The Role of Line Managers in Complementary Management

This chapter describes the role of line managers in the theoretical context of the Complementary Management Model. Their people management and leadership activities can be structured on the basis of the theory’s seven elements: management functions, management tasks, management actors, management routines, management unit design, management instruments, and management resources. The principle of management as a dual service is concretized in each of the 24 management tasks that describe the prerequisites of human performance. Ideally, they should be performed by the employee autonomously. The line manager only intervenes as a compensatory entity when self-steerage fails. Since such management structures cannot and should not regulate all aspects of day-to-day management, dilemma situations and micropolitics are unavoidable realities of management work and are also discussed. The performance of the line manager naturally results from the underlying definition of management and leadership and is measured in terms of management input, management behavior, and management results. Manager development (or leader development) is an umbrella term for all measures used to qualify and develop line managers and is also discussed in detail.