"A View from Mid-Field": Preparing Middle Managers for the Communication Paradoxes of Change Management

Authors

• Jennifer A. Sandoval, University of Central FloridaFollow
• Robert S. Littlefield, University of Central FloridaFollow

Abstract

In this study, 20 middle managers are interviewed about the increasing need for flexibility, responsiveness, and change management skills at a large, diverse, and public Southeastern university. The data reveal the middle managers identifying and coping with four paradoxical aspects of their change management role: the cognitive/internal paradoxes of capacity and knowledge and the behavior/external paradoxes of advocacy and process. The results demonstrate how these academic administrators managed the shifting terrain through internal agency (knowledge) and external agency (behavior). These paradoxes reveal the complexity of their role as a multihyphenate in today’s academic landscape as well as an overarching tension between management and leadership in these roles.

Author ORCID Identifier

Jennifer Sandoval: 0000-0002-8106-9477

Robert Littlefield: 0000-0003-3451-4563

Recommended Citation

Sandoval, J. A., & Littlefield, R. S. (2026). “A view from mid-field”: Preparing middle managers for the communication paradoxes of change management. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 43, 9–26.