Interim manager

Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change within an organization. In this situation, a permanent role may be unnecessary or impossible to find on short notice. Additionally, there may be nobody internally who is suitable for, or available to take up, the position in question.

Historical antecedents come from ancient Roman times, with ancient Roman publicans (Latin: publicanus, plural: publicani) or ‘Roman contractors’ being engaged to erect or maintain public buildings, supply armies overseas, or collect certain taxes (such as tithes and customs). This system for letting contracts was well established by the 3rd century BC.

The modern practice of interim management started in the mid to late-1970s, when permanent employees in The Netherlands were protected by long notice periods and companies faced large costs for terminating employees. Hiring managers on a temporary basis presented itself as an ideal solution.

Since the 1980s, the concept and use of interim managers as a resourcing tool for organisations has received attention from academic researchers and policy makers as well as practitioners. In 1984, Atkinson postulated the emergence of an organisation design comprising both a core and a peripheral workforce, using differing forms of contractual relationship (flexibility) on an international basis. Examples of further study include Kalleberg (2000), looking at temporary, contract and part-time work; and Bosch (2004) looking at Western European “employment” relationships.

A good example of interim management benefitting from a geo-political change was its use by the German privatization agency after reunification of East and West, post 1989. The demand was created for interim managers in Eastern Germany to apply the required management and leadership competencies necessary to re-structure the formerly state owned companies. Demand continued to grow in the 1990s in Germany as the economy struggled to deal with unification, recession and resultant ambitious economic forecasts for the ‘new’ economy. One prominent example, mentioned by Bruns (2006) was the appointment of Helmut Sihler as interim CEO of German Telekom AG in 2001.

There are several factors that make the interim management offering increasingly popular and cost-effective to client organisations. These factors are characterised as a ‘value proposition’ that interim managers offer to their clients.

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Wikipedia