managerial competencies of middle-level managers at viglacera corporation

The competency of Viglacera middle level managers yet to be studied in deep and at overall scale, furthermore their competencies have never been benchmarked against their job requirement

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY

DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DISSERTATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This thesis is completed to fulfill the requirement from the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, an international program between Thai Nguyen University (TNU) and Southern Luzon State University (SLSU)

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Management Board of the TNU and the SLSU, who have been organizing such interesting programs The improvement in our competencies will bring much more values to our work and social life

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all lecturers of SLSU, TNU and associates, who have equipped me with a lot of valuable knowledge and skills for my life Especially I would like to express my exclusive thanks to my supervisor – Dr Cecilia N Gascon Despite very busy with management and professional work, she has given me lots of valuable guidance and support during my job on completing this thesis

I also would like to express my thanks to Board of Management of Viglacera Corporation, who has encouraged me to complete the thesis and provide me a lot of support during the research I would like to express my thanks to all middle managers and all of my colleagues in Viglacera for helping me with useful data for the thesis./

COPYRIGHT COMMITMENT

I hereby declares that this is my own research Also, all the information used in my research is trustful and totally reliable The competency of Viglacera middle level managers yet to be studied in deep and at overall scale, furthermore their competencies have never been benchmarked against their job requirements

In late 2011, The Executive board decided to have a HR consultant to review Viglacera’ workforce and provide recommendations for improvement However, the report of the consultant just has been considered as a 3rd party reference, Viglacera must work on the project itself and create a strategic blueprint for HR development for the next 5 years at least To retain its leading position in the market, it is a “do or die” project for Viglacera and this research, hopefully shall contribute a big picture overview of Viglacera workforce and recommend a good solution for Viglacera to achieve the target of the project

Having that idea in mind the author strongly believes that this research is the first one

in Vietnam to construct the set of competency standards for Vietnam SOEs and it is also the first study to recommend its applications in a real situation Once again I committed that all findings and conclusions of my research are not copied of any other work or paper The whole or partly of this research never have been published in any kind of public media

The Author

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

COPYRIGHT COMMITMENT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF CHARTS x

ABSTRACT xi

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

BACKGROUNDANDRATIONALEOFTHERESEARCH 1

STATEMENTOFTHEPROBLEM 3

HYPOTHESES 7

SIGNIFICANCEOFTHERESEARCH 8

SCOPEOFTHERESEARCH 9

DEFINITIONOFTERMS 9

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 11

2.1 COMPETENCY–OVERVIEW 11

2.1.1 Competency and competency – base methodology 11

2.1.2 Competency component 15

2.1.3 Competency analysis process 19

2.2 MANAGERIALCOMPETENCIES 20

2.2.1 Functions of management 20

2.2.2 Managerial competencies 25

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 33

3.2 STRUCTUREOFTHERESEARCH 40

CHAPTER 4 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA………… .42

4.1 REQUIRED MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERSATVIGLACERA 42

4.1.1 Business awareness 43

4.1.2 Leadership 43

4.1.3 Setting priorities 44

4.1.4 Managing the team 44

4.1.5 Result orientation 45

4.1.6 Change orientation 46

4.1.7 Team working 46

4.1.8 Ability to influence 47

4.1.9 Developing others 47

4.1.10 Face to face communication 48

4.1.11 Interpersonal skill 48

4.1.12 Motivation skill 49

4.2 CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERSATVIGLACERA 51

4.2.1 Business awareness 51

4.2.2 Leadership 52

4.2.3 Setting priorities 52

4.2.4 Managing the team 53

4.2.5 Result orientation 54

4.2.6 Change orientation 55

4.2.7 Team working 56

4.2.8 Ability to influence 56

4.2.9 Developing others 57

4.2.10 Face to face communication 58

4.2.11 Interpersonal skill 59

4.2.12 Motivation skill 60

CHAPTER 5 SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 63

5.1 BASISFORTHESOLUTIONS 63

5.1.1 Viglacera direction to develop human resource 63

5.1.2 Reasoning the gaps between required and current competencies of

middle managers 66

5.2 SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENTCOMPETENCIESOFMIDDLEMANAGERS 67

5.2.1 Training solutions 67

5.2.2 Non-training solutions 73

CONCLUSION 77

REFERENCES 79

APPENDIX 1 – QUESTIONNAIR FORM FOR IDENTIFYING REQUIREMENT ON MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 85

APPENDIX 2 – QUESTIONNAIR FORM FOR ASSESSING CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 88

APPENDIX 3 – JOB DESCRIPTION SAMPLES 91

ABREVIATIONS

SWOT Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

VIGLACERA Vietnam Glass and Ceramic Corporation

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1-1: Opportunities and Threats in HRM of Viglacera 6

