| The goal of this research was to identify roles associated with modern military middle managers, especially as they relate to change incidents. This single case study research explores the relationship between middle management and successful change implementation within large, governmental organizations using an in-depth qualitative method. Military organizations are an underrepresented population in leadership and organizational studies, but they offer some of the best examples of interdisciplinary studies, organizational adaptation, and complex work environments. This research addresses gaps and deficiencies in the current leadership body of literature to identify potential middle management impact within an organization and on change management effectiveness. It focuses on military middle managers who operate in a rigid structure to understand how they adapt to perform their key roles such as sensemaking, and how key relationships impact their ability to perform their roles. The research methodology consisted of a qualitative single case study exploring the complexities of how the middle managers in military organizations understand their roles, and how those roles have shifted due to ever-present change. The sample frame consisted of retired active duty military officers between the rank of O-4 to O-6, who retired within the last 10 years and had spent a minimum of two years as a middle manager on a higher headquarters staff. All data were self-reported through face-to-face interviews and compared against responses to overlapping concepts. Data analysis occurred through in vivo open coding of verbatim transcripts, followed by the second round of a priori coding to further reduce concepts into categories and themes. Categories and themes were compared against reviewed literature, which highlighted a lack of sensemaking understanding by military middle managers and a misalignment with modern middle manager concepts associated with their corporate environments counterparts. |
