Revisiting site manager work: stuck in the middle?

The literature on middle managers tends to portray their role in rather negative terms. Middle managers are here stuck in between superiors and subordinates, with few opportunities for determining their work situation. In the construction industry, site managers play a role similar to that of the middle managers of large companies, located in between the firm's strategic decisions and day-to-day production work on construction sites. The aim of this study is to examine how site managers experience their work situation. Drawing on an interview study encompassing 13 site managers and seven foremen and top managers in 13 construction projects, the research suggests that site managers are generally pleased with their work situation even though they are critical of the demands made of them to handle a variety of heterogeneous activities. However, a work situation fraught with unanticipated challenges and ambiguities easily leads to excessive workloads and long working hours. It is concluded that the literature on middle managers presents too negative an image of middle management and thus needs to revise the assumptions regarding the nature of middle managerial work. In addition, the study also underlines the needs of construction firms to regard their middle managers as a central function and resource.