It takes time to turn an ocean-liner

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand how mid-level managers “navigate” and “survive” the merger of three technical colleges within the Technical College System of Georgia. Understanding mid-level managers is a key component to understanding organizational change that takes place within merging institutions because they link administration (their role of carrying out policies and procedures) and employees (their role as supervisor to lend support and guidance during organizational change). This case study enriches the leadership and organizational change literature by focusing on how these mid-level managers survived and navigated the merger while playing their roles as employee and supervisor. This study included interviews from surviving mid-level managers of the merger and included: academic deans, student services coordinators and directors, and mid-level managers from non-academic areas of the college such as maintenance, technology, and college relations. The specific research questions were: • How did mid-level managers navigate the merger process (in other words, how did they “survive” the merger)? • How did they guide and mange their own employees as they went through this organizational change? This study was conducted at the newly merged Chattahoochee Technical College where 10 mid-level managers were interviewed. The mid-level managers come from the three separate colleges which are now merged into one entity. Data from the interviews were compiled and analyzed using qualitative research techniques.