Understanding the Role of Middle Managers: A Case Study of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This study seeks to investigate the role of middle managers in large, complex organizations. There is a lack of clarity in the management literature as to whether and to what extent actions taken at this level of the organization are consequential for organizational outcomes. This study investigates the role of middle managers in the context of a specific organizational phenomenon – employee work motivation. The study finds that middle managers’ interventions are present and consequential to employee work motivation.