Man är som en hamburgare: man har stora krav både uppe- och nerifrån. : En kvalitativ studie om mellanchefers upplevelser av sin roll som mellanchef i olika former av människobehandlande organisationer i offentlig sektor.

The aim of this study was to explore and gain understanding of the situation between managers in different forms of human service organizations. I chose to use a qualitative method and conducted semi-structured interviews with five professional middle managers in the public sector. To accomplish my purpose, I worked on the basis of several questions. The questions dealt with the role of middle management and what it involves, how it is perceived and what the middle managers think of the specific requirements for them and their leadership in organizations that provide services relating to people. As a result of the analysis I have used the theory of social roles that describes the meaning of the different roles and role conflicts that arise in connection with various and conflicting expectations. The review of the results shows that middle managers in human service organizations experience to have to deal with a complex leadership role. Some managers talk about a role, others on several roles at the same time or in different situations. The most prominent "features" of the roles is the balance and tension between authority and citizen services and between their own authority and political control. The problems described, most often linked to that they are in an intermediate position to demands and expectations from both up and down the hierarchy and from other outside actors. The role describes not only as problematic but also fraught with conflict. Role Conflicts often arise when middle managers occupy an intermediate position and are presumed to manage conflicting expectations. The specific requirements differ between managers of the public sector comparing to the private sector in some aspects, such as the manager's authority is different and that politicians play an important role in the decision. The organization is dominated by regulation and does not give managers an enormous amount of space to manage and develop the organization to suit your ideas. All middle managers feel also that the manager's role in politically controlled organizations set specifications for different qualifications than for managers in general. Key Words: Middle managers, human service / policy-driven organizations, social roles, role conflict, specific requirement