Improving managerial competencies of middle managers at vinh phuc power company

25 CHAPTER 2: REQUIRED AND CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS AT PC VINH PHUC .... The gaps between required and current managerial competency of middle managers at PC Vi

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS NGUYỄN NGỌC THẮNG

HÀ NỘI - 2019

DECLARATION

The author confirms that the research outcome in the thesis is the result of

author‟s independent work during study and research period and it is not yet

published in other‟s research and article

The other‟s research result and documentation (extraction, table, figure,

formula, and other document) used in the thesis are cited properly and the

permission (if required) is given

The author is responsible in front of the Thesis Assessment Committee, Hanoi

School of Business, and the laws for above-mentioned declaration

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and fore most I offer my sincerest gratitude to all Professors of Hanoi School

of Business, Vietnam National University (HSB, VNU) for giving me knowledge that is used as basement for my thesis I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Ngoc Thang whose precious patience, valuable guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject, thereby applying knowledge into real cases throughout

my thesis Without his encouragement and effort, this thesis would not have been completed or written One simply could not wish for a better or friendlier supervisor

Secondly, I would like to express my big thank to managers and employees at Vinh Phuc Power Company (PC Vinh Phuc) for their persistent support and contribution

to put all knowledge into real cases throughout this thesis

Last but not least, I offer my regards and blessings to my family, my friends and all

of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the thesis

CONTENT

ABBREVIATIONS i

LIST OF TABLES ii

LIST OF FIGURES iii

INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of research 2

3 Objects of research 3

4 Scope of research 3

5 Research methodology 3

5.1 Research process 3

5.2 Data collection 4

5.3 Data analysis method 8

6 Research structure 8

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON MANAGERIAL COMPETENCY OF MIDDLE MANAGERS 10

1.1 Nature of managerial competency 10

1.1.1 Definition of managerial competency 10

1.1.2 Middle managers and role of middle managers 11

1.1.3 Management function of middle managers 12

1.2 Literature review on competency in general 19

1.3 Managerial competency assessment for middle managers 22

1.3.1 Managerial competencies components 22

1.3.2 Managerial competency assessment methods for middle managers 25

CHAPTER 2: REQUIRED AND CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS AT PC VINH PHUC 30

2.1 General introduction of Vinh Phuc Power Company (PC Vinh Phuc) 30

2.1.1 Establishment and development history 30

2.1.2 Business performance 30

2.2 Middle manager's job analysis at PC Vinh Phuc 32

2.3 Respondent‟s profile 34

2.3.1 Gender 34

2.3.2 Age 34

2.3.3 Qualification 35

2.3.4 Working seniority 36

2.4 Analyzing required managerial competency for middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 36

2.5 Analyzing current managerial competency of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 43 2.5.1 Analyzing current knowledge of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 43

2.5.2 Analyzing current skills of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 51

2.5.3 Analyzing current attitudes of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 66

2.6 Summary of findings 72

2.6.1 The gaps between required and current managerial competency of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 72

2.6.2 Causes of gaps 79

CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE MIDDLE MANAGERS’ MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES AT PC VINH PHUC 81

3.1 The HR development orientation in five next years at PC Vinh Phuc 81

3.2 Training solution to improve the managerial competency for middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 82

3.2.1 Applying new methods for training 82

3.2.2 After training assessment 87

3.3 Non - training solutions to improve managerial competency for middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 89

3.3.1 Standardizing competency framework 89

3.3.2 Planning, recruitment, appointment, dismissal and arrangement of officials

in accordance with the competency framework 89

3.3.3 Assessing work results according to the competency framework 90

3.3.4 Enhancing dynamics in their work for middle managers 91

3.4 Conditions for the implementation of solutions 91

3.4.1 Conditions for the Board of Directors of PC Vinh Phuc 91

3.4.2 Conditions for the General Director of PC Vinh Phuc 92

3.4.3 Conditions for middle managers 92

CONCLUSION AND LIMITATION 93

1 Conclusion 93

2 Limitation 94

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ASSESSING REQUIRED MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES 97

APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ASSESSING CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES 101

ABBREVIATIONS

BOD : Board of Directors

EVN : Vietnam Electricity

HSB : Hanoi School of Business

KSA : Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes

VNU : Vietnam National University

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Survey‟s respondents 7

Table 2: No of survey‟s responses for required competencies 7

Table 3: No of survey‟s responses for current competencies 8

Table 2.1: Competency framework for middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 37

Table 2.2: Required competency of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 41

Table 2.3: Current knowledge of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 44

Table 2.4: Current skills of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 51

Table 2.5: Current attitudes of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 66

