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So HR and university heads complain about the "cloud cover" between them and middle management and say top management is visionary but middle managers do not find it easy to lead. As very little research has been done on middle managers, it is impossible to say how effective they are, but who appointed them? Who created the policies and systems within which they have to operate? Who controls their funding? And who sets them the example of best practice? The gods sitting on the mountain tops peering down through the clouds should perhaps reflect on the extent to which the mortals below may be constrained by their decrees.

Janet Harvey
Gloucestershire University