In this paper we report on an empirical study of middle managers in UK organizations as strategic actors in product-market strategy implementation. We show and explain that procedural justice perceptions and the quality of superior-subordinate relationships are two concepts from sociology and organizational behavior literature that provide insights into middle managers' organizational citizenship behavior and strategy implementation effectiveness. We address the call within the strategy as practice literature for an exploration of the activities of strategists and the links between these activities and organizational level processes. The study emphasizes the importance of an assessment of micro-level activities and their consequence for organizational outcomes and suggests how product-market strategy implementation might be enhanced.
Middle manager behavior and strategy implementation effectiveness : linking mirco phenomena to organizational outcomes