Table 2.6: Overall assessment of managerial competence of the middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 73

Table 3.1: Proposed content of training courses 84

Table 3.2: Kirkpatrick model for evaluation effectiveness of training programs 87

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Research process 4

Figure 1.1: Definition of Competency 23

Figure 2.1: Respondents‟ profile by gender 34

Figure 2.2: Respondents‟ profile by age 34

Figure 2.3: Respondents‟ profile by qualification 35

Figure 2.4: Respondents‟ profile by working seniority 36

Figure 2.5: Current situation of Fundamental knowledge 45

Figure 2.6: Current situation of knowledge of the market and the law 47

Figure 2.7: Current situation of Knowledge of management 49

Figure 2.8: Current situation of Time management skills 54

Figure 2.9: Current situation of Solving problem and making decision 56

Figure 2.10: Current situation of Consulting skills 58

Figure 2.11: Current situation of Monitoring skills 59

Figure 2.12: Current situation of Teamwork skills 60

Figure 2.13: Current situation of Communication skills 61

Figure 2.14: Current situation of HR skills 63

Figure 2.15: Current situation of Change management skills 64

Figure 2.16: Current situation of Aware of authorities 67

Figure 2.17: Current situation of Attitudes to the work 69

Figure 2.18: Current situation of Attitudes to self-improvement and personal development 70

Figure 2.19: The gap between required and current managerial competencies of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc 76

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Competencies are behaviors a person displays in order to translate the knowledge and skills and leverage the traits to deliver a performance on the job Competencies are related to a given job function Hence, different jobs will require different competencies Competencies are the application of all that people know and can do Almost all employers describe a job function in terms of competencies and results required Also, almost all employee appraisal forms will attempt to grade people in terms of competencies on some scale

As mentioned above, competency is very important, especially managerial competency Middle managers in all sectors in general and in power industry in particular operate in an increasingly complex and challenging market economy environment and have multiple accountabilities and roles Middle managers of today and tomorrow, regardless of their job role, need to be accountable, ethical, manage relationships and resources, and deliver quality outcomes

In this thesis, the author mainly focuses on managerial competencies of middle managers at Vinh Phuc Power Company Vinh Phuc Power Company (PC Vinh Phuc) is a unit of Power Company No 1 - Electricity of Vietnam (now Northern Power Corporation - Electricity of Vietnam) PC Vinh Phuc separated a part of material, technical and human facilities of EVN and came into operation on April 1,

1997 according to Decision No 245/DVN-TCCB-LD dated March 14, 1997 of Electricity of Vietnam on the establishment of PC Vinh Phuc PC Vinh Phuc is responsible for supplying power to meet the economic, cultural, social, political and life needs of people living in Vinh Phuc Province

As far as the author‟s concern, middle managers play a very important role in the operation structure and system of PC Vinh Phuc However, although they have good qualifications and much experience, some middle managers seem not to do a good job at the workplace According to Mrs Tran Thi Hai, one of middle

managers working at PC Vinh Phuc, some employees make complaint that their direct bosses appear to listen to their concerns, but fail to take action to deal with Moreover, many middle managers cannot effectively manage performance and execution within their teams, but they still achieve the set objects in an extremely disruptive way, such as failing to involve employees in decisions that affect their work, or inability to provide employees with professional development opportunities or feedback on their performance Mr Phan Thanh Giang, an employee working at PC Vinh Phuc, argued: „Some middle managers do not effectively demonstrate self-awareness, they seem to operate in their own world and are unable to develop relationships with others in the company.‟ The situation can

be represented by the fact that a rather large number of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc are completely unaware of their weaknesses or shortcomings, they do not understand the impact of their behavior on others, or they make decisions and take actions aimed at the own best interests At the meeting of PC Vinh Phuc held on June 8, 2018, the board of directors pointed out the cause for the weakness that is because those middle managers do not have enough competency encompassing knowledge, skills and attitude to meet the demand of work All of the above reasons lead to the ultimate need to analyze the gap between required and current managerial competencies of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc, then find out solutions to improve their competencies Thus, the author decides to choose the

topic ‘Improving managerial competencies of middle managers at Vinh Phuc

Power Company’ for the master thesis

2 Aims of research

This research aims to achieve the following objectives:

 Identify the requirements of managerial competencies of middle managers at

PC Vinh Phuc

 Analyze current managerial competencies and identify the gap between required and current managerial competencies of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc

 Propose solutions and recommendations to improve managerial competencies

of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc

Secondary data were collected within three years (2016 – 2018)

