Managerial competencies of middle level managers at the viglacera corporation

The Dissertation of TA PHUNG PHUC entitled MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERS AT THE VIGLACERA CORPORATION Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the De

AT THE VIGLACERA CORPORATION

_

A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The Dissertation of

TA PHUNG PHUC

entitled

MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERS

AT THE VIGLACERA CORPORATION

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

A program jointly offered by Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines and Thai Nguyen University,

Socialist Republic of Vietnam has been approved by Oral Examination Committee

MILO O PLACINO, Ph.D

Chairman

Accepted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Business Administration

The author hereby declares that this is his own research and all the

information used is totally reliable

This study provides information on the competencies of the workforce

of the Viglacera Corporation especially on the level of middle management

The author believes that the results of study will be very helpful in articulating

the need for competency development of the company’s middle managers in

order to sustain the quality of its services to customers

More so, he considers the study useful to the Viglacera Board of

Directors in its effort to continuously review its workforce and recommend

strategies for more appropriate human resources development for the

company

Having that idea in mind, the author strongly believes that this research

is the first of its kind in Vietnam and hope that SOEs will benefit from this

study especially in providing competency standards for its workforce

Again, the author commits that all findings and conclusions of this

research are not copied from any other study and that results of this study

have never been published in public media

The Author

The author wishes to express his sincerest thanks to the Management

and Board of the Thai Nguyen University (TNU) and the Southern Luzon State

University (SLSU) who have organized an exchange program for students of

both

Also his sincerest thanks to all the lecturers and associates of SLSU

and TNU, who were instrumental in his pursuit for an advanced degree in

business administration Special thank is extended to Dr Cecilia N Gascon,

his adviser, who despite of her very busy schedule had given him valuable

support and guidance throughout this study

Lastly, and most of all, he is grateful to the Board of Management of

Viglacera Corporation for their encouragement and generous support during

the conduct of the study which made possible the completion of this

dissertation

I dedicate my dissertation work to my family and many friends A

special feeling of gratitude to my loving parents, Phan Ta and Hau Phung Thi

whose words of encouragement and push for tenacity ring in my ears My

sisters Ha Ta Phu, Hang Ta Thi have never left my side and are very special

I also dedicate this dissertation to my many friends who have

supported me throughout the process I will always appreciate all they have

done, especially Ms Hai Yen for helping me conduct the survey, Yen Nguyen

Huu for the many hours of proofreading, and Annie from TNU for helping me

to meet the dissertation deadlines

I dedicate this work and give special thanks to my significant half Van

Do, my wonderful daughter Hanh Ta and my son Hoang Ta for being there for

me throughout the entire doctorate program Three of you have been my best

supporters

TITLE PAGE ……… i

APPROVAL SHEET ……… ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……… iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……… iv

DEDICATION ……… v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… vi

LIST OF TABLES ……… viii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… x

LIST OF APPENDICES ……… xi

LIST OF ACRONYMS ……… xii

ABSTRACT ……… xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Introduction ……… 1

Statement of the Problem ……… 3

Objectives of the Study ……… 8

Significance of the Study ……… 8

Scope and Limitation of the Study ……… 9

Definition of Terms ……… 10

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Review of Literature … ……….……… 12

Conceptual Framework of the Study ……… 33

III METHODOLOGY Locale of Study ……… 35

Research Design ……… 35

Respondents ……… 36

Data Gathering Procedure ……… … 36

Analysis of Data ……… … …….…… 37

V SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATION

Summary of Findings ……… 67

Conclusions ……… 68

Recommendations ……… 70

BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… 77

APPENDICES ……… 84

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ……… 117

TABLE PAGE

2 Required Business Awareness Competency for

16 Current Setting Priorities Competency of Middle-Level

FIGURE PAGE

1 Organizational Structure of the Viglacera Corporation …… 2

2 Viglacera’s Multi-Sector Group of Companies ……… 3

3 Viglacera’s Companies’ Capital Rates ……… 4

4 Viglacera’s Edifice and Its Marketing Performance ………… 5

5 Viglacera’s Competetive Advantages ……… 6

6 Strengths and Weaknesses in HRM of Viglacera ……… 7

7 Opportunities and Threats in HRM of Viglacera ……… 7

8 Iceberg Model of Competency ……… 14

9 Competency Analysis Model ……… 21

10 Circle of Management ……… 22

11 Conceptual Framework on the Analysis of the Middle-Level Managers of Viglacera ……… 33

12 Required and Current Managerial Competencies of Middle-Level Managers of Viglacera ……… 63

13 Viglacera’s Competency Needs Analysis ……… 65

14 Required Competencies for Middle Managers ……….… 67

15 Viglacera’s Business Development Strategy Until 2020 …… 68

16 Viglacera’s Corporate Core Values ……… 69

APPENDIX PAGE

A Questionnaire Form for Identifying Requirement

on Managerial Competencies of Middle Managers 85

B Questionnaire Form for Assessing Current Managerial

AQL Acceptable Quality Level

SLSU Southern Luzon State University

SWOT Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

VIGLACERA Vietnam Glass and Ceramic Corporation

Title of Research : MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF

MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERS OF THE VIGLACERA CORPORATION

