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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Are Middle Managers Going the Way of the Dinosaurs?, July 5, 2009
This review is from: The Truth About Middle Managers: Who They Are, How They Work, Why They Matter (Hardcover)
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Business books about management are numerous, to say the least, and a large percentage of these books focus on the different theories about management; what works, what doesn't work, and what the future holds for different managerial schools of thought. Many management books are highly skeptical about middle management and some have even suggested that middle management is an institution whose time has passed. But should middle management be tagged in such a negative way? One person who feels differently about middle management and has the research to back his claims is MIT professor Paul Osterman. He wrote The Truth About Middle Managers because he wanted to share his research with the reader; research that flies in the face of the modern- day wisdom saying that middle managers are a thing of the past and should be eliminated from most businesses as quickly as possible.
I have read some of the negative literature about middle management and why it is supposedly a level of management that needs to be eliminated. I have also debated others on the role of middle management and why it is important to the success of a company. Most take the side that says middle management is a hinderance to corporate efficiency and should be scaled back, but this book has an entirely different point of view. This book takes a stand in favor of middle management and it offers statistics and official research to back its claims. The author has studied management for some time and, according to his research, middle management is not only important, its numbers are increasing. There are a larger percentage of middle managers today than in the past and this trend is likely to continue over time. Many readers will find this difficult to believe, given the talk about eliminating layers of middle management by certain large companies, but there is statistical data to back it up.
Why are middle managers so important? This book offers several reasons why, but it really comes down to one important fact: The critical decisions that middle managers make every day, directly affecting the day- to- day functions of a company. Upper- level management, such as CEO, CFO, CIO, etc., make important decisions, too, but not to the numeric degree that middle managers make decisions and these decisions, taken together, are crucial to the success of any company. I can certainly confirm this, based on my own experience as a middle manager. In my years working in management, I have made hundreds of small decisions. They probably didn't seem like much at the time, but when all of these decisions are added together, they equal a sum that is far greater than the individual parts. The role of middle management is changing and security in the job isn't as good as it was in the past, but there is no denying the importance of this layer of management.
The Truth About Middle Managers is written in a very academic way. Some will find this style a little boring, but as a part- time educator and adjunct professor, I like this writing style and the author is very effective in his delivery. This book is written from an intellectual angle and there is no doubt that the author obviously knows what he is talking about. He is not only intelligent, but his delivery is logical and reasonable. I also like that this book defends the importance of middle managers. Far too many books bash middle management and claim this level of management is on the way out, even though reality paints an entirely different picture.
The Truth About Middle Managers is a very good, very well- written volume about middle management and the importance of maintaining a middle management level in all companies. Middle management makes important decisions on a daily basis and these decisions can have a significant impact on a businesses' bottom line. This book discusses the importance of middle management, its changing role, and its future with a good deal of efficiency. It is a little on the dry side, but the academic nature of this book makes it a good choice for those who want to know the facts and want some tools to guide them as they make future management decisions.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing Earth Shattering, June 20, 2009
This review is from: The Truth About Middle Managers: Who They Are, How They Work, Why They Matter (Hardcover)
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When I chose this book, I though that as a middle manager, I would gain some insight into my work niche, but I find having finished it, that I don't feel that I learned much. I am guessing that this book is better directed to HR employees/managers, and that they might get more out of the graphs and statistics that I did.
The book ends, seemingly in the same place it begins, saying that most middle managers are committed to their jobs and colleagues, but that they have lost much of their commitment to their firms and are suspicious of upper management. But...isn't this true of the workforce as a whole? Aren't we all, management or no, recognizing that there is no loyalty to be had from most companies and that upper management (speaking here of CEOs in particular) is living in an entirely different universe than the average American worker?
Again, I am perhaps not the right audience for this book, but I just didn't find much that was enlightening regarding either my day to day life or career as a middle manager. Times have changed for employees, on all levels of the org chart.
I did find one section that really struck home, though. In defining "middle managers" - Osterman does it well. "Middle managers are responsible for both internal and external management of teams, act as the transmission belt between the top of the organization and the bottom, and make day-to-day choices and trade-offs that escape the attention of top management yet are central to the organization's performance."
Too true, too true.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Middle Managers History, Review and at a Cross Roads, October 16, 2009
This review is from: The Truth About Middle Managers: Who They Are, How They Work, Why They Matter (Hardcover)
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Reading Paul Osterman's book 'The Truth About Middle Managers' gave me a sense of frustration and hope with the future state of Middle Managers and American business.
Osterman gives us a very close view of middle managers, historically, from the growth of middle management ranks and through the changes that bring us to today.
We have a view of the first really strong organization that was General Motors and the changes that occurred to have middle managers be the glue that kept large matrix organizations with its many divisions humming. We see the changes and the way things were after WWII in the 50s and 60s where there was 'lifetime' employment and the pyramid to todays more flatter organization.
Paul Osterman looks at Managers from a number of industries and interviews a few to get a composite of how managers look at their new opportunity or plight. He shares with us the impact and insights on those managers who have gone through reorganizations and mergers and acquisitions. What changed, what was better and what was worse or just what was different.
He then shows us the perspective of managers and their careers and views of the future and the organization. Telling is the disparity of top management pay with all others and the view that managers old and new have of the organizaions they work for. I was surprised to see that managers look more at loyalty to their team verses that of the overall company today. Also, instead of upward mobility, we have breadth or at least the opportunity to continous growth on a professional level with new things coming all the time.
Whether there is a 'what have you done for me lately?' perspective or loyalty for what you have done for a company, Middle Management has been and still is a very important part of organizations today.
This is a great book for addition to management studies. Anyone in middle management, HR, Training and Development and business consulting would want this in their library. Osterman gives us views from so many angles and this could really lead to new and deeper work on the subject. Enjoy reading 'The Truth About Middle Managers.'
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