Title: Middle managers' knowledge of strategy: antecedents, cognitive accuracy and self-awareness

Authors: Ruth A. Cruikshank; Ellen R. Auster; Nada O. Basir; Trish Ruebottom

Addresses: School of Business & Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue, Waterloo ON, N2L 3C5, Canada ' Schulich School of Business, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto ON, M3J 1P3, Canada ' Faculty of Business and Information Technology, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, ON, L1H 7K4, Canada ' Goodman School of Business, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

Abstract: Middle managers provide a powerful conduit for strategy execution particularly in fast paced environments. Their knowledge of strategy is critical for strategic change to be successful. Yet, little research directly examines how aware middle managers are of corporate strategy and how accurate they are in their understanding of how that strategy translates into divisional goals. Framed in cognition theory, this exploratory study uses qualitative and quantitative analysis to investigate the antecedents, accuracy and self-awareness of middle managers' knowledge of strategy within a large North American financial firm (N = 294). Implications for research and practice are highlighted.

Keywords: middle managers; business strategy; corporate strategy; strategy knowledge; cognitive accuracy; self-awareness; divisional strategy; strategic change; banking industry; banks; communication; change antecedents; middle management; change management; cognition theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCM.2015.069524

International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 2015 Vol.6 No.1, pp.73 - 99

Received: 24 Feb 2014
Accepted: 21 Feb 2015
Published online: 20 May 2015 *

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