Mellanchefens komplexa position inom organisationen : En kvalitativ intervjustudie med utgångspunkt i intressentmodellen och konkurrerande legitimitetskrav

The aim of this study was to examine how middle managers experience the impact of internal and external stakeholders bound to the organizations and how middle managers form their legitimacy. The study examined the complex situation of social workers in a middle managing position using stakeholder theory and legitimacy. The middle managers are working in Swedish welfare organizations providing support and service for persons with certain functional disabilities. They handle competing expectations from top managers, employees and relatives to the clients. Our findings suggest that the middle managers are strategic in their work with the stakeholders. The middle managers cater to some expectations but usually they manage to merge the different opinions together and create consensus throughout the organization. This study also shows that the middle managers legitimacy is created and maintained in the organization due to the distance between the other stakeholders