Primary data were collected from September 2018

 Recommendations were proposed for the period of 2018 – 2020

PC Vinh Phuc‟s report,

policies, regulations, job

descriptions, analysis, etc

Primary data - In-depth

interview: PV Vinh Phuc

senior manager ideas‟ on

middle managers competencies

Figure 1: Research process

Source: Author (2018)

5.2 Data collection

The author used both secondary data and primary data to find out the requirements

of managerial competencies and current managerial competencies of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc

5.2.1 Secondary data

Secondary data were collected from the following resources:

From documents, reports, policies, regulations, labor agreements, job descriptions: show the strategy and objectives of the organization, the financial status, the job description and the performance of middle managers

Other articles on newspapers, journals, books, magazines related to competency subject

+ Interviewees: Senior managers at PC Vinh Phuc:

+ Number of interviewees: 3

+ Interviewing method: The author held a meeting to interview them directly During the interview, the author gave questions based on listed or prepared questions Based on their opinions and comments, the author collected and took note for information

+ Objective of in-depth interview: In order to understand more about the company‟s information, required managerial competencies of middle managers, current managerial competencies assessment methods, senior managers‟ evaluation of middle managers‟ managerial competencies and their solutions

 Survey:

With the quantitative method, three surveyed questionnaires were conducted to analyzed required and current managerial competencies of middle managers at PC Vinh Phuc

+ Respondents: Senior managers, middle managers and employees working at PC Vinh Phuc The senior managers are respondents of the survey because they are the ones who directly assign works to middle managers, which helps them be able to assess managerial competencies of middle managers accurately Middle managers are respondents of the survey because the study focuses on managing their managerial competencies Employees are respondents of the survey, because they are the ones who commonly and directly work with middle managers; therefore, they have accurate and fair assessment and evaluation on the managerial competencies of middle managers

- For senior managers

Respondents: Senior managers were taken based on the criterion of respondents‟ willingness The author invited 10 senior managers to participate into the survey Questionnaire design: Questionnaire for senior managers was designed into two main sections It starts with a general guidance for the survey Then respondents moved to personal information and assessment towards the research topic Therefore, senior managers made assessment for their direct employees, who are the heads and vice heads of departments or divisions

- For middle managers

Respondents: All 120 middle managers working at PC Vinh Phuc were taken to give survey

Questionnaire design: Based on the factors in the research model, the questionnaire for middle managers was designed into two main sections The questionnaire started with a general guidance for the survey Then respondents moved to personal information and assessment towards the research topic Therefore, middle managers conducted self-assessment and assessment for their colleagues

- For employees

Respondents: Employees were chosen based on the method of convenience sampling The author required 70 employees to be able to participate into the survey

Questionnaire design: Similar to questionnaire for middle managers, the questionnaire for employees was designed into two main sections The questionnaire started with a general guidance for the survey Then respondents moved to personal information and assessment towards the research topic Therefore, employees made assessment for their direct managers, who are the heads

and vice heads of their departments or divisions

Table 1: Survey’s respondents

The number of survey‟s responses obtained are as follows:

Table 2: No of survey’s responses for required competencies

No Respondent Planned response Actual response %

Total 100%

Source: Data from survey (2018)

Table 3: No of survey’s responses for current competencies

No Respondent Planned response Actual response %

Source: Data from survey (2018)

5.3 Data analysis method

Both of interviews and survey of questionnaire‟s data were analyzed using table, graph, and comparison On the other hand, it is effectively to use descriptive statistics in the study due to this analysis, which is the most common and fundamental data analysis in academic studies, including such as percentage (%), frequency (f) and means

Furthermore, the author used Excel software as tool to carry descriptive statistics as well as drawing table and graphs Using percentage (%), frequency (f) and means is that if an element has a low means, it means that the element is weak and needs to

be improved

From those analyzed data, it was able to draw some results Based on them, it was possible to formulate some conclusions and solutions to improve middle managers‟ managerial competencies at PC Vinh Phuc

6 Research structure

The research was divided into three main chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Theoretical background on managerial competency of middle managers Chapter 2: Required and current managerial competencies of middle managers at

PC Vinh Phuc

Chapter 3: Solutions and recommendations to improve middle managers‟ managerial competencies at PC Vinh Phuc

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON MANAGERIAL COMPETENCY OF

MIDDLE MANAGERS

1.1 Nature of managerial competency

1.1.1 Definition of managerial competency

The first definition of management competency was presented by Boyatzis (1982) with clusters of competencies as “A competency that exists in a person that leads to behavior that meets the job demands within parameters of organizational environment, and that, in tum brings about desired results”

After that, there are some definitions from different researches According to Albanese (1989) “Competencies are personal characteristics that contribute to effective managerial performance”, while Hayes (1979) presented “Competencies are generic knowledge motive, trait, social role or a skill of a person linked to superior performance on the job”

