The Effect of Role of Leaders and Strategic Planning Intensity on Strategic Diffusion of Middle Management in South Kalimantan Government

Middle management play a significant role in the strategic management process, primarily in the impelementation stage. Successful implementation of strategic determined by the diffusion of strategic management of an organization's medium. Strategic diffusion – the extent to which a strategy is effectively executed and becomes an integral part of the organizationThe purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the role of the leader and the intensity of strategic planning to strategic involvement, strategic understanding and strategic commitment of middle management. The study was conducted in the public sector in the provincial government of South Kalimantan. This study is an explanatory research in nature. The population of this study were all local government agencies, with a total of 45 organizations. The respondents were 135 middle managers. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA). The results of this study indicate as follow: firstly, the role of leader’s influence on the involvement of middle management in strategic planning to be mediated by the intensity of strategic planning. Secondly, the intensity of strategic planning influence on the middle management involvement in strategic planning. Thirdly, strategic planning intensity influence on the strategic understanding of middle management. Finally, strategic understanding not significant effect on strategic commitment of middle management. Keywords: Role of leadership in strategic planning, intensity of strategic planning, strategic diffusion, middle management.