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Energizing middle managers’ practice in organizational learning

Jane McKenzie (Henley Business School, University of Reading, Henley-on-Thames, UK)
Sharon Varney (Henley Business School, University of Reading, Henley-on-Thames, UK)

The Learning Organization

ISSN: 0969-6474

Article publication date: 12 October 2018

Issue publication date: 6 December 2018

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to consider middle managers’ influence on organizational learning by exploring how they cope with demands and tensions in their role and whether their practice affects available team energy.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 43 managers from three large organizations involved in major change assessed their group’s energy using a tested and validated instrument, the OEQ12©. This generated six distinct categories of team energy, from highly productive to corrosive. Thirty-four of these managers, spread across the six categories, completed a Twenty Statements Test and a follow-up interview to explore their cognitive, affective and behavioural responses to coping with resource constraints and tensions in their role.

Findings

The research provides preliminary insights into what distinguishes a middle manager persona co-ordinating teams with highly productive energy from those managing groups with less available energy to engage with knowledge and learning. It considers why these distinctions may affect collective sensitivities in the organizational learning process.

Research limitations/implications

Informants were not equally distributed across the six team energy categories; therefore, some middle manager personas are more indicative than others.

Practical implications

This research suggests areas where middle manager development could potentially improve organizational learning.

Originality/value

This study offers early empirical evidence that middle managers’ orientation to their role is entangled with the process of energizing their teams in organizational learning during change.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank members of the Henley Forum for their contribution to this research.

Citation

McKenzie, J. and Varney, S. (2018), "Energizing middle managers’ practice in organizational learning", The Learning Organization, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 383-398. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-06-2018-0106

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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