What the research says

Why doesn't bad news reach senior leaders?

The short answer

Because it gets stuck between levels, and the studies show several ways that happens. At Nokia, fearful middle managers shared less bad news upward while top managers did not fully reveal how serious the threat was. Taller hierarchies push managers both to speak up and to hold back. In one sales unit facing performance obstacles, middle managers had reps deceive upper management about results. In one hospital study, knowledge traveled down more easily than it traveled up.

Based on 10 studies from the Atlas of the Middle: 1 rated high strength, 6 medium, 3 low. Designs: qualitative case (5), survey (2), mixed (1), conceptual (1), other (1).

Fear filters what goes up

The highest-rated study here is Nokia's smartphone years. The filtering ran both ways, and leaders ended up seeing a rosier picture than the facts supported.

Vuori & Huy (2016) · qualitative case · HighDistributed Attention and Shared Emotions in the Innovation ProcessAt Nokia, fearful middle managers shared less bad news upward while top managers did not fully reveal how serious the outside threat was; leaders grew overly optimistic and the smartphone effort suffered.

Hierarchy pulls both ways

Taller hierarchies don't simply silence people. They create competing pressures, and staff who value power distance feel less able to offer ideas, less so when their boss delegates. Bosses' openness goes with engagement, which is tied to speaking up.

Reitzig & Maciejovsky (2015) · mixed · MediumCorporate hierarchy and vertical information flow inside the firm—a behavioral viewTaller hierarchies pulled middle managers two ways, toward sending more suggestions upward to avoid costly omissions and toward holding back out of fear of judgment; field data and experiments found both forces, each winning under different conditions.Wei et al. (2015) · survey · MediumI will speak up if my voice is socially desirable: A moderated mediating process of promotive versus prohibitive voice.Among 66 middle managers and 262 of their staff in five high-tech firms, employees who valued power distance felt less able to offer improvement ideas, a link that weakened when their boss delegated more.Cumberland et al. (2018) · survey · LowAn emergent understanding of influences on managers’ voices in SMEsIn a survey of 202 SME middle managers, bosses' openness to ideas went with higher job satisfaction and engagement, but only engagement was tied to speaking up more.

Targets can corrupt the signal

Under pressure to perform, one unit's reported results stopped reflecting reality.

den Nieuwenboer et al. (2017) · qualitative case · MediumMiddle Managers and Corruptive Routine Translation: The Social Production of Deceptive PerformanceFacing performance obstacles in a telecom desk-sales unit, middle managers coerced their reps into deceiving upper management, so the unit's reported results were not real.

Down is easier than up

One hospital study found nurse middle managers could pass knowledge down to fellow nurses but struggled to pass it up or across to doctors. A theory paper proposes why middle managers' warnings about emerging rivals can go unheeded, and a financial-services case traces a failed change to closed-off executive and frontline systems that left middle managers powerless.

Currie et al. (2015) · qualitative case · MediumHR Practices and Knowledge Brokering by Hybrid Middle Managers in Hospital Settings: The Influence of Professional HierarchyIn hospital care for older people, nurse middle managers could pass knowledge down to fellow nurses but struggled to pass it up the hierarchy or across to doctors; without HR support, the authors warn, a 'broken' rather than 'broker' chain may result.McMullen et al. (2009) · conceptual · LowManagerial (In)attention to Competitive ThreatsThis theory paper proposes why middle managers' warnings about emerging rivals can go unheeded: different positions in the firm trigger different motivational focus, which tilts what top managers pay attention to.Raelin & Cataldo (2011) · qualitative case · MediumWhither Middle Management? Empowering Interface and the Failure of Organizational ChangeAt a large financial services firm, the authors trace a failed change initiative to closed-off executive and rank-and-file systems that left middle managers powerless, an outcome they link to the firm being bought out.

Where it does get through

Change moved when reform-minded managers and staff had spaces to band together, and practitioner advice drawn from research suggests pitching ideas upward with care: good timing, managed emotions and framing in the executives' terms.

Kellogg (2009) · qualitative case · MediumOperating Room: Relational Spaces and Microinstitutional Change in SurgeryIn two hospitals answering new regulation, top managers backed new programs, but using them could require junior staff to challenge middle managers with opposing interests; change hinged on spaces where reform-minded middle managers and staff could band together.Ashford & Detert (2015) · other · LowGet the Boss to Buy In.Ashford and Detert advise middle managers selling an idea upward to time it well, manage emotions, and frame it in the executives' terms.

What I take from it

If you lead a change, the absence of bad news is not good news. I would build a route for problems to travel up that doesn't depend on someone in the middle taking a personal risk.

This is my reading, Gabriel Lopez's, not a finding of the studies above.

Common questions

Why do middle managers hide problems from leadership?

In the Nokia case, fearful middle managers shared less bad news upward, while top managers did not fully reveal how serious the outside threat was. In a telecom sales unit facing performance obstacles, middle managers coerced their reps into deceiving upper management.

Does a flatter hierarchy fix it?

Not simply. One study found taller hierarchies pushed middle managers both toward sending more suggestions upward and toward holding back out of fear of judgment, with each force winning under different conditions.

Every summary on this page was written by Unfrozen from the study's abstract or full text and checked twice by independent reviewers. Loop coding is exploratory and AI-assisted, pending human verification. Spot an error? Email info@unfreeze.us and it gets fixed.