Table 1-2: Strengths and Weaknesses in HRM of Viglacera 6

Table 4-1: required “business awareness” for middle managers 43

Table 4-2: required “leadership” for middle managers 44

Table 4-3: required “setting priorities” for middle managers 44

Table 4-4: required “managing the team” for middle managers 45

Table 4-5: required “result orientation” for middle managers 45

Table 4-6: required “change orientation” for middle managers 46

Table 4-7: required “team working” for middle managers 46

Table 4-8: required “ability to influence” for middle managers 47

Table 4-9: required “developing others” for middle managers 48

Table 4-10: required “face to face communication” for middle managers 48

Table 4-11: required “interpersonal skill” for middle managers 49

Table 4-12: required “motivation skill” for middle managers 49

Table 4-13: current “business awareness” of middle managers 51

Table 4-14: current “leadership” of middle managers 52

Table 4-15: current “setting priorities” of middle managers 53

Table 4-16: current “managing the team” of middle managers 54

Table 4-17: current “result orientation” of middle managers 55

Table 4-18: current “change orientation” of middle managers 55

Table 4-19: current “team working” of middle managers 56

Table 4-20: current “ability to influence” of middle managers 57

Table 4-21: Table 4.21: current “developing others” of middle managers 58

Table 4-23: current “interpersonal skill” of middle managers 59

Table 4-24: current “motivation skill” of middle managers 60

Table 5-1: Training courses proposed for middle managers 68

Table 5-2: Solutions / Recommendations Matrix 75

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1.1: Viglacera Competitive Advantages 5

Chart 2.1: The iceberg model 12

Chart 2.2: Competency analysis model 20

Chart 2.3: Circle of management 22

Chart 3.1: Work frame of the research: 34

Chart 4.1: Required competencies for middle managers 50

Chart 4.2: Current competencies of middle managers vs requirements 61

Chart 4.3: Viglacera Competency Needs Analysis 61

Chart 5.1: Viglacera business development strategy for 2010-2020 64

Chart 5.2: Viglacera Corporate Core Values 65

ABSTRACT

Like most businesses, middle-level managers at Viglacera are very important, which help to achieve strategic objectives Together with contributing valuable ideas to company’s strategies, middle managers lead the functional team to implement Corporation’s plan to real life Therefore, managerial competencies are vitally important to middle managers

This research focuses on the gaps between current managerial competencies of middle-level managers at Viglacera and the requirement from the top managers of the corporation It then goes further to propose solutions to bridge those gaps

According to theories, managerial competencies are skills, knowledge, self- concept, traits and motives of people in management aspect At Viglacera, they are represented

by the 12 core competencies, which include: Business awareness, Leadership, Setting

priorities, Managing the team, Result orientation, Change orientation, Team working, Ability to influence, Developing others, Face to face communication, Interpersonal skill, Motivation skill

By doing survey together with in-depth interview, this research will identify the gaps between the requirements from top managers with the current managerial competencies of middle managers at Viglacera

The research, then would propose suitable solutions, which help to bridge those gaps Hope the research result can contribute to the HR strategy of Viglacera

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

Established since 1974, Viglacera is a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) operating in construction industry under management of Ministry of Construction Viglacera is in the stage of organizational reengineering and privatizing to cope with the economy integration trend in the whole nation Changing to joint-stock from wholly state owned enterprises, the Corporation will be challenged by lots of difficulties: competition, social and political changes, inefficient working system and last but not least the quality of the workforce With over 15,000 emplyees, Viglacera is one of the biggest SOEs in Vietnam, following is the organizational structure of the Corporation:

Source: Viglacera HR department

In the chart above, Top Managers are:

 Board of Directors: President, CEO, Union Chairman

Board of Director

Board of Management Control Board

Internal Control Branding

Import Export Production Management

General Affairs

Planning Project

Board of Director

Board of Management Control Board

Internal Control Branding

Import Export Production Management

General Affairs

Planning Project

 Board of management: CEO and assistant CEOs

There are total 13 Top Managers at Viglacera as of now

Middle Managers are:

 Managers and Assistant Managers of functional departments / units

 Director, Vice Directors of subsidiary companies

There are about 200 Middle level Managers working at Viglacera under supersision of

