Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/61389
willing to look critically and objectively "below the cloud line." These managers will recognize that leadership has been passed down to the lower echelons of the organization. They'll need to offer managers at those levels an arena to express the difficulties they face in fulfilling new roles and the frustration they feel when forced to translate wholly rational strategies into people-based strategies designed for the work- force. The companies we work with in the consortium should be applauded for the fact that they're allowing objective research teams to come into their organizations, survey their lower and middle levels, and offer a critical assessment of what their workplaces are like. At this stage, we're in the early phases of new research that The most successful strategists, then, will be those who are gic management is to present critical business case studies that do not portray the workplace as a rational, well-functioning engine, where as long as we find the right buttons to push, all will measure and assess what generates organizational change and what prevents it. But even at this early stage, we know this: Those companies that recognize the critical role that middle- and lower-level managers play in their strategies will be more successful than those that don't. And the extent to which companies engage in two-way—not top-down—com- munication will determine to what extent middle- and lower- level managers are willing to commit to the company and take responsibility for effecting strategic changes. The role for business schools in these new issues for strate- large, mature corporations can develop an agility and immediate responsiveness to change so they can implement strategy faster than they can today. We've always known that managers must understand the external marketplace, their competitors, and political, economic, and social trends. But in addition, before they design and formulate strategy, they've got to have a realistic picture of what their workplace is about. For corporations and business schools alike, the future of strategic management lies below the cloud line. ■ z BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004 41 cessful strategies do not keep pace with the increasing speed of change through more efficiency or programmatic change. Rather, they need to increase the commitment and respon- siveness of people within the organization to implement change. The military, for example, has fostered a culture of immediate responsiveness to events—whether war or natural disasters—that business would do well to emulate. Imagine the military general who says, "There has been an earthquake in South America. Once I formulate my strategy and create an organizational plan, I should be able to respond in six months." That is simply not acceptable. Over the next few years, we must try to understand how will come right. Instead, it is the responsibility of academics to present the workplace as a place where there are tensions, contradictions, and difficulties. Only then will we equip man- agers to deal with workplace realities. Likewise, only then will senior managers realize that suc-