IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v45y2008i2p343-371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Normalized Intensity: The New Labour Process of Middle Management

Author

Listed:
  • Leo McCann
  • Jonathan Morris
  • John Hassard

Abstract

abstract Based on qualitative interviews (n = 64) within five UK organizations that have embarked on large‐scale restructuring (including delayering, downsizing, culture change, role redesign, lean production) we argue that middle managers are currently experiencing significant and progressive work and personal pressures. Performance is monitored more closely, hours and intensity of work are increasing, roles and tasks are changing frequently, and prospects for promotion are downscaled within flattened hierarchies. Whereas middle managers report increased levels of autonomy and skill, are often well remunerated, and frequently appear motivated (at least in the private sector), we suggest their burgeoning grievances over working hours, role pressures and promotion prospects have worrying implications for the future performance of UK industry. We argue further that the motivation for corporations to embark on such large‐scale restructuring is best understood with reference to the incessant demands of international capitalism. We conclude that such restructuring, and the personal managerial experiences that result from it, is in keeping with many, but crucially not all, of the trends predicted by Bravermanian labour process theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Leo McCann & Jonathan Morris & John Hassard, 2008. "Normalized Intensity: The New Labour Process of Middle Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 343-371, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:45:y:2008:i:2:p:343-371
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00762.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00762.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00762.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Craig R. Littler & Retha Wiesner & Richard Dunford, 2003. "The Dynamics of Delayering: Changing Management Structures in Three Countries," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 225-256, March.
    2. Emmanuel Ogbonna & Barry Wilkinson, 2003. "The False Promise of Organizational Culture Change: A Case Study of Middle Managers in Grocery Retailing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 1151-1178, July.
    3. Michael Reed, 2005. "Reflections on the ‘Realist Turn’ in Organization and Management Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(8), pages 1621-1644, December.
    4. David Knights & Darren McCabe, 2003. "Governing through Teamwork: Reconstituting Subjectivity in a Call Centre," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(7), pages 1587-1619, November.
    5. Jill Rubery & Jill Earnshaw & Mick Marchington & Fang Lee Cooke & Steven Vincent, 2002. "Changing Organizational Forms and the Employment Relationship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 645-672, July.
    6. Craig R. Littler & Peter Innes, 2003. "Downsizing and Deknowledging the Firm," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 17(1), pages 73-100, March.
    7. Francis Green, 2001. "It’s Been A Hard Day’s Night: The Concentration and Intensification of Work in Late Twentieth‐Century Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 53-80, March.
    8. Patrick McGovern & Veronica Hope-Hailey & Philip Stiles, 1998. "The Managerial Career after Downsizing: Case Studies from the `Leading Edge'," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 12(3), pages 457-477, September.
    9. Les Worrall & Cary Cooper & Fiona Campbell, 2000. "The New Reality for UK Managers: Perpetual Change and Employment Instability," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 14(4), pages 647-668, December.
    10. Paul Thompson, 2003. "Disconnected Capitalism: Or Why Employers Can't Keep Their Side of the Bargain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 17(2), pages 359-378, June.
    11. Steven W. Floyd & Bill Wooldridge, 1997. "Middle Management’s Strategic Influence and Organizational Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 465-485, May.
    12. Colin Hales, 2005. "Rooted in Supervision, Branching into Management: Continuity and Change in the Role of First‐Line Manager," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 471-506, May.
    13. Duncan Gallie & Alan Felstead & Francis Green, 2001. "Employer Policies and Organizational Commitment in Britain 1992–97," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(8), pages 1081-1101, December.
    14. Beynon, Huw & Grimshaw, Damian & Rubery, Jill & Ward, Kevin, 2002. "Managing Employment Change: The New Realities of Work," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199248704.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jixia Yang & Zhi‐Xue Zhang & Anne S. Tsui, 2010. "Middle Manager Leadership and Frontline Employee Performance: Bypass, Cascading, and Moderating Effects," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 654-678, June.
    2. Francisca Gutiérrez-Crocco & Angel Martin-Caballero & Andrés Godoy, 2024. "The Impact of Remote Work on Managerial Compliance: Changes in the Control Regime over Line Managers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 527-548, April.
    3. Kuhn, Dieter, 2011. "Delayering and Firm Performance: Evidence from Swiss firm-level Data," Working papers 2011/02, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    4. Leo McCann, 2014. "Disconnected Amid the Networks and Chains: Employee Detachment from Company and Union after Offshoring," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 237-260, June.
