Frontline managers’ contribution to mission achievement: A study of how people management affects thoughtful care

Abstract

This study addresses the question to what extent frontline managers’ people management activities contribute to mission achievement through frontline workers’ behaviors. Drawing on the case of elderly care, we contribute to the literature by: (1) providing a compact measure of mission achievement in elderly care and specifying the requisite employee behaviors; and (2) showing that frontline managers’ people management activities impact on employees’ behaviors, and ultimately on mission achievement. In doing so, we also contribute to more knowledge about elderly care, which is an under-researched sector, and about the role of line managers (instead of top managers) in HRM implementation.