Decision-Making in Decentralized Innovation Departments in the FEI: A Case Study on the Roles of the Middle Management

Abstract: By exploring a case study of a Swedish media company, this thesis examines the roles of the middle management in influencing the decision-making of the top management and employees in decentralized innovation departments. For the top management’s decision-making, it was found that the middle manager performs an informing role, an inspiring role and a championing role, which are manifest on either the overall department level or on the project-specific level. The employee’s decision-making was affected throughout different project phases, where the middle manager sets the focus, brings new insights, and has supporting, sparring, clarifying, and advising roles.