics · doi:10.2307/3439448 · Cited by 278 · see citing works
The Behavioral Theory of the Firm and Top-Level Corporate Decisions
Carter, E. E. (1971) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2391762 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
The Effect of Uncertainty on the Use of Social Influence in Organizational Decision Making
Pfeffer, J., Salancik, G. R., & Leblebici, H. (1976) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392044 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
The executive mind and double-loop learning
Agryris, C. (1982) · Organizational Dynamics · doi:10.1016/0090-2616(82)90002-x · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Structural influences on organizational commitment
Morris, J. H., & Steers, R. M. (1980) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/0001-8791(80)90014-7 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Effects of Job Level and Participation on Employee Attitudes and Perceptions of Influence.
Hrebiniak, L. G. (1974) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/255644 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
A Political Approach to Organizations: A Review and Rationale
Tushman, M. L. (1977) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1977.4409042 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Schaufeld, J. (2015) · Apress eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4302-6353-1_9 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Strategy formulation : political concepts
MacMillan, I. C. (1978) · West Pub. Co. eBooks · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Self-citationAdvances in Strategic Management
(2014) · doi:10.1108/s0742-332220140000031015 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Jp, P., & Tseng, S. (1983) · PubMed · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Control Systems in Organizations
近藤, 恭. (1979) · 同志社商学 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Bacharach, S. B., & Lawler, E. J. (1976) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/55.1.123 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
DECISIONAL PARTICIPATION AND SOURCES OF JOB SATISFACTION: A STUDY OF MANUFACTURING PERSONNEL.
Alutto, J. A., & Acito, F. (1974) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/254781 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Bacharach, S. B., & Lawler, E. J. (1976) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2577098 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
A Political Approach to Organizations: A Review and Rationale
Tushman, M. L. (1977) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/257904 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
HOW TO EVALUATE THE PRESENT AND FUTURE CORPORATE ENVIRONMENT
Zentner, R. D. (1981) · Journal of Business Strategy · doi:10.1108/eb038911 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Toward a Social System Theory of Corporate Strategy
Guth, W. D. (1976) · The Journal of Business · doi:10.1086/295858 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationNew York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Bradley, P. (1946) · Occupations The Vocational Guidance Journal · doi:10.1002/j.2164-5892.1946.tb00789.x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
To walk an extra mile The whats, whens, and whys of organizational commitment
Buchanan, B. (1975) · Organizational Dynamics · doi:10.1016/0090-2616(75)90041-8 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
A New Look at Participation in Decision Making: The Concept of Political Access.
Mohrman, S. A. (1979) · Academy of Management Proceedings · doi:10.5465/ambpp.1979.4976132 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Decisional Participation and Sources of Job Satisfaction: A Study of Manufacturing Personnel
Alutto, J. A., & Acito, F. (1974) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/254781 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Acting First and Thinking Later: Finding Decisions and Strategies in the Past
Starbuck, W. H. (2006) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780199288519.003.0007 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Amason, A. C. (1996) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/256633 · Cited by 2,584 · see citing works
The Challenge of Innovation Implementation
Klein, K. J., & Sorra, J. S. (1996) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/259164 · Cited by 2,113 · see citing works
The strategy process, middle management involvement, and organizational performance
Wooldridge, B., & Floyd, S. W. (1990) · Strategic Management Journal · doi:10.1002/smj.4250110305 · Cited by 883 · see citing works
Aarons, G. A., Green, A. E., Trott, E., Willging, C. E., Torres, E. M., Ehrhart, M. G., & Roesch, S. C. (2016) · Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research · doi:10.1007/s10488-016-0751-4 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Re‐evaluating green marketing strategy: a stakeholder perspective
Rivera‐Camino, J. (2007) · European Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1108/03090560710821206 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
How leadership matters: The effects of leaders' alignment on strategy implementation
O'Reilly, C. A., Caldwell, D. F., Chatman, J. A., Lapiz, M., & Self, W. (2010) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.008 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Developing capacity for change
Meyer, C. B., & Stensaker, I. G. (2006) · Journal of Change Management · doi:10.1080/14697010600693731 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
- Authors
- Guth, W. D., & Macmillan, I. C.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Venue
- Strategic Management Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1986-07
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 313-327
- ISSN
- 0143-2095 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0266
- OpenAlex
- W2085535361
- Cited by
- 671
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 29.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Strategic Management Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Management and Organizational Practices
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Organizational Management and Leadership
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
- Keywords
- strategy implementation, middle managers, self-interest, expectancy theory, organizational decision-making, managerial motivation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
