Business | Bartleby

The potential and the plight of the middle manager

A new paper looks at overloaded and overlooked overseers

a man in the spotlight
Image: Paul Blow

Nothing turns on management theorists more than conflicting incentives. (If the idea of an aroused management theorist has ruined your breakfast, sorry.) They ruminate on financial motives—the adverse impact that individual bonus schemes might have on team collaboration, say. They churn out studies and books on the competing interests of shareholders and the executives who act on their behalf.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Overloaded overseers”

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