According to Mansfield (1996), over the past years, human resource and organizational development professionals have generated a lot of interest in the notion of competencies as a key element and measure of human performance Competencies are becoming a frequently-used and written-about means for organizational applications such as:

- Defining the factors for a success of jobs (i.e., work) and work roles within the organization

- Assessing the current performance and future development needs of persons holding jobs and roles

- Mapping succession possibilities for employees within the organization

- Assigning compensation grades and levels to concrete jobs and roles

- Selecting applicants for open positions, using competency-based interviewing techniques

1.1.2 Middle managers and role of middle managers

Middle management consists of any layer of supervisors at an organization that acts

as a buffer between the top management and non-management workers These managers encompass a variety of titles and roles but share many common duties A middle manager is found in nearly every sector of business, including white-collar jobs, factories, government and the service industry Many times, the middle management‟s job involves handling the flow of information both from upper management to the workers and from the workers up to the members of the senior management staff (DNR Competency Based Hiring, 2007)

Middle management can hold a very specific niche within an organization, for example, an accounting manager that oversees a group of lower accountants and reports to an owner It can also be more broader, such as a manager who oversees all departments and reports to a boss In larger organizations, there also can be several layers of middle management, meaning that one middle manager is in a chain of command that requires him or her to report to a middle manager at a higher level

The primary responsibility of middle managers is to keep the organization moving forward its objectives and making profits so that members of the senior management level can focus on larger decisions about budgets, goals and vision Maintaining worker productivity is a large responsibility for middle managers, and often the productivity standards are set by senior management level Maintaining employee‟s satisfaction is another duty of middle management, meaning that middle managers must work with disgruntled workers to solve problems and reward hard work and success to keep members of the workforce happy A middle manager also must help new employees and managers to understand their jobs and responsibilities A manager must understand all of the jobs belonging to them such

as, what is expectation of those jobs and how to report to upper management appropriately (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2007)

Communication is often the largest responsibility of members of the middle management Most often, when new goals, initiatives or rules are created by upper management level, they are passed to the middle manager for distribution to the workers A middle manager must interpret these changes and effectively communicate them to the workers and answer questions that might arise

A less common, but still important, role of a middle manager is communicating information in to the upper management When workers are unhappy or have suggestions that cannot be solved by middle management, it is that manager‟s responsibility to speak with the organization‟s leaders

The middle manager must know the appropriate way to approach members of the upper management level to express this concern (Bui, 2014)

1.1.3 Management function of middle managers

The most commonly cited functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, although there are several additional functions should be taken into consideration These functions provide a useful way of classifying information about management, and most basic texts since the 1950s, Henri Fayol was the first person to identify elements or functions of management in his classic

1916 book “Administration Industrielle et Generale” Fayol was the managing director of a large French coal-mining firm and based his book largely on his experiences as a practitioner of management Fayol defined five functions, or elements of management: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling Fayol argued that these functions are universal, in the sense that all managers performed them in the course of their jobs, whether the managers worked

in business, military, government, religions, or philanthropic undertakings

Fayol defined planning in terms of forecasting future conditions, setting objectives, and developing means to attain objectives Fayol recognized that effective planning must also take into account unexpected contingencies that might arise and did not advocate rigid and inflexible plans Fayol defined organizing as making provision

for the structuring of activities and relationships within the firm and also the recruiting, evaluation, and training of personnel (Fayol, 1916)

According to Fayol, commanding as a managerial function concerned the personal supervision of employees and involved inspiring them to put forth unified effort to achieve objectives Fayol emphasized the importance of managers understanding the people who worked for them, setting a good example, treating employees in a manner consistent with firm policy, delegating, and communicating through meetings and conferences

Fayol considered the function of coordination as harmonizing all of the various activities of the firm Most later, experts did not retain Fayol‟s coordination function as a separate function of management but regarded it as a necessary component of all the other management functions Fayol defined the control function in terms of ensuring that everything occurs within the parameters of the plan and accompanying principles The purpose of control was to identify deviations from objectives and plans and to take corrective action (Fayol, 1916) Fayol‟s work was not widely known outside Europe until 1949, when a translation

of his work appeared in the United States Nevertheless, his discussion of the practice of management as a process consisting of specific functions had a tremendous influence on early management texts that appeared in the 1950s

Some authors such as Hayes (1979), Kirkpatrick (1994) or Nguyen (2014) all have works that defined management as a process consisting of a set of interdependent functions Collectively, these and several other management experts became identified with what came to be known as the process school of management