13 Top Managers, those in turn under management of Ministry of Construction

Like other SOEs, at Viglacera Customer and Employee satisfaction; efficiency and productivity; stability and development of the organization are overall responsibilities

of Top management board To do those, they normally delegate to middle-level managers, who make policies, programs and processes (methodologies) implemented Middle-level managers role is to interpret and represent the established management policy and make it alive to their reporting managers and their staff They are key persons in communicating and tracking different kinds of goals and in making information flow up and down In order for middle-level managers to fulfill their

jobs, they must have sufficient competency but do they have it already? recently a

big question at Viglacera Nevertheless, Viglacera Top management board want to know the answer for each middle-level manager and for each of the 12 core competencies mentioned earlier If the answer is “No” somewhere then the gap training will be needed The author was working for a training institution of Viglacera

so this research is very much relevant to the author’s job and in line with the corporation HR development strategy

Deeply understanding this situation, the Top Management Board of Viglacera cared much about how to train and develop middle managers to fit with the development plan of the Corporation in the next coming years Viglacera placed middle

management force at the central point of long-term human resource strategy But, as a fact, performances of the whole Corporation as well as of the Middle Managers were still under expectation of the Top Management Board “Why?” It is still a big question at Viglacera as no official research has ever been conducted

Based on the hope to contribute to answering the above question, this research focuses

on managerial competencies of middle managers, to clarify whether they are under qualified or the senior expectations too high

The result of the research will help the Board of Management define the strategy decision on middle management development It may be training or non-training solutions, even reconsidering the expectation

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Company profile

Established since 1974 through 38 years of development, Viglacera have been transformed from a traditional brick and ceramics manufacturer to become a state owned multi-sector group of 41 subsidiaries and affiliate companies nationwide with more than 15,000 employees

 Vision: Become a leading group of building material manufacturer and real

estate developer in the Asia Pacific Region

 Mission:

- Provide high quality building materials to customers;

- Develop premium industrial parks and living towns;

500 USD Million 20%

30 USD Million

40 Countries 2.000 ha

Turnover Average growthExports turnoverProduct Exporting toTotal Industrials Area

500 USD Million 20%

30 USD Million

40 Countries 2.000 ha

Turnover Average growthExports turnoverProduct Exporting toTotal Industrials Area

9 terracotta

3 glass producer

4 sanitary ware & fitting

3 granite & ceramic tiles

5 others

Trading

2 subsidiaries and 2 Branches

Land

7 subsidiaries

Others:

Training Centre Labour Export Centre

Viglacera holding company

Production

9 terracotta

3 glass producer

4 sanitary ware & fitting

3 granite & ceramic tiles

5 others

Trading

2 subsidiaries and 2 Branches

Land

7 subsidiaries

Others:

Training Centre Labour Export Centre

Parent Company and

Subsidiaries - The capital rate of Parent Company is ≥51%

Associated Companies - The capital rate of Parent Company is

<51%

Source: Viglacera Corp HR

Finance policy

To become a sustainable development company with financial status sound and sight

SWOT Analysis in HRM

Chart 1: Viglacera Competitive Advantages

Source: Viglacera Corp HR

Opportunities and Threats in HRM

Table 1-1: Opportunities and Threats in HRM of Viglacera

Source: Viglacera Corporate HR

Strengths and Weaknesses

Table 1-2: Strengths and Weaknesses in HRM of Viglacera

Source: Viglacera Corporate HR

What are the objectives of the research?

Recently, Viglacera is doing very well, it achieves its target set by the Government every year despite a lot of difficulties caused by the world economic crisis However,