    5. Kemp-Benedict, Eric, 2015. "A middle-manager model of wage and salary distribution within firms," MPRA Paper 64303, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Kemp-Benedict, Eric, 2015. "New ways to slice the pie: Span of control and wage and salary distribution within firms," MPRA Paper 77072, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 24 Feb 2017.
    7. Atte Vieno, 2021. "‘Airport People’ in Transformation: Vertical Disintegration and the Reconfiguration of Occupational Belonging in Terminal Work at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 26(1), pages 108-124, March.
    8. Dragoș Adăscăliței & Jason Heyes & Pedro Mendonça, 2022. "The intensification of work in Europe: A multilevel analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 324-347, June.
    9. Bill Martin & Mary Dean Lee, 2016. "Managers’ work and retirement: understanding the connections," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(1), pages 21-39, February.
    10. Devika Narayan, 2023. "Manufacturing Managerial Compliance: How Firms Align Managers with Corporate Interest," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(6), pages 1443-1461, December.
    11. Leo McCann & John Hassard & Jonathan Morris, 2010. "Restructuring Managerial Labour in the USA, the UK and Japan: Challenging the Salience of ‘Varieties of Capitalism’," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 347-374, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leo McCann & John Hassard & Jonathan Morris, 2010. "Restructuring Managerial Labour in the USA, the UK and Japan: Challenging the Salience of ‘Varieties of Capitalism’," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 347-374, June.
    2. Bitsch, Vera & Yakura, Elaine K., 2007. "Middle Management in Agriculture: Roles, Functions, and Practices," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 10(2), pages 1-28.
    3. Karin Garrety, 2008. "Organisational Control and the Self: Critiques and Normative Expectations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 93-106, September.
    4. Paul Thompson, 2003. "Disconnected Capitalism: Or Why Employers Can't Keep Their Side of the Bargain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 17(2), pages 359-378, June.
    5. Leo McCann, 2014. "Disconnected Amid the Networks and Chains: Employee Detachment from Company and Union after Offshoring," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 237-260, June.
    6. John S. Heywood & W.S. Siebert & Xiangdong Wei, 2011. "Estimating the Use of Agency Workers: Can Family-Friendly Practices Reduce Their Use?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 535-564, July.
    7. Carlos Martin-Rios, 2016. "Innovative management control systems in knowledge work: a middle manager perspective," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 181-204, May.
    8. Jane Parry & Katherine Brookfield & Vicki Bolton, 2021. "“The long arm of the household”: Gendered struggles in combining paid work with social and civil participation over the lifecourse," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 361-378, January.
    9. Bennedsen, Morten & Larsen, Birthe & Wei, Jiayi, 2022. "Wage Transparency and the Gender Pay Gap: A Survey," Working Papers 17-2022, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    10. Duncan Gallie, 2012. "Skills, Job Control and the Quality of Work:The Evidence from Britain Geary Lecture 2012," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(3), pages 325-341.
    11. Janine Berg & Francis Green & Laura Nurski & David A Spencer, 2023. "Risks to job quality from digital technologies: Are industrial relations in Europe ready for the challenge?," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(4), pages 347-365, December.
    12. Gottschalck, Nicole & Guenther, Christina & Kellermanns, Franz, 2020. "For whom are family-owned firms good employers? An exploratory study of the turnover intentions of blue- and white-collar workers in family-owned and non-family-owned firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3).
    13. Russell, Helen & Maitre, Bertrand & Watson, Dorothy, 2015. "Trends and Patterns in Occupational Health and Safety in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS40.
    14. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2015. "Why Demotion of Older Workers is a No-Go Area for Managers," Other publications TiSEM cef69d5e-bcc2-4082-b9fa-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    15. Linda L. Putnam, 2015. "Unpacking the Dialectic: Alternative Views on the Discourse–Materiality Relationship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 706-716, July.
    16. repec:ilo:ilowps:386486 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Andrew E. Clark, 2005. "Your Money or Your Life: Changing Job Quality in OECD Countries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(3), pages 377-400, September.
    18. Binoy Joseph & Amruta Deshpande & Ritu Gupta, 2024. "Innovative Human Resource Practices and Selected HR Outcomes in Software Firms in Kerala," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 7194-7215, June.
    19. Johansen, Thomas Riise, 2008. "‘Blaming oneself’: Examining the dual accountability role of employees," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 544-571.
    20. James Hine & Lutz Preuss, 2009. "“Society is Out There, Organisation is in Here”: On the Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Held by Different Managerial Groups," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 381-393, August.
    21. Elena Igorevna Kudriavtseva, 0. "The Influence of Middle Managers on the Strategy of the Company: Dynamic Approach," Administrative Consulting, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. North-West Institute of Management., issue 5.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:45:y:2008:i:2:p:343-371. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.