The Middle
The Middle is a podcast series exploring the challenges of improving middle management since that is widely acknowledged as having the biggest impact on organisational performance. Each podcast will feature an interview with a prominent executive from a wide range of contexts including public, private and charitable sectors. The host is associate professor Stephen Willson from Birmingham City University Business School.
The Middle
Managing Across Boundaries
In this episode Stephen Willson questions the intuitive presumption that achieving the best overall outcome is attained by maximising results within boundaries. The executive contributions illustrate unintended damaging behaviours that can occur across boundaries. These boundaries include between territories, business functions, alternative customer offerings and over period ends.
Stephen then explores the importance of aligning all business units and functions with the overall organisational purpose and provides examples of tactical, structural and cultural ways to manage boundaries.