According to the process school, management is a distinct intellectual activity consisting of several functions The process theorists believe that all managers, regardless of their industry, organization, or level of management, engage in the functions of management The process school of management became a dominant paradigm for studying management and the functions of management became the most common way of describing the nature of managerial work

Criticism of the functional approach to management

By the early 1970s, some experts suggested that the functions of management as described by Fayol and others of the process school of management were not an accurate description of the reality of managers‟ jobs Chief among the critics of the functional approach was Henry Mintzberg

Mintzberg argued that the functional or process school of management was

“folklore” and that functions of management such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling did not accurately depict the chaotic nature of managerial work He felt that the functional approach to the managerial job falsely conveyed a sense that managers carefully and deliberately evaluated information before making management decisions (Roe, 2002)

Based upon an observational study of five executives, Mintzberg concluded that the work managers actually performed could best be represented by three sets of roles,

or activities: interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decision-making roles He described the interpersonal roles as consisting of figurehead, leader, and liaison He identified three informational roles: monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson Finally, he described four decision-making roles that included entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocation, and negotiator

Mintzberg‟s challenge to the usefulness of the functions of management and the process school attracted a tremendous amount of attention and generated several empirical studies designed to determine whether his or Fayol‟s description of the managerial job was most accurate While this research did indicate that managers performed at least some of the roles Mintzberg identified, there was little in the findings that suggested that the functions of management were not a useful way of describing managerial work (Wynne & Stringer, 1997)

Scholars continue to debate this question Research by David Lamond suggests that both approaches had some validity, with Fayol‟s approach describing the ideal management job and Mintzberg describing the day-to-day activities of managers Thus, the general conclusion seems to be that while Mintzberg offered a genuine

insight into the daily activities of practicing managers, the functions of management still provides a very useful way of classifying the activities managers engage in as they attempt to achieve organizational goals (Mansfield, 1996)

Planning

Planning is the function of management that involves setting objectives and determining a course of action for achieving these objectives Planning requires that managers be aware of environmental conditions facing their organization and forecast future conditions It also requires that managers be good decision-makers Planning is a process consisting of several steps The process begins with environmental scanning, which simply means that planners must be aware of the critical contingencies facing their organization in terms of economic conditions, their competitors, and their customers Planners must then attempt to forecast future conditions These forecasts form the basis for planning (Craig, 1996)

Planners must establish objectives, which are statements of what needs to be achieved and when Planners must then identify alternative courses of action for achieving objectives After evaluating the various alternatives, planners must make decisions about the best courses of action for achieving objectives They must then formulate necessary steps and ensure effective implementation of plans Finally, planners must constantly evaluate the success of their plans and take corrective action when necessary

Organizing

Organizing is the function of management that involves developing an organizational structure and allocating human resources to ensure the accomplishment of objectives The structure of the organization is the framework within which effort is coordinated The structure is usually represented by an organization chart, which provides a graphic representation of the chain of command within an organization Decisions made about the structure of an organization are generally referred to as “organizational design” decisions (Boyatzis, 1982)

Organizing also involves the design of individual jobs within the organization Decisions must be made about the duties and responsibilities of individual jobs as well as the manner in which the duties should be carried out Decisions made about the nature of jobs within the organization are generally called “job design” decisions

Organizing at the level of the organization involves deciding how best to departmentalize, or cluster jobs into departments to effectively coordinate effort There are many different ways to departmentalize, including organizing by function, product, geography or customer Many larger organizations utilize multiple methods of departmentalization Organizing at the level of job involves how best to design individual jobs to most effectively use human resources (Albanese, 1989)

Traditionally, job design was based on principles of division of labor and specialization, which assumed that the more narrow the job content, the more proficient the individual performing the job could become However, experience has shown that it is possible for jobs to become too narrow and specialized When this happens, negative outcomes result, including decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment and increased absenteeism and turnover

Recently many organizations have attempted to strike a balance between the need for worker specialization and the need for workers to have jobs that entail variety and autonomy Many jobs are now designed based on such principles as job enrichment and teamwork (Badea, 2014)

Leading

Leading involves influencing others toward the attainment of organizational objectives Effective leading requires the manager to motivate employees, communicate effectively, and effectively use power If managers are effective leaders, their employees will be enthusiastic about exerting effort toward the attainment of organizational objectives

To become effective at leading, managers must first understand their employees‟ personalities, values, attitudes, and emotions Therefore, the behavioral sciences have made many contributions to the understanding of this function of management Personality research and studies of job attitudes provide important information as to how managers can most effectively lead employees (Abraham et al., 2001)

Studies of motivation and motivation theory provide important information about the ways in which workers can be energized to put forth productive effort Studies

of communication provide direction as to how managers can effectively and persuasively communicate Studies of leadership and leadership style provide information regarding questions such as, “What makes a manager a good leader?” and “In what situations are certain leadership styles most appropriate and effective?”

