Final answer:
Administration is the appropriate management perspective for providing structure and direction to a group of middle managers, as it focuses on establishing clear hierarchical roles and promotes efficiency and unity of direction.
Step-by-step explanation:
To provide structure and direction for middle managers in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, the top management should adopt an Administrative perspective. This perspective focuses on establishing a clear hierarchical structure within an organization that delineates roles and responsibilities. It enables a systematic approach to management tasks and reinforces the foundations required for the middle managers to function efficiently. The Administrative management theory, derived from the works of Henri Fayol, emphasizes principles such as division of work, authority and responsibility, and centralization, which are essential for guiding managers in a growing business environment.
In managing teams and ensuring productivity, the top management would rely on traditional hierarchical roles defining each manager's scope of work, promoting efficiency and unity of direction amidst the complexity of a larger workforce. While contrasting perspectives such as Behavioral or Human Relations Movement focus on individual employee motivations and group dynamics, and Quantitative perspective leans towards statistical and mathematical approaches to decision making, the Administrative perspective stands as the most relevant management approach for establishing a clear and effective organizational structure for middle management.