The Strategic Middle Manager How to Create and Sustain Competitive Advantage [Hardcover]

An exceptional job of refocusing the middle manager's role?a mustread for practitioners and educators alike.
--Jack Viega, editor, The Academy of Management Executives

In their quest to become leaner, flatter, and reengineered,organizations have systematically cut out the very positions thatonce made them successful?mid-level managers. In The StrategicMiddle Manager,management experts Steven Floyd and Bill Wooldridgedraw on a decade of research involving over 250 middle managers todemonstrate that the success of future organizations restsdecisively on strong middle management.

The authors present the tools managers need to:

* Redefine their roles
* Increase their strategic value
* Secure their futures
* Identify the top performers in the ranks...and much more!

Far from lacking perspective, middle managers have a unique,pivotal perspective that places them at the forefront oforganizational change. They can play the role of champion,synthesizer, facilitator, and implementer--and this book gives theadvice needed to energize management. A must-read for trainingprofessionals, managers, and top executives, Floyd and Wooldridge'swork will radically redesign--and drastically improve--yourorganization's effectiveness.Part One: The New Middle Management Imperative.

1. Leadership from the Middle: The Changing Demands of MiddleManagement Work.

2. Competing on Capabilities: The Middle Manager's Role inLeveraging Knowledge and Skills.

3. Realigning Resources and Talent: The Challenge of OrganizationalRestructuring.

Part Two: The New Strategic Roles for Middle Managers.

4. Strategy from the Middle Out.

5. Championing: The Discovery and Proposal of InnovativeInitiatives.

6. Synthesizing: Advancing Shared Strategic Ulc"