Opportunities

Easy to get knowledge exchanged

because of globalization

Supply of labor force increased and

penetrated to regional market

Market information is more transparent

Recruitment service significantly

improved

Opportunities

Easy to get knowledge exchanged

because of globalization

Supply of labor force increased and

penetrated to regional market

Market information is more transparent

Recruitment service significantly

improved

Threats

Demand of labor keeps increasing andrecruitment competition among SOE

& FDI more fierce

Salary keeps increasing

High rate of turnover especially in technical worker positions

Lack of skillful workers esp those who have occupational competency

Candidates become more and more demanding

Strengths

Leader team are young and well trained

Modern and Good Organizational

Structure

ISO certificate in business management

Performance-based pay creating

motivation for employees

Unity Environment

Weaknesses

Paper work environment – time consuming

Recruitment brandname not strong

Team work and leadership mind set

Cadre rotation slow & not proactive

Strengths

Leader team are young and well trained

Modern and Good Organizational

Structure

ISO certificate in business management

Performance-based pay creating

motivation for employees

Unity Environment

Strengths

Leader team are young and well trained

Modern and Good Organizational

Structure

ISO certificate in business management

Performance-based pay creating

motivation for employees

Unity Environment

Weaknesses

Paper work environment – time consuming

Recruitment brandname not strong

Team work and leadership mind set

Cadre rotation slow & not proactive

Viglacera still does not meet its stressed target of 20% revenue growth rate per year as expected by Viglacera stake-holders and Top management board The main reason suspectedly come from competency weaknesses of human resource especially from the middle level manager force Deeply analysis needs to be taken out to identify specific weaknesses in 12 core managerial competencies then find out solutions to improve the weaknesses Also there must be an analysis on the impact of middle manager competency to the operation result of the Corporation The impact should be analyzed detail enough to point out the weight of each competency or in other words what are the key competencies that need to be addressed first This will make the later recommended solutions more convincible and help Viglacera to prioritize and implement the solutions much more effectively

Being connected to human resource developing strategy of the company, the aim of this research is to analyze the managerial competencies of middle managers at Viglacera The outcome of the research will help clarify the gaps between current managerial competencies and the senior’s expectations; and what solutions should be applied to overcome the gaps;

3 To recommend the solutions to bridge the identified gaps

HYPOTHESES

Despite the fact that middle-level managers at Viglacera are fulfilling well their current job, their competencies seem to be still lower than that the top managers

There are 2 possible reasons for the situation The first, the merging of different entities has been gathered differently competent people in one organization They then have to present their competencies under different points of view from different top managers The second, top managers always prepare for the future So what is expected by them is higher than those required in real life

To resolve the issues, the 2 groups of solutions would be proposed, include training and non-training solutions The training solution includes courses to improve competencies of middle managers and to equip them with continuous learning attitude The non-training solution includes strategic detailed solutions All of those aim to strengthen the human resource developing system of Viglacera

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

- To the management of the company:

Firstly, the research will provide Viglacera BOM with a significant overview of their

HR force Secondly, based on the research result executive management will be able

to work out what need to be done to improve quality of their HR force And last but not least, the research provides recommended solutions for improvement

- To the customers and investors:

The research can help improve the company image in customer’s mind and thus increasing customer’s loyalty in doing business with Viglacera

- To future DBA students / Researchers:

This study can serve as benchmark information for related studies

- To the Researcher:

This work is a test of my knowledge in business and my ability to engage in a research work

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The objects of the research include managers / deputy managers of functional departments at corporate office, and those of dependent subsidiaries Due to time constraint the primary data shall be taken from only 13 top managers and 150 middle-level managers The research is limited to business strategies for 10 year period from

2010 to 2020 The research does not cover independent companies within and/or outside Viglacera group, so it is limited in the following range:

- Corporate offices:

o CEO assistant and secretaries;

o Corporate Human Resource;

o Corporate Accounting and Finance;

o Corporate Investment and Development;

o Corporate Production division;

o Corporate Real-estate management division

o Corporate Trading division

- Dependent subsidiaries:

o Viglacera vocational college

o Viglacera R&D Institute

o Viglacera Training & labor export center

o Viglacera faucet company

Also due to time constraint the research was limited in 12 core managerial competencies classified as Generic/Basic competencies only It was not extended to Professional competencies that differ from job to job

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Competency-based pay: alternately known as skill-based and knowledge-based pay,

determines compensation by the type, breadth and depth of skills that employees gain and use in their positions

Competitive advantage: In the context of Human Resources, competitive advantage

refers to the quality of the employees, as a competing organization’s systems and processes can be copied but not its people All other things being equal among competing companies, it is the company with better employees that has the competitive advantage

Opportunities and Threats – the external environment of the company that directly or

indirectly has an impact to its operation

Strengths and Weaknesses – the internal environment of the company that arises

from the implementation of its policies in the different areas of management

SWOT Analysis – an evaluation of the company’s internal and external condition

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

For years, businesses find it necessary to determine whether employees capable to fulfill their job However, the required capabilities vary from this business to others, even from this division to others within a company Many companies start learning to build up their own competency models to identify their requirement on knowledge, skills, and other personal characteristics of their employees Competency models are also used during assessments of the employee’s capabilities at recruitment or training need analysis This chapter briefly shows arguments on the origin of competency – based methodology, competency definitions and the use of competency models in this research

2.1 COMPETENCY – OVERVIEW

2.1.1 Competency and competency – base methodology

The term “competency” was used early by psychologist However, till 1990s it was clarified by Furnham: “the term competence is new and fashionable, but the concept

is old Psychologists interested in personality and individual differences, organizational behaviors and psychometrics have long debated these questions of personality traits, intelligence and other abilities”

“Competence” is something inside a person and/or a group of people Competency could be understood as variety internal factors those help to reach result In life, we call someone competent or incompetent depending on how confident we are on that person to give us satisfactory result Competency could be innate and could also be gained by learning and practicing in life

There are many definitions of competency, those may carry general or rather specific meanings depend on the context and objective of the research So people might be confused when finding lots of different definitions

In 1982, Mr Richard E.Boyatzis - a professor of Case Western Reserve University has clarify the “competency” as “all the factors inside each person (including motive, character, skills, image, social role, knowledge) which effect on performance of a specific job”

According to Bernard and David Stringer, competency includes skills, knowledge, behavior and attitude of a person to fulfill a task

According to the New York Public Affair Service and the Labor Relation Office, competency is concerned as traits, character of a person, which result in his/ her performance and contributes to the organizational objective The competency, therefore, includes: Knowledge, skills, abilities and other factor as value, motive, initiative and self-control

Chart 2.1: The iceberg model

According to MIT college, “competency” is a collection of characteristics (i.e skills, knowledge, self- concept, traits and motives), that enables us to be successful in our interactions with others at work, school, home, and in our community at large

The term “competency” is then used widely for organization, called “organizational competency” It is not simply add single competency of all people inside the organization It is a result of interaction of all the single competencies inside the organization, so it could be weaker or much stronger than the result of simply adding single competencies inside the organization

Competencies in common understanding: (Reference 78)

Competencies are the measurable or observable knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (KSABs) critical to successful job performance Choosing the right competencies allows employers to:

- Plan how they will organize and develop their workforce

- Determine which job classes best fit their business needs

- Recruit and select the best employees

- Manage and train employees effectively

- Develop staff to fill future vacancies

Competency Types

- Knowledge Competencies - practical or theoretical understanding of subjects

- Skill and Ability Competencies - natural or learned capacities to perform acts

- Behavioral Competencies - patterns of action or conduct

Using Competencies

In Job Descriptions

Job descriptions explain the duties, working conditions, and other aspects of a job,

specific competencies are determined through the process of job analysis, and are documented in the Position Description (PD) form These competencies form a basis for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, and managing the performance of employees

In Recruitment, Assessment, and Selection

Describing desired competencies in recruitment announcements gives job seekers a clearer picture of what jobs entail Competencies also provide the foundation for assessment and selection techniques, including exams, interviews, and reference checks

In Employee Performance Management

Competencies allow supervisors to more fully describe to employees their performance expectations Competency descriptions show employees what level of knowledge and skill mastery is required to successfully perform job duties, and what behavioral standards must be consistently demonstrated Washington State's Performance and Development Plan includes competencies in both the expectations and evaluation sections

In Training and Development

Done well, competencies allow supervisors to choose and prioritize training courses and other learning opportunities for employees Training courses often describe the competencies students should be able to demonstrate by the end of the class Likewise, most on-the-job and other developmental assignments are designed to build certain knowledge and skills Knowing how class content and developmental activities build mastery helps supervisors to 'map' each position to a specific training and development plan that fosters growth in required competencies

In Career and Workforce Planning

Competencies play a key role in workforce planning efforts Knowing which competencies the future workforce must possess to achieve business goals and deliverables helps organizations plan and design:

- Organizational structure

- Recruitment strategies

- Training budgets and development plans

- Job assignments and individual performance plans

Employees can also use competencies to plan a career path Knowing which competencies are critical for certain promotions allows employees to request training and development opportunities and seek out specific feedback and coaching

In Compensation

While competencies don't directly impact compensation, the nature and complexity of the work duties usually requires a certain level of knowledge and skill mastery These competencies are often represented in the class specifications as 'Knowledge and Abilities.'

Competency–based methodology

Competency–based methodology was firstly designed and applied by David Mc Clelland - the founder of Hay–McBer Company Mc Clelland set out to define competency variables that could be used in predicting job performance and that were not biased by race, gender, or socio-economic factors Mc Clelland’s article appeared

in the American Psychologist in 1973 in the title” Testing for Competence rather than for Intelligence” has marked the key point for researching and applying “competency models” in businesses

As mentioned above, competency is a complex of so many factors and varies from one company to others, even from one division to others in one company However,

as the objective of this research the term “competency” needs to be specific and simple to measure So, in this thesis, the term “competency” is simply clarified in the

Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose

Knowledge refers to the practical or theoretical understanding of a subject

Knowledge requirements can be described in terms of mastery levels The descriptions below outline mastery levels for the following job types:

- Professional Positions

- Clerical and Administrative Positions

- Managerial Positions

Professional Positions

Professional knowledge can be split into three levels: paraprofessional/technical, journey, and senior Entry-level professional positions typically require journey-level knowledge at hire, with a plan to grow the skill level

Paraprofessional/Technician-level: Knowledge of a profession's basic principles,

rules, equipment, and software Knowledge is typically used in standardized processes

Journey-level: Includes additional, in-depth knowledge of a profession's legal

standards, generally accepted principles, theory, and best practices Knowledge is typically used to determine the best approach to solving a complex issue or problem

Senior-level: Includes additional knowledge of a profession's trends, research, and

case law Knowledge is typically used to create new strategies, standards, and processes

Clerical and Administrative Positions

Clerical and administrative knowledge can be split into three levels: entry, journey, and senior

Entry-level: Knowledge of clerical equipment and software, processes, techniques,

and professional standards Knowledge is typically used in routine office work

Journey-level: Includes additional, in-depth knowledge of best practices and

generally accepted professional standards Knowledge is typically used to determine the best approach to solving moderately complex issues or problems

Senior-level: Includes additional, in-depth knowledge of office management and

business process trends, practices, and research Knowledge is typically used to create

Managerial Positions

Some positions are 'pure' managers, while others combine line-staff and managerial duties Regardless, if the position includes managerial duties, additional knowledge requirements should be identified Knowledge requirements for managerial duties can

be broken down as follows:

Lead Workers: Knowledge of basic employee performance management standards

and practices (e.g., performance planning, coaching, and feedback)

Supervisors: Includes additional, in-depth knowledge of advanced employee

performance management standards and practices (e.g., performance evaluation, recognition and reward, and corrective action and discipline)

Program Managers: Includes additional knowledge of resource management

standards and practices (e.g., budget, equipment, facilities, and vehicles), and the authorizing environment (e.g., internal business partners and program customers)

Executive Managers: Includes additional, in-depth knowledge of the authorizing

environment (e.g., external stakeholders, oversight boards and committees, legislative environment, and regulatory agencies)

2.1.2.2 Skill:

Skill is the learnt capacity or talent to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job

Examples: Academic skills (Reading; Logic ; Critical Reasoning); Interpersonal communication (Speech, listening, talking nonverbal communication); Literacy: (writing, reading); Innovation Skills …

2.1.2.3 Ability:

Ability sometime calls personal characteristics include traits, motives, values, attributes, and many others… Inside abilities, attitude plays a very important role, as

it decide effectiveness of almost other factors

Attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's like or dislike for an item Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an "attitude object" i.e a person, behavior or event People can also be "ambivalent" towards a target, meaning that they simultaneously possess a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in question

Attitudes are composed from various forms of judgments Attitudes develop on the ABC model (affect, behavioral change and cognition) The affective response is a physiological response that expresses an individual's preference for an entity The behavioral intention is a verbal indication of the intention of an individual The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity to form an attitude Most attitudes in individuals are a result of observational learning from their environment

2.1.3 Competency analysis process

To analyze competencies, it is necessary to use a competency model It is a list of competencies A business may have an official competency model or not, and it may varied among departments and/or division of the business, but it exists somehow inside In reality, a company uses competency model to identify the current competencies of candidate – for recruitment & selection, or to identify the gaps that employees need to bridge – for career development or promotion

To develop a competency model, many ways could be used, but the most common are

“top – down” and “bottom-up” approaches

- The top–down approach involves strategic analysis of organization’s objectives, in

combining with job analysis and with reference to theories on business,

organizational behavior and human resource development It is close to

management’s view, and is easy to apply to a large number of employees

However, this approach may be not tailored to each job position

- The bottom-up approach involves deep survey and interview to employees So it

can result in the big difference in competencies required for different positions

However it consumes lots of time and cost to design competency model, besides it

may give out a wrong result if surveys and interviews were wrongly conducted

To eliminate risks, this research applies the “top-down” approach to build up

competency model It means top manager’s expectation will be the base for

competency requirement building process The competency process of this thesis

consists of 3 steps as the follows:

Chart 2.2: Competency analysis model

Source: Author’s idea

2.2 MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES

2.2.1 Functions of management

Management of a modern business organization is a complex process The term

process refers to an identifiable flow of information through interrelated stages of

analysis directed for the accomplishment of objectives Thus management as a

process may involve several activities or elements These activities are called the

functions of management Many management experts have mentioned functions of

management by studying different organizations from different angles But there is no

Step 3: Recommend

solutions to bridge the

gaps

unanimity among them about the nomenclatures of the functions of management According to C.S George, “The management process is not a series of separate functions which can be performed independently, it is a complete process made up of these ingredients.” Henri Fayol is the most outstanding name, who has tried to analyze the functions of management According to him, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize to command, to coordinate and to control.” Thus, the main activities involved in managerial functions are:

a Forecasting and planning

b Organizing and staffing

c Leading or directing

d Controlling

Chart 2.3: Circle of management

2.2.1.1 Planning

Planning is a mental process requiring foresight and sound judgment It involves the laying of objectives and determining the course of action to achieve the objectives Objectives have to be clarified before taking any other decisions They provide the basis for the future and for evaluating the performance with the pre-determined standards Planning is based on future situations and is a must at all levels of management The success of a plan, therefore, lies in the manager’s ability to forecast future situations correctly and accurately Thus planning implies, deciding in advance what, when, where to do and how the results are to be evaluated Planning is a continuous process It is required to ensure effective utilization of human and non-human resources to accomplish the desired goals The process of planning thus involves the following activities:

(1) Laying down objectives

(2) Developing planning premises

(3) Searching alternative courses of action

(4) Evaluation of various alternatives and formulation of a plan

PLANNING

LEADING/

DIRECTING

(5) Formulating policies and procedure

(6) Preparing schedules, programs and budgets

2.2.1.2 Organizing and staffing

* Organizing:

Once planning is effected, the people in the organization have to be organized It is an important activity by which management brings together the manpower and material resources for the accomplishment of pre-determined goals Organizing is the process

of establishing relationships among the members of the organization This relationship is created in the form of authority and responsibility Each member in the organization is assigned a specific duty to perform and is granted the corresponding authority to do it In the words of Louis A Allen, “Organization is the process of identifying and grouping the work to be performed and dividing it among the individuals and creating authority and responsibility relationship” among them for the accomplishment of objectives.” The process of organizing thus involves the following activities:

(1) Identifying the activities involved in achieving the objectives

(2) Grouping the activities into a logical pattern

(3) Assigning the activities to employees

(4) Delegating authority and fixing responsibility

(5) Coordinating the authority-responsibility relationships of various activities

* Staffing

Staffing is considered as a separate function in view of the need to employ the right types of people and develop them for the well-being of the organization Thus staffing involves manning the positions created by the organization process It is concerned

O’Donnell, “The managerial function of staffing involves manning the organizational structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles designed in the structure.” Staffing function, thus involves the following:

(1) Manpower planning, i.e determining the number and the kind of personnel required

(2) Recruitment of personnel

(3) Selection of the most suitable personnel

2.2.1.3 Directing

Directing is otherwise called management in action It is concerned with the actuating

of the members of the organization for the accomplishment of the enterprise goals In the words of George R Terry, “Directing means moving to action and supplying stimulate power to the group.” Directing thus involves issuing instructions (or communication) to subordinates, guiding, motivating and supervising them

2.2.1.4 Controlling

Controlling is the process of seeing whether the activities have been performed in conformity with the plans It helps the management to get its policies implemented and to take corrective actions if performance is not in accordance with the planned objectives In the words of E.F.L Brech, “Controlling is the process of checking actual performance against the agreed standards with a view to ensuring satisfactory performance.” The process of controlling thus involves the following:

(1) Determination of standards for measuring work performance

(2) Measurement of actual performance

(3) Comparing actual performance with the standard

(4) Finding variance between the actual with the standard and the reasons

(5) Taking corrective action to ensure attainment of objective

These functions are so interlinked, that in actual practice it is not possible to separate them from another Planning provides the leases for control and control gives meaning to planning An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations well in time and to initiate corrective steps before the loss occurs

According to that theory, Managerial competencies can be divided into Basic and Professional competencies All competencies are interlinked and there is a high core-relationship between Basic and Professional competencies

2.2.2.1 Basic (Generic) Competencies

Basic competencies encompass mental ability, motivation, temperament and personality of an individual All individuals have basic competencies but the combination and levels of these competencies differ from individual to individual Basic competencies can be classified as intellectual, social, emotional, and motivational and are defined as under:

a) Intellectual Competencies

Analytical Ability: The ability to grasp the essentials of a problem well and to arrive

at conclusions by rational thinking Reasoning ability includes receptivity, inquiring attitude, logical reasoning and seeing the essentials of a problem

- Receptivity: The ability to understand and absorb new impressions It

involves interest, attention and grasping power

- Inquiring Attitude: Healthy curiosity resulting in an urge to increase one’s

general knowledge and experience in life

- Logical Reasoning: The ability to arrive at a conclusion or judgment based

strictly on a process of rational thinking excluding emotional actors

- Seeing the essentials of a problem : The ability to be not only clear in one’s

knowledge of the situation at hand but to also be able to analyze various factors, sift them in order of importance and make the best use of them towards achieving a solution

Ability To Solve Practical Problems: The intelligence utilized in coping with

practical situations of varying complexity It is different from basic intelligence, which is the capacity to perceive relationships or to do abstract thinking Basic intelligence is assessed by the use of intelligence tests Effective Intelligence includes practical intelligence and resourcefulness

- Practical Intelligence: The capacity to evolve independent solutions to

practical problems and situations

- Resourcefulness: The capacity to put to use the available means for the

desired end It may be said to contain two factors :

o Improvisation of a solution and

o Finding a solution when in a tight corner

Organizing Ability: It is the ability to arrange resources in a systematic way so as to

produce effective results It is also defined as the ability to put to best use the available means for the attainment of a desired objective

Communication Skills: Ability to put across one’s ideas adequately with ease and

clarity

Creativity and Innovativeness: The ability to generate original and imaginative

ideas and for better approaches and results

Ability To Take Decisions: The ability to arrive at workable decision expeditiously

It comprises:

- The appropriateness of the decision arrived at

- The quickness in arriving at the decision

b) Social Competencies

Interpersonal Skills: Ability to adapt oneself to the social environment and adjust

well with persons and social groups, with special reference to superiors, equals and subordinates Social adaptability includes social intelligence, attitude towards others, tact and adaptability

- Social intelligence: The intellectual ability applied in the social field The

ability to understand people

- Attitude towards others: Ability to put oneself in the other person’s position

so as to appreciate justifiable difficulties, and be able to render help effectively

- Tact: Skillful management of the feelings of the persons dealt with

- Adaptability: Ability to adjust to the environment with special reference to

the social situations in that environment involves not only a resilient nature

shown by an accommodative tendency but also keenness and interest for that kind of job / service

Team-Spirit: Willingness to participate in harmony with others in the group for

achieving the group goal This implies a belief in collective effort being more productive than individual effort Cooperation includes joint effort and team-spirit Team-spirit indicates loyalty to the aims and objects of the group to the extent of subordinating individual aim to the group aim

Sense of Responsibility: It enables a person to be dependable and to willingly

discharge his obligations It includes sense of duty but is much more comprehensive

in meaning and scope Sense of responsibility implies

- Sense of Duty: Faithfully and firmly doing what one is ordered to do

- Discipline: A trained sense of acting strictly in accordance with rules,

regulations and conventions This factor promotes self-control and keeps one within bounds of social and normal standards Sense of Responsibility therefore means (a) thorough understanding of the value of duty, social standards and of what is required of an individual and then to give it one’s energy and attention of own accord and (b) doing one’s best, carrying out even unspecified and probably unforeseen duties and obligations, rather than faithfully carrying out only what one is told to do It demonstrates moral willingness to bear the consequences

Integrity: The ability to differentiate between right and wrong and the courage to do

the right thing regardless of the consequences

Self-Insight: A combination of perception and evaluation of one’s strengths and

development needs

c) Emotional Competencies

Initiative: The ability to originate an action It has two aspects The ability to: (1)

take the first step and (2) act first, usually, in a subsequently emerging new situation

Emotional Skills: The ability to identify and label feelings, delay gratification and

control impulses as required by situations

Self-confidence: Faith in one’s ability to meet stressful situations particularly those

that are unfamiliar

Tolerance of Pressure and Ambiguity: The ability to take situations without

becoming excessively defensive or over-reacting

Leadership Skills: The ability, which enables an individual to bring about willing

effort from the group for achieving a desired objective This influence is the prime cause of cooperative and willing effort of a group towards the achievement of a set of objectives

d) Motivational Competencies

Achievement Drive: An internal process that provides the energy for behaviors and

directs it towards specific goals

Will-Power: A sustained effort to achieve objectives in spite of obstacles and

setbacks It implies fixedness of purpose, mental concentration and strength of will It includes:

- Application to Work: The capacity for physical/ mental application to work

- Drive: The inner power at the disposal of an individual It is the capacity to

force oneself along, when under pressure and urgency, towards the achievement of the object It may inspire energetic action in others towards the achievement of a common goal

Energy Level: Capacity to withstand stress and strain It is a measure of endurance