Degree Conferred : DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Name and Address

of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University Lucban, Quezon, Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Year Written : 2013 – 2014

Like in most businesses, middle-level managers at Viglacera

Corporation are important workforce in helping achieve its organizational

strategic goals and objectives They contribute valuable ideas in mapping out

strategies for the successful implementation of its corporate plans

Middle-level managers should be equipped with managerial

competencies which are vital in the development and growth of the

organization According to management theories, managerial competencies

include skills, knowledge, self- concept, traits and motives of people

The Viglacera Corporation top management considers the following 12

core competencies important for its middle-level managers to attain

organizational goals and objectives These include: 1)business awareness,

2) leadership, 3) setting priorities, 4) team management, 5) result orientation,

6) change orientation, 7) team work, 8) ability to influence, 9) developing

others, 10) face to face communication, 11) interpersonal skills, and 12)

motivation skills

middle-level managers of the corporation and the required competencies from

its top management

A survey was conducted and an in-depth interview was administered

among middle-level managers of the company in order to identify the gaps

between the current and required competencies and as a result provide

appropriate solutions to address those gaps thus contribute to the HR

development of the Viglacera Corporation

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

The Viglacera is a state owned enterprise (SOE) which was

established in 1974 as a leading corporation in the field construction materials

in Vietnam It operates under the management of the Ministry of Construction

It is recently in the stage of organizational reengineering and

privatization to cope up with the current trend on the nation’s economic

integration

Changing from a wholly state owned enterprise to a joint-stock

company, it is confronted with lots of difficulties such as competition, social

and political transformation, inefficient working system and the quality of its

workforce

Figure 1 shows the organizational structure of the Viglacera

Corporation which is one of the biggest SOEs in Vietnam with more than

15,000 employees To date, it has a total of 13 top managers composed of

the Board of Directors comprising the President, Chief Executive Officer

(CEO) and the Union Chairman; the Control Board with three (3) members

directly reporting to the President; and the Board of Management consisting of

the CEO and Assistant CEOs These 13 top managers are under the

management of the Ministry of Construction

A total of about 200 middle-level managers are working under the

supervision of the above-mentioned 13 top managers The middle managers

constitute the Managers and Assistant Managers of functional

departments/units; and Directors including the Vice Directors of its subsidiary

Figure 1 Organizational Structure of the Viglacera Corporation

Like any other SOEs, the overall responsibilities of Viglacera top

management board include customer and employee satisfaction; efficiency

and productivity; stability and development of the organization

To carry out those responsibilities, they normally delegate the tasks to

middle-level managers who formulate and execute policies, programs,

processes and procedures for the company

The middle-level managers interpret, implement and represent the

established management policy of the organization They are the key persons

in charge of pursuing the realization of organizational goals and objectives

and communicating them to staff at various levels

The top management of the Viglacera has placed the middle-level

management workforce at the central point of a long-term human resource

Board of Director

Board of Management Control Board

Production Trading Finance & Planning Land

Internal Control Branding

Import Export Production Management

General Affairs

Planning Project

Board of Director

Board of Management Control Board

Production Trading Finance & Planning Land

Internal Control Branding

Import Export Production Management

General Affairs

Planning Project

(HR) development strategy for them to meet the requirements for competitive

construction industry of the county

The author sees the importance of the study and its relevance to his

job as he is working to institute trainings in line with the corporation’s HR

development strategy Findings of this research will contribute in the

understanding of whether middle-level managers are under qualified or the

levels of expectations of senior staff are too high

The results of the study will likewise help the Board of Management in

defining strategies for middle-level management HR development which may

be in the form of trainings or other related activities aimed at improving

middle-level management competencies It may also provide opportunities for

Viglacera top management to even re-examine its expectations from their

middle-level managers

Statement of the Problem

For 38 years of its development, the Viglacera Corporation has been

transformed from a traditional brick and ceramics manufacturer to a state

owned multi-sector group of 41 subsidiaries and affiliate companies

nationwide as shown in Figure 2

Figure 2 Viglacera’s Multi-sector Group of Companies

Viglacera holding company

Production

9 terracotta

3 glass producer

4 sanitary ware & fitting

3 granite & ceramic tiles

Trading

2 subsidiaries and 2 Branches

Land

7 subsidiaries

Others:

Training Centre Labour Export Centre

Viglacera holding company

Production

9 terracotta

3 glass producer

4 sanitary ware & fitting

3 granite & ceramic tiles

Trading

2 subsidiaries and 2 Branches

Land

7 subsidiaries

Others:

Training Centre Labour Export Centre

Furthermore, Figure 3 illustrates the percentages of capital rates of the

different member companies with a total of more than 15,000 employees

Figure 3 Viglacera’s Companies’ Capital Rates

Apparently, the efforts of Viglacera’s top management in fulfilling its

vision of becoming a leading group of building material manufacturer and real

estate developer in the Asia Pacific Region have been demonstrated with its

effective policies in the areas of human resource management, finance,

production, and marketing

Its mission of providing high quality building materials to customers and

developing premium industrial parks and living towns is evidently achieved by

their skilled and competent workforces who vigorously develop premium

quality products, providing value added to customers and supported by sound

financial status

More so, Viglacera’s marketing strategy has been effectively productive

to a degree that it is able to maintain the growth rate at approximately 20%

per year dominating domestic market and increasing export to foreign markets

as exhibited in Figure 4 showing its edifice

Figure 4 Viglacera Edifice and its Marketing Performance

The Viglacera Corporation management and staff believe that it has

achieved its competitive advantage because of the following attributes: CRM

and customer care, facilities and infrastructure, corporate culture, ERP

system, distribution network, financial status, production technology, learning

and growth, reporting, information sharing and collaboration mechanism,

organizational structure, human resource, and service product quality as

illustrated in Figure 5

Figure 5 Viglacera’s Competitive Advantages

While the Viglacera Corporation has gained its eminence and

reputation in the construction industry and currently doing well achieving its

target set by the government despite a lot of difficulties caused by world

economic crisis, its top management and stock holders are expecting more

from its middle-level managers and staff to achieve more in terms of stressing

its target of 20% revenue growth per year

Figure 6 and 7 show the strengths, weakness, opportunities and

threats in Viglacera human resource management (HRM) areas which may be

considered in bringing about changes and planning and developing HRM

strategies aimed at increasing the competitive advantage of the company

Figure 6 Strengths and Weaknesses in HRM of Viglacera

Figure 7 Opportunities and Threats in HRM of Viglacera

An analysis of the competencies of the workforce especially at the level

of middle management is imperative This study will help provide a

meaningful identification and assessment of the weaknesses in the

Strengths

Leader team are young and well trained

Modern and Good Organizational

Structure

ISO certificate in business management

Performance-based pay creating

motivation for employees

Strengths

Leader team are young and well trained

Modern and Good Organizational

Structure

ISO certificate in business management

Performance-based pay creating

motivation for employees

Unity Environment

Strengths

Leader team are young and well trained

Modern and Good Organizational

Structure

ISO certificate in business management

Performance-based pay creating

motivation for employees

Opportunities

Easy to get knowledge exchanged

because of globalization

Supply of labor force increased and

penetrated to regional market

Market information is more transparent

Recruitment service significantly

improved

Opportunities

Easy to get knowledge exchanged

because of globalization

Supply of labor force increased and

penetrated to regional market

Market information is more transparent

Recruitment service significantly

Lack of skillful workers esp those who have occupational competency

Candidates become more and more demanding

Also, study will provide the much needed detailed information on

specific deficiencies and inadequacies in the competencies of the middle-level

managers who are actively involved in the company’s business operations

More so, there is a need to prioritize programs for strategic human

resource development addressing the 12 identified core managerial

competencies which Viglacera top management considers important

It is also essential to recognize and ascertain the gaps between the

current managerial competencies and expectations from Viglacera top

management so that solutions can be directed in addressing the required

competencies to effectively and efficiently bring out the expected outputs and

quality services

Objectives of the Study

1 To identify managerial competencies of middle managers as required by

the Viglacera top managers;

2 To assess the current managerial competency level of the Viglacera

middle-level managers and find out the gaps between current and required

managerial competencies of middle managers;

3 To analyze the impact of each competency to Viglacera performance and

rated so that proposed solutions will be more concrete and effective; and

4 To recommend solutions to bridge the identified gaps

Significance of the Study

Results of the study will provide the Viglacera management with

significant overview of its workforce Executive management will be able to

work out what needs to be done to improve the quality of its HR and

consequently recommend solutions for further enhancement

The study will also provide customers and investors important

information on construction materials industry which will help improve the

company image in customer’s mind thus increasing customer’s loyalty in

doing business with Viglacera

Moreover, this study will be very useful to future DBA students as it

provide benchmark information for related studies in management particularly

on managerial competencies

The study will also contribute knowledge to researchers who will be