Followership role orientations in clothing factories: a lower-level managers’ perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore three dimensions (initiative, conformity and distance) of followership role orientation among lower-level managers in apparel factories, and second, to examine to what extent these orientations are influenced by the position held and the tasks performed. Design/methodology/approach Pragmatism is selected as the research philosophy and a quantitative research design is adopted. Empirical data is obtained through a combination of exploratory and descriptive research strategies. The research was conducted in eight Bulgarian enterprises, and 219 managers took part in it. Findings Lower-level managers in clothing factories indicate low-to-moderate initiative orientation, moderate-to-high conformity orientation and low-to-moderate distance orientation. It is found that the position held and tasks performed influence the followership role orientations of lower-level managers. The influence is most significant regarding the conformity orientation – foremen and storekeepers show moderate-to-high conformity, QC supervisors are neutral and technologists express low-to-moderate conformity. Originality/value This paper is the first to study the followership role orientations of lower-level managers in apparel manufacturers. A unique combination of dimensions is used to measure follower orientations and a new assessment tool is described and validated. Thus, the study fills a significant gap in followership theory and enriches the practical toolkit for managing employee relations in clothing factories.