LV Thạc sĩ_Managerial Competencies of middle managers at hanoi transport corporation

REQUIRED MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS AT TRANSERCO 36 3.2.1.. SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS...54 5.

NEU BUSINESS SCHOOL

HANOI - 2009

TABLE OF CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENT 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 5

ABREVIATIONS 6

LIST OF TABLES 7

LIST OF CHARTS 8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 11

1.1 RATIONAL 11 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE THESIS 12 1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12 1.4 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH 16 1.5 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS 17 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 18

2.1 COMPETENCY – OVERVIEW 18 2.1.1 Competency and competency – base methodology 18

2.1.2 Competency component 20

2.1.2.1 Knowledge: 20

2.1.2.2 Skill: 20

2.1.2.3 Abilities: 21

2.1.3 Competency analysis process 21

2.2 MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES 23 2.2.1 Functions of management 23

2.2.1.1 Planning 24

2.2.1.2 Organizing and staffing 24

2.2.1.3 Directing 25

2.2.1.4 Controlling 25

2.2.2 Managerial competencies 27

2.2.2.1 Basic (Generic) Competencies 27

2.2.2.2 Professional (Technical /Functional) Competencies 31

CHAPTER 3 REQUIRED COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS AT TRANSERCO 33

3.1 THE CORPORATION OVERVIEW 33 3.1.1 Establishment of the Corporation 33

3.1.2 Major products and services 33

3.1.3 Current structure of the company 34

3.1.4 Strategic objective 35

3.1.5 Major figures on performance of recent years 35

3.2 REQUIRED MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS AT TRANSERCO 36 3.2.1 Business awareness 37

3.2.2 Leadership 37

3.2.3 Setting priorities 38

3.2.4 Managing the team 38

3.2.5 Result orientation 39

3.2.6 Change orientation 39

3.2.7 Team working 40

3.2.8 Ability to influence 40

3.2.9 Developing others 41

3.2.10 Face to face communication 41

3.2.11 Interpersonal skill 42

3.2.12 Motivation skill 42

CHAPTER 4 CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS AT

3

4.3 S ETTING PRIORITIES 46

CHAPTER 5 SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT

MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 54

5.1 BASIS FOR THE SOLUTIONS 54 5.1.1 Transerco direction to develop human resource 54

5.1.2 Reasoning the gaps between required and current competencies of middle managers 55

5.2 SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 56 5.2.1 Training solutions 56

5.2.1.1 Training courses 56

5.2.1.2 Training sequence 60

5.2.1.3 Training methodology 60

5.2.1.4 Training providers 60

5.2.1.5 Training supportive activities 60

5.2.2 Non-training solutions 61

5.2.2.1 Enhance human resource management system 61

5.2.2.2 Plan well human resource 61

5.2.2.3 Improve human resource policies 61

5.2.2.4 Enhance recruitment and selection procedures 62

CONCLUSION 63

REFERENCES 64

APPENDIX 1 – QUESTIONNAIR FORM FOR IDENTIFYING REQUIREMENT ON MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 66

APPENDIX 2 – QUESTIONNAIR FORM FOR IDENTIFYING CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 69

4

This thesis is completed to fulfill the requirement from the Master of BusinessAdministration (MBA) program, Business School – The National Economics University(NEU Business School)

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Management Board of the NationalEconomics University and the NEU Business School, who have been organizing suchinteresting 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 NEU Business School andassociates, 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 …– theRector of the NEU Business School Despite very busy with management andprofessional work, she has given me lots of valuable guidance and support during my job

on completing this thesis

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

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 3.1.: MAJOR BUSINESS FIGURES IN THE LAST 4 YEARS 35

TABLE 3.2 : REQUIRED “BUSINESS AWARENESS” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 37

TABLE 3.3: REQUIRED “LEADERSHIP” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 37

TABLE 3.4: REQUIRED “SETTING PRIORITIES” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 38

TABLE 3.5: REQUIRED “MANAGING THE TEAM” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 38

TABLE 3.6: REQUIRED “RESULT ORIENTATION” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 39

TABLE 3.7: REQUIRED “CHANGE ORIENTATION” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 39

TABLE 3.8: REQUIRED “TEAM WORKING” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 40

TABLE 3.9: REQUIRED “ABILITY TO INFLUENCE” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 40

TABLE 3.10: REQUIRED “DEVELOPING OTHERS” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 41

TABLE 3.11: REQUIRED “FACE TO FACE COMMUNICATION” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS.42 TABLE 3.12: REQUIRED “INTERPERSONAL SKILL” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 42

TABLE 3.13: REQUIRED “MOTIVATION SKILL” FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 43

TABLE 4.1 CURRENT “BUSINESS AWARENESS” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 45

TABLE 4.2: CURRENT “LEADERSHIP” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 46

TABLE 4.3: CURRENT “SETTING PRIORITIES” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 46

TABLE 4.4: CURRENT “MANAGING THE TEAM” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 47

TABLE 4.5: CURRENT “RESULT ORIENTATION” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 47

TABLE 4.6: CURRENT “CHANGE ORIENTATION” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 48

TABLE 4.7: CURRENT “TEAM WORKING” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 49

TABLE 4.8: CURRENT “ABILITY TO INFLUENCE” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 49

TABLE 4.9: CURRENT “DEVELOPING OTHERS” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 50

TABLE 4.10: CURRENT “FACE TO FACE COMMUNICATION” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 51

TABLE 4.11: CURRENT “INTERPERSONAL SKILL” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 52

TABLE 4.12: CURRENT “MOTIVATION SKILL” OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 52

TABLE 5.1: TRAINING COURSES PROPOSED FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 56

LIST OF CHARTS

CHART 1.1 : WORK FRAME OF THE RESEARCH: 15

CHART 2.1: THE ICEBERG MODEL 19

CHART 2.2: COMPETENCY ANALYSIS MODEL 22

CHART 2.3: CIRCLE OF MANAGEMENT 23

CHART 3.1: STRUCTURE OF TRANSERCO 34

CHART 3.2: REQUIRED COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS 43

CHART 4.1: CURRENT COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS VS REQUIREMENT 53

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Like most businesses, middle managers at Transerco are very important, which help toachieve strategic objectives Together with contributing valuable ideas to company’sstrategies, middle managers lead the functional team to implement Corporation’s plan toreal life Therefore, managerial competencies are vitally important to middle managers This research focuses on the gaps between current managerial competencies of middlemanagers at Transerco and the requirement from the top managers of the corporation Itthen go 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 Transerco, 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 has identified the gapsbetween the requirements from top managers with the current managerial competencies

of middle managers at Transerco

In figure, the research found that average requirements from top managers are around 4out of 5, while the current competencies of middle managers are marked around 3.Despite the fact that middle managers are fulfilling well their current job, theircompetencies are still much lower than the requirement

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

To resolve the issues, the 2 groups of solutions have been proposed, include training andnon-training solutions The training solution includes 11 courses to improve competencies

of middle managers and to equip them with continuous learning attitude The training solution includes 4 strategic detailed solutions Those are: Enhance humanresource management system; Plan well human resource; Improve human resource

non-policies; Enhance recruitment and selection procedure All of those aim to strengthen thehuman resource developing system of Transerco

In conclusion, the research has pointed out the gaps between the requirements from thetop managers Based on that, the author has proposed suitable solutions, which help tobridge those gaps Hope the research result can contribute to the HR strategy ofTranserco

Understanding that management theory, many businesses concern much on development

of middle managers, and so does Transerco

Established in 2004, Transerco is in the stage of organizational reengineering andprivatizing to cope with the economy integration trend in the whole nation Changing tojoint-stock from wholly state owned enterprises, the Corporation will be challenged bylots of difficulties: competition, social and political changes, inefficient working system, Deeply understanding this situation, since it first formed by 2004, the Board ofmanagement of Transerco cared much about how to train and develop middle managers

to cope with the development of the Corporation in the next 10 years Transerco setmiddle management force at the central point of long-term human resource strategy But,

as a fact, performances of the middle managers are still under expectation of their seniormanagers “Why?” It is still a big question at Transerco as no official research has beenever conducted on the core points

Based on the hope to contribute to the Corporation, this research focuses on managerialcompetencies of middle managers, to clarify whether they are under qualified or thesenior 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, evenreconsidering the expectation

1.2.OBJECTIVES OF THE THESIS

Being connected to human resource developing strategy of the company, this researchfocuses on the managerial competencies of middle managers at Transerco The outcome

of the research will help clarify the gaps between current managerial competencies andthe senior’s expectations; and what solutions should be applied to overcome the gap;

3 To recommend the solutions to bridge the identified gaps

1.3.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this thesis, both primary and secondary are used for identifying required and currentmanagerial competencies of middle managers at Transerco

Secondary data: Study job descriptions, periodical performance appraisals, official HR

reports to find out the problem and to design initial forms for questionnaires;

o Questionnaires were sent to subordinates, middle managers, top managers

to identify current managerial competencies of middle managers

By reviewing job description, job appraisals and annual human resources reports,combining with the list of managerial mentioned in the chapter II, a list of managerialcompetencies required for middle manages at Transerco was built It was then a base for

interviewing top managers to get the real requirement The interviews have resulted in alist of 12 core managerial competencies, those are:

(1) Business awareness: Middle managers take important part in setting strategic

objectives and building up strategies and plans to achieve those So they are required tohave business/ entrepreneurship thinking and to keep business objective as a guideline forall of his/ her behaviors and actions

(2) Leadership: It is essential for any manager to lead his/ her team toward the set

objective Without leadership, an organization would be broken a part soon or later

(3) Setting priorities: if a manager were not good at this competency, the effort of his/her

team might be concentrated to non-critical task and give out none-sense result

(4) Managing the team: team is not a simple addition of separate individual It needs a

manager who can develop commitment from other on the team success and optimize theinternal resource of the whole team

(5) Result orientation: as leading the team, the manager need to manage himself and the

whole team all the time toward the set objectives So he/ she need to be a star on personalmotivation and performance, and then get other involved to make things done

(6) Change orientation: Everything is changing, including plan and/or best practices A

manager need to be ready for changes and manage to change with positive thinking,positive action

(7) Team working: this make team a firm team A manager is hardly to optimize the team

resource without team work A person needs to cooperate with others both in the closeteam and in the whole organization to the best of performance In a team, each memberneeds to listen carefully to others, respect their ideas, willing to provide assistance and/orinformation to other team members And more, each member needs having a willing tocreate enthusiastic working environment In reverses he/she will get full assistance fromothers in case needed In an effective team, all members should make a full contribution

to achieve the best performance of the whole organization

(8) Ability to influence: If a manager set out a good objective for the team but could not

get others involved with their best effort, how can he/ she assure about the result

(9) Developing others: to stabilize and develop workforce for an organization is

necessary A manager needs to be able to develop his/her subordinates With that ability,

he/ she could be promoted or moved to other position without infected to organizationalperformance.

(10) Face to face communication: As a coach to subordinates, a manager needs to

communicate effectively with customers, top manager and subordinates Face to face isthe hardiest way of communication

(11) Interpersonal skill: Getting others doing things to get his/her owned purposes is

critical skill of management Without this, how a manager can fulfill his/ her job

(12) Motivation skill: This skill helps managers to get subordinates to work with

managerial competencies requirement (Appendix 1 is the questionnaire used at this step).

The list of required managerial competencies was also used in the questionnaire in thenext step – delivered to subordinates to find out current managerial competencies ofmiddle managers

To determine current managerial competencies of the middle managers at Transerco, it isessential to get evaluation from subordinates of the objects of the study, yet evaluationfrom top managers and other middle managers were needed So 160 questionnaires weresent out and 153 have been collected The data were all gathered and consolidated byExcel to give out the final scoring (average value)

Besides, interviews have been conducted to 3 top managers to check the survey result forclarifying any suspicious result No correction was made after interviewing

Chart 1.1 : Work frame of the research:

Source: Author’s idea

Requirement

on managerial competencies for middle managersJob analysis

Questionnaires

Subordinates

Current

managerial competencies

of middle managers

Initial form for managerial competencies

Final questionnaire for identifying managerial competencies

Non- Training

Solutions

1.4.SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The objects of the research include managers/ deputy managers of functional departments

at corporate office, and those of dependent subsidiaries The research does not coverindependent companies within and/or outside Transerco group

So the research 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 Training;

o Bus operation centre

- Trading & service centre

- Tandat centre (inter-provincial transport)

- South-coach enterprise (inter-provincial transport)

- Newway centre (tourism transport)

- Hanoi bus enterprise

- Thanglong bus enterprise

- 10.10 bus enterprise

- Xedien enterprise

- Hanoi vehicle maintenance and reparation service

1.5.STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS

Executive summary

This part provides brief information on researching purpose, key findings and conclusion

of the research It gives readers an overview of the research

Chapter 1 – Introduction

In this chapter, the readers can understand why the research focuses on the managerialcompetencies of middle managers at Transerco Then it clarifies objectives of the thesis,and main question need to be address Research methodology with a log-frame of theresearch will help readers understand of the whole researching process

Chapter 2 – Literature review

This chapter presents briefly selected theories; those are used as a background for theresearch It clarifies the terms competencies and managerial competencies then builds up

a competency models for the research

Chapter 3 – Required managerial competencies for middle managers at Transerco

This chapter provides introductive information on Transerco and requirement of topmanagers to middle managers on managerial competencies It also presents methodology

to get the requirement from top managers, including job analysis, in-depth interview andquestionnaires

Chapter 4 – Current managerial competencies of middle managers at Transerco

This chapter provides result assessment on current managerial competencies of themiddle managers at Transerco The methodology is also described, which is 360oassessment with questionnaires

Chapter 5 – Solutions to bridge the gaps between required and current managerial competencies of middle managers

This chapter presents author’s recommendation on how to bridge the gaps betweenrequired and current competencies of middle managers

References: This part names books, magazines; articles… were referred for the research Appendix: This part presents questionnaires used in the research.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

For years, businesses find it necessary to determine whether employees capable to fulfilltheir job However, the required capabilities vary from this business to others, even fromthis division to others within a company Many companies start learning to build up theirown competency models to identify their requirement on knowledge, skills, and otherpersonal characteristics of their employees Competency models are also used duringassessments of the employee’s capabilities at recruitment or training need analysis Thischapter gives out 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 wasclarified by Furnham: “the term competence is new and fashionable, but the concept isold Psychologists interested in personality and individual differences, organizationalbehaviors 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 callsomeone competent or incompetent depending on how confident we are on that person togive us satisfactory result Competency could be innate and could also be gained bylearning and practicing in life

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

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

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/ herperformance and contributes to the organizational objective The competency, therefore,includes: Knowledge, skills, abilities and other factor as value, motive, initiative and selfcontrol

Chart 2.1: The iceberg model

Source: http://www.buffalostate.edu

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 ourinteractions with others at work, school, home, and in our community at large

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

Competency – based methodology was firstly designed and applied by David McClelland - 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 notbiased by race, gender, or socio-economic factors Mc Clelland’s article appeared in theAmerican Psychologist in 1973 in the title” Testing for Competence rather than forIntelligence” has marked the key point for researching and applying “competencymodels” in businesses.

2.1.2 Competency component

As mentioned above, competency is a complex of so many factors and varies from onecompany to others, even from one division to others in one company However, as theobjective of this research the term “competency” needs to be specific and simple tomeasure So, in this thesis, the term “competency” is simply clarified in the 3 followingfactors:

or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of

a fact or situation Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation ofknowledge as "justified true belief" However, there is no single agreed definition ofknowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competingtheories

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

2.1.2.2.Skill:

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

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

2.1.2.3.Abilities:

Abilities sometime calls personal characteristics include traits, motives, values, attributes,and many others… Inside abilities, attitude plays a very important role, as it decideeffectiveness of almost other factors

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

Attitudes are composed from various forms of judgments Attitudes develop on the ABCmodel (affect, behavioral change and cognition) The affective response is aphysiological response that expresses an individual's preference for an entity Thebehavioral intention is a verbal indication of the intention of an individual The cognitiveresponse is a cognitive evaluation of the entity to form an attitude Most attitudes inindividuals 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 ofcompetencies A business may have an official competency model or not, and it mayvaried 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 ofcandidate – for recruitment & selection, or to identify the gaps that employees need tobridge – 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, incombining 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 itcan result in the big difference in competencies required for different positions.However it consumes lots of time and cost to design competency model, besides itmay 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 competencymodel It means top manager’s expectation will be the base for competency requirementbuilding process The competency process of this thesis consists of 3 steps as the follows:

Chart 2.2: Competency analysis model

Source: Author’s idea

Step 3:Recom mend solutions to bridge the

gaps

2.2.MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES

2.2.1 Functions of management

Management of a modern business organization is a complex process The term processrefers to an identifiable flow of information through interrelated stages of analysisdirected for the accomplishment of objectives Thus management as a process mayinvolve several activities or elements These activities are called the functions ofmanagement Many management experts have mentioned functions of management bystudying different organizations from different angles But there is no unanimity amongthem 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 beperformed independently, it is a complete process made up of these ingredients.” HenriFayol is the most outstanding name, who has tried to analyze the functions ofmanagement According to him, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize tocommand, to coordinate and to control.” Thus, the main activities involved in managerialfunctions are:

a Forecasting and planning

b Organizing and staffing

Planning is a mental process requiring foresight and sound judgment It involves thelaying 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 basisfor 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 Thesuccess of a plan, therefore, lies in the manager’s ability to forecast future situationscorrectly 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 isrequired to ensure effective utilization of human and non-human resources to accomplishthe 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

(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 animportant activity by which management brings together the manpower and materialresources for the accomplishment of pre-determined goals Organizing is the process ofestablishing relationships among the members of the organization This relationship iscreated in the form of authority and responsibility Each member in the organization isassigned a specific duty to perform and is granted the corresponding authority to do it Inthe words of Louis A Allen, “Organization is the process of identifying and grouping thework to be performed and dividing it among the individuals and creating authority andresponsibility relationship” among them for the accomplishment of objectives.” Theprocess 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 involvesmanning the positions created by the organization process It is concerned with the humanresources of an organization In the words of Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell, “Themanagerial function of staffing involves manning the organizational structure throughproper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the rolesdesigned 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 ofthe members of the organization for the accomplishment of the enterprise goals In thewords of George R Terry, “Directing means moving to action and supplying stimulatepower to the group.” Directing thus involves issuing instructions (or communication) tosubordinates, guiding, motivating and supervising them

2.2.1.4 Controlling

Controlling is the process of seeing whether the activities have been performed inconformity with the plans It helps the management to get its policies implemented and totake corrective actions if performance is not in accordance with the planned objectives Inthe words of E.F.L Brech, “Controlling is the process of checking actual performanceagainst the agreed standards with a view to ensuring satisfactory performance.” Theprocess 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 separatethem from another Planning provides the leases for control and control gives meaning toplanning An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations well in time and toinitiate corrective steps before the loss occurs

According to that theory, Managerial competencies can be divided into Basic andProfessional 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 beclassified 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, inquiringattitude, 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 thecapacity to perceive relationships or to do abstract thinking Basic intelligence is assessed

by the use of intelligence tests Effective Intelligence includes practical intelligence andresourcefulness

- 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 availablemeans 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 andsubordinates Social adaptability includes social intelligence, attitude towards others, tactand 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 productivethan individual effort Cooperation includes joint effort and team-spirit Team-spiritindicates loyalty to the aims and objects of the group to the extent of subordinatingindividual 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 andscope 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 isrequired of an individual and then to give it one’s energy and attention of ownaccord and (b) doing one’s best, carrying out even unspecified and probablyunforeseen duties and obligations, rather than faithfully carrying out only whatone 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 ofcooperative 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 theobject It may inspire energetic action in others towards the achievement of acommon goal

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

not of application

Risk Taking Ability: The ability to appreciate and take risks purposively It includes:

- Ability to meet appreciated dangers

- Spirit of adventure, an enterprising spirit and a willingness or desire to take risk

- Capacity to keep oneself composed in adverse situations enabling one to be steady

in facing and handling such situations

2.2.2.2.Professional (Technical /Functional) Competencies

Professional competencies encompass knowledge, skills, experience and expertise anddiffer from jobs to jobs and level of jobs and are generally learned in formal learningenvironment Some Professional competencies are defined as under:

- Strategic Vision: Conceiving an image of what the organization should be in the

future and identifying the trust areas for businesses & processes

- Business Ethics: Attitude towards upholding ethical business standards and

practices

- Customer Focus: Understanding and thinking on behalf of customers and

providing that service / product which will best serve their needs in order to helpthe customers succeed in their goals

- Goal Setting and Monitoring: Laying down desired result, which determined

individual or organizational performance, and insuring that the desired results aremet

- Multi-Functionality: Exposure to different functional areas so as to understand

inter-linkage and relationship between functions

- Entrepreneurship: Identifies opportunities to develop and market new products

and services within or outside of the organization Is willing to take risks, initiateactions that involve a deliberate risk to achieve a recognized benefit or advantage

- Facilitating Change: Initiating, actively supporting and encouraging the

adaptations an organization requires to make in its culture, processes, systemsetc., in order to meet the challenges of the internal / external environment

- Empowering: Creating an environment where a person has freedom to take

decisions and actions regarding his work, thus enabling him to assumeresponsibility and ownership of his job

- Conceptual Ability: Identifying key issues, seeing relationship and drawing

elements together into broad coherent frame works

- Critical Information Seeking: Gathering critical information from key sources

to assist problem solving

- Development of Subordinates: Developing the skills and competencies of

subordinates through training and development activities related to current andfuture jobs

- Delegation: Utilizing subordinates effectively; allocating decision making and

other responsibilities to the appropriate subordinates

- Relationship Management: The ability to establish relationships with and

influence complex networks of others whose cooperation is needed for theexecutive’s organization to succeed and over whom he or she has no formalauthority

- Technology Orientation: Operating knowledge of relevant computer packages,

their applicability and the ability to create, to access and to analyze data by usingthese applications Familiarization and anticipation of technology trends

- Team-Building: Inspires, motivates and guides others toward goal

accomplishments Consistently develops and sustains cooperative workingrelationships Encourages and facilitates cooperation within the organization andwith customer groups Fosters commitment, team-spirit, pride and trust Developsleadership in others through coaching, mentoring, rewarding and guidingemployees

- Conflict Management: Identifies and takes steps to prevent potential situations

that could result in unpleasant confrontations Manages and resolves conflicts anddisagreements in a positive and constructive manner to minimize negative impact

CHAPTER 3 REQUIRED COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE

MANAGERS AT TRANSERCO

3.1.THE CORPORATION OVERVIEW

Transerco is a state owned enterprise, which is operating under Hanoi’s People’sCommittee The Corporation has 15 subsidiaries, running business in bus service, coach

& tourism, transport infrastructure, trading The total workforce is up to 8,000, in whichdrivers and bus conductors represent the most The Corporation is planned to beprivatized in 2009 – 2010, at present the management board is working on reengineeringand enhancing the workforce as well as building up long term business strategies

3.1.1 Establishment of the Corporation

Transerco was established by Hanoi People’s Committee on 4th May, 2004 under theDecision numbered 72/2004/QĐ-UB, which merged 3 big companies and some others:

- Hanoi Public Transport and Service company

- Hanoi Bus Station management company

- Hanoi Car Park management company

- Other entities: fuel, waterway, ship building, maritime …

It is stated in the establishment decision that, Transerco would be restructured andprivatized to be a mother-children Corporation

3.1.2 Major products and services

- Passenger and good transport service; Transport agent; Tourism and service;

- Design and build up transportation vehicles;

- Trading (including importing and exporting) on transport means, spare parts,maintenance equipments, and other commodities…;

- Construction and operation on public transport and civil infrastructure (busstation, bus stop, parking station, building, apartment …);

- Training (drivers, conductors, bus operators, management officers,…)

- Financing and real-estate

3.1.3 Current structure of the company

Chart 3.1: Structure of Transerco

Source: Transerco HR department

Board of Directors

Chief Executive Officer

Executive officer

GM- city bus

transport

Executive officerGM- Infrastructure

& Trading

Executive officer

GM – Intercity transport

Hanoi SouthCoach

NewwayTourism transportPassenger JS Company

Transport and Goods service

Car-park Management Company

Urban transport JS Company

Fuel JS Company

Corporate office

Bus repair and

maintenance

Assistants and admin

Human Resource

Finance and Accounting

Bus operation

centre

Investment and Development

3.1.4 Strategic objective

Looking forward to 2020, the strategic objective of the Corporation is becoming afinancial strong corporation, in which the holding company focuses on financialinvestment The Corporation will run business on a wide range products and service,while focusing on public transport The Corporation will be having a clear corporateculture inline with national character and a strong brand and a high competitive position

3.1.5 Major figures on performance of recent years

On the business side, Transerco is not a profitable entities The ratio profit/ turnover islow at 2.8% in 2008, even it is much better than that of 2005 However, on the socio-economic aspect, it is a key stake holder in Hanoi public transportation During the period

of 2004 - 2007, the Corporation transported averagely about 300 million passengersannually, contributed very much to reducing traffic jam and environmental pollution

Table 3.1.: major business figures in the last 4 years