How does Generative AI reshape the roles and skills of middle managers?

Comment l’intelligence artificielle générative reconfigure-t-elle les rôles et les compétences des managers intermédiaires ?

Philippe Jean-Baptiste ()
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Philippe Jean-Baptiste: LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: This research aims to explore how the introduction of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) changes the roles and skills of middle managers. Anchored in an epistemological posture of critical realism, it adopts a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 60 participants in three companies: a large company (30), a medium-sized enterprise (15), and a small business (15). The approach mobilizes Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987) as a conceptual framework to analyze the organizational and managerial transformations brought about by GAI. These preliminary observations offer the opportunity to refine the analysis to better answer the central question of this research: How does the introduction of GAI change the roles and skills of middle managers? Using Activity Theory as an analytical framework, this research explores the tensions and dynamics created by the integration of GAI in organizational systems. Informal appropriation practices also emerge as a key element, illustrating how middle managers bypass traditional structures to adopt these technologies. The first feedback from the interviews provides an overview of potential transformations, without claiming generalization at this stage. These feedbacks suggest the following dynamics, to be confirmed through a full data analysis: - Upward adoption: GAI seems to foster bottom-up dynamics, challenging traditional organizational practices. - Skills transformation: A shift toward human and conceptual skills appears essential to support technological innovation. - Managerial evolution: Middle managers are emerging as potential facilitators of change, playing a key role in the strategic integration of GAI.

Keywords: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI); Middle Managers; Managerial Skills; Activity Theory; Critical Realism; Organizational Change; Bottom-up Innovation; Shadow IT; Technological Appropriation; Digital Transformation; Sociotechnical Systems; Managerial Roles; Workplace Learning; Informal Technology Use; Governance Tensions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06-23
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05062788v1
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Published in ACM Creativity & Cognition 25, Jun 2025, London, United Kingdom. Unpublished, 2025, ⟨10.13140/RG.2.2.27581.99041⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05062788

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27581.99041

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