Controlling

Controlling involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards Controlling consists of three steps, which include establishing performance standards, comparing actual performance against standards, and taking corrective action when necessary Performance standards are often stated in monetary terms such as revenue, costs, or profits, but may also be stated in other terms, such as units produced, number of defective products, or levels of customer service (Abraham et al., 2001)

The measurement of performance can be done in several ways, depending on the performance standards, including financial statements, sales reports, production results, customer satisfaction, and formal performance appraisals Managers at all levels engage in the managerial function of controlling to some degree

The managerial function of controlling should not be confused with control in the behavioral or manipulative sense This function does not imply that managers should attempt to control or manipulate the personalities, values, attitudes, or emotions of their employees Instead, this function of management concerns the manager‟s role in taking necessary actions to ensure that the work-related activities

of employees are consistent with and contributing toward the accomplishment of organizational and departmental objectives (Badea, 2014)

Effective controlling requires the existence of plans, since planning provides the necessary performance standards or objectives Controlling also requires a clear understanding of where responsibility for deviations from standards lies Two traditional control techniques are the budget and the performance audit Although controlling is often thought of in terms of financial criteria, managers must also control production/operations processes, procedures for delivery of services, compliance with organization policies, and many other activities within the organization

The management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are widely considered to be the best means of describing the manager‟s job as well as the best way to classify accumulated knowledge about the study of management Although there have been tremendous changes in the environment faced by managers and the tools used by managers to perform their roles, managers still perform these essential functions (Bui, 2014)

1.2 Literature review on competency in general

According to Bui Thi Thu Ha (2014) in her master thesis related to working competencies for credit officers in Thang Long Branch of VP Bank, based on theoretical framework of competency, competency model and competency assessment process, primary and secondary data are used in this research The primary data were collected by in-depth interviews and surveys, secondary data were collected from the organization reports, regulation, internet, magazines The thesis applied KSA (Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes) competency model like as theoretical framework After concerning about advantages and disadvantages of some assessment competency method, the author decided that 360 degree feedback assessment method is suitable to assess credit officer‟s working competencies in the thesis The thesis find out that credit officers in Thang Long branch has some strong points such as: professional knowledge, professional skill, customer focus, good

professional ethics, honest, truthfulness and probity The big gaps exist in factor such as: negotiation skill, teamwork, and work well under pressure From current situation and result of interviews, author concludes they do not have suitable motivation policies for credit officers, lack of suitable training courses, lack of social activities and recruitment, key performance indicators does not complete For enhancing the working competencies, based on the result off in-depth interview and survey, gaps between required and current working competencies It is expected that these solution can somehow support to improve credit officer‟s working competencies

Nguyen Thuy Linh (2014) applied KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Attitude) competency model and competency assessment method (360 degree Feedback) in her master thesis to analyze sales force competency at business center of Advanced Network Systems Vietnam Organization Limited In this research, the author used both primary and secondary data for analysis Primary data were collected by in-depth interview and questionnaires Secondary data were collected mostly from the organization and Business Centre‟s policies, regulations, reports and organization figures Based on the literature foundation of sales people‟s competencies, the author conducted structured-interview and in-depth interview to identify necessary competencies and required level of competencies for sales staff to complete their job In next step, the author conducted the survey of managers and sales staff at the Business Center and customer Total 89 questionnaires were sent for this survey and

82 received back, taking account for 92% of total questionnaires sent The result of these assessment methods reflected the real gaps between required and current competencies of sales staff at the Business Center The thesis find out that sales staff at the Business Center has some strong points, such as professional knowledge, professional skill, customer focus, good professional ethics, honest, truthfulness and probity The big gaps exist in factor, such as product knowledge, technical knowledge, regulation and policy, relationship building, problem solving, negotiation skill, speaking and writing skill in English, time management skill,

positive attitude and enthusiasm The reasons of these weaknesses are lacking detail job description, bias in recruitment system, inaccurate performance assessment, motivation policies, training plan, etc Basing on these findings, the thesis suggested some recommendations for addressing the gap between the current and the required competencies of sale force The author focused on two solutions including training solutions and non-training solutions The training solutions comprise of courses (including 9 short supplementary programs) to improve competencies with the biggest gaps In non-training solutions, the thesis suggested some solutions to improve competencies of sales force including: revise the job description, develop a clear and fair recruitment process, develop performance appraisal process, improve motivation policies

Badea (2014) stated that the new alternatives of collaboration implies a deep analysis of competencies of supply chain actors and involves a good partnership amongst supply chain partners through exchange of information, resources and allocation of specific roles It is considered to be important finding mutually profitable cooperation models that support staff essential educational training for a good supply chain collaboration One of the concepts that helps educational courses

to improve training in collaboration between partners it is use to identify new challenges that requires competencies in supply chain The methodology is based on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes model (KSAs) and it is use to support competency training in collaborative supply chain Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSA) are considered part of the three domains identified in the educational styles

of learning activities The KSAs were selected to enable supply chain professionals, regardless of work setting, to identify areas of training needed in order to become proficient in the competencies required to address their areas of responsibilities in supply chain More specifically this paper presents the learning process in a collaborative buyer-supplier relationship and the development of shared knowledge, skills and attitudes in supply chain relations The model applied present that supply chain actors need to have the ability to understand the information to perform the

right task and demonstrate that stimulating internal drivers provide answers for a good collaboration between partners The paper also pointed out that the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (KSAs) model represents an important step forward in providing preparedness training for managers in supply chain Knowing that most of the supply chain organizations and staff in supply chain have core competencies in different risk management programs is sometimes very difficult and critical to be prepared and response to all-hazards events Within an organization interactions the distribution of responsibilities, resources and power between people, can critically affect that organization willingness and competency

to comply with work regulation Also, inspecting and enforcing among all players

in supply chain through coordinated, networked interventions may be needed to overcome constraints to compliance After the final results was obtained the research team observed that a higher importance is allocated to Domain 1 and Domain 2 The next step for a future research is to develop a model that focus competencies for collaborative problem solving and competencies for communicate and manage information inside the supply chain organization and between supply chain partners

1.3 Managerial competency assessment for middle managers

1.3.1 Managerial competencies components

Competencies which are considered essential for employees with managerial or supervisory responsibility in any functional area including directors and senior posts The competencies are observable or measurable knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) and these KSA‟s must distinguish between superior and other performers

Competency = Knowledge + Skills + Attitude

by experience of a fact or situation 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

In glance, it refers to a context of information relevant to job performance such as before performing a job people have to have knowledge of policies and procedures For trade and service staffs, knowledge is perception about domestic and international business, economic trends, competitors, service process, national and international laws, regulations, etc (Abraham et al., 2001)

In the managers‟ point of view, skill is also the practice of understanding implemented skills management should identify the skills that job roles require, the skills of individual employees, and the gap between two of these (Badea, 2014)

Well- Attitudes

Attitudes refer to both behaviors and styles of people It may contain manual dexterity, visual and conceptual thinking Sometime it is called as personal characteristics include traits, motives, styles, personalities, values, attributes, and many others Attitude plays a very important role, as it decides effectiveness of almost other factors (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2007)

Attitudes are composed from various forms of judgments 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

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 (Bui, 2014)

1.3.2 Managerial competency assessment methods for middle managers

 Managerial competency model

A traditional assessment for managerial competency model was used for a long time In this model, managers interview and discuss with the employees for their work performances, usually it has been carried out annually or biennial This discussion is based on the managers‟ observations of the employees‟ abilities and performances of task noting in the job description In reality, an organization uses competency model to identify the current competency of candidate for recruitment and selection, or to identify the gaps that employees need to bridge for career development or promotion (Craig, 1996)

The competency model is a description if those competencies possessed by the top performers in a specific job In another way, a competency model is like a blueprint for striking performance Therefore, as a top manager in an organization or an organization, competency model can help to improve the selection of people for jobs; develop skills and characteristics that lead to enhance effectiveness and productivity; provide a consistent framework for human resources applications; and build alignment with organizational value and strategy

Competency model has two mainly common types (DNR Competency Based Hiring, 2007):

The “single-job” managerial competency model: is like a list of requirements and achievements that the job holders must meet and reach for one specific job only The “one-size-fit-all” managerial competency model: is like a standard for all the applications and basing on this model, the human resource professionals seek and find the appropriate candidates for the jobs

However, the “one-size-fit-all” competency model is no longer used popularly It has many disadvantages causing detriment to the quality of recruitment and applications (Kirkpatrick, 1994)

 Managerial competency methods

The importance of competency assessment is not only the thing based on this, organization‟s leaders that could find the right employees but also is tied to salary offers After studying, the author mentions below four widely used methods for competency assessment:

+ Employee competency assessment

This assessment allows the employees of middle managers to give their comments and to express their satisfactions about the jobs, the results and the interaction between them and middle managers This method is quite effective because of a deep understanding and experiences which the employees have with their middle managers Their comments sometimes can be used as requirements for middle managers

However, there are also some drawbacks of this method Employees assessment could be incorrect because of the misunderstanding between employees and middle managers about the purpose, strategy or working process (Nguyen, 2014)

+ Superior competency assessment

Despite of different departments or responsibilities that employees (or particularly middle managers in this thesis) are holding, they are at the same community and the body of the organization Hence, if someone does not meet the required competency for his jobs, this could lead to the failure of others‟ works According to this, senior

managers themselves have a lot of experiences and much time to understand each other so they could certainly give the appraisals for individual employee

Nevertheless, sometimes the assessments are too harsh due to the high requirements that they put in others More seriously, after failures or mistakes, they possibly have

a trend to put the blame on others (NYS Department of Civil Service and NYS Governor‟s Office of Employee Relations, 2002)

+ 360 degree competency assessment

This is the system in which assessment is archived by collecting feedback from many individuals namely, the BOD, different middle managers, employees from all the departments, external customers, and middle managers themselves In this sense, 360 degree competency assessment is like a jury in a court and the assessment depending on this is more correct, more independent, and more legitimate It also encourages middle managers much more accountable to their various internal and external people because these people could have feedback on their competency (Roe, 2002)

But this method takes much time to be done and therefore it is quite expensive to have a complete 360 degree assessment Organizations have to invest time and money not only in doing this appraisal but also in training for all employees so that they have sufficient knowledge and skills to do this assessment (Wynne & Stringer, 1997)

 Method of selection

After study on different competency assessments, the author selects the assessment method that includes senior managers, middle managers themselves and their employees because of the following reasons:

Senior managers are the people who directly assign works to middle managers They obviously have their own satisfaction and observation for each middle manager They can interact, question, and supervise middle managers‟ attitude, responsibilities, ideas, contributions, etc Thus, their appraisal is very important (Milkovich & Boudreau, 2002)

Middle managers themselves have the own awareness of their ability They know their weak points and try hard to fill the gaps in their own knowledge or ability By surveying, it is able to know more about them by their answers

As mentioned above, employees are the staffs who are directly under the directions, assignments and advices of middle managers Thus, this is necessary to collect the employees‟ comments and appraisals on their direct managers (United States Offices of Personnel Management, 1999)

 Managerial competency assessment process

The assessment process applying for this study could be divided into 4 steps as below:

+ Step I

Create a position profile: describing “middle manager” in term of competency, required knowledge and skills for the most successfully performance and the proficiency level required Aims of this step are to determine necessary competences for middle managers to complete their works Based on job analysis and depth interviewing with the Board of Management and department managers, the competences of middle managers are determined (Nguyen, 2014)

+ Step III

Identify the gaps: any current competencies, knowledge or skill that lowers than required competencies are identified Based on results from the second step, rate of assessment of middle managers‟ current competences was processed by Excel

application At the same time, identifying the gaps between current competency and required competency (Bui, 2014)

+ Step IV

Develop a training plan in order to reduce the gaps between the required level and the current level of those competences How can improve competency to catch up requirements? Suggested solutions were provided in this thesis in order to reduce the gaps of competency of middle managers, that is an important objective of this study (Bui, 2014)

CHAPTER 2 REQUIRED AND CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF

MIDDLE MANAGERS AT PC VINH PHUC

2.1 General introduction of Vinh Phuc Power Company (PC Vinh Phuc)

2.1.1 Establishment and development history

Vinh Phuc Power Company is a unit of Power Company No 1 - Vietnam Electricity (now Northern Power Corporation - Vietnam Electricity) Separated partially with material, technical and human facilities of Vinh Phu Power and having come into operation on April 1, 1997 according to Decision No 245/DVN-TCCB-LD dated March 14, 1997 by Vietnam Power Corporation on establishing Vinh Phuc Power Vinh Phuc Power Company is responsible for supplying power

to meet the economic, cultural, social, political and life needs of people living in Vinh Phuc Province

The production and business strategy of Vinh Phuc Power Company from 2010 to

2020 will focus on developing power production and trading to ensure safety, stability and meet the needs of Vinh Phuc Province with a strong political system with comprehensive strength Over more than twenty years of construction and development, Vinh Phuc Power Company has step by step confirmed its position and role in the development of the industry and in Vinh Phuc Province In the integration period, the demand for industrialization and modernization of the country requires that Vinh Phuc Power Company in general and every employee of Vinh Phuc Power Company in particular is developing rapidly, timely and uniformly to meet the demand for power of Vinh Phuc Province

2.1.2 Business performance

In terms of customer service activities, the professional operations of Vinh Phuc Power Company always follow strictly the provisions of the Law on Electricity, the power business process and guiding documents of Northern Power Corporation State policy changes are widely reported on the mass media to all power users