Hammer and Champy in Reengineering Management also proposed that management, specifically functional middle management, fundamentally changes. They meant dramatic, breakthrough change, not an evolutionary or incremental change. Hammer and Champy believe that today’s Brand U managers, will require three skills, which don’t have much to do with traditional management. Managers will evolve into process owners, coaches-teachers, and leaders.
The basic purpose and value of middle management no longer seems to apply. Middle managers commonly supervised workers or managed information. Now, self-managed Brand U teams perform many tasks done by middle management. As well, networked computer systems allow everyone to access information. So, where’s the value of today’s middle managers? I don’t think middle managers will totally disappear. Their roles and responsibilities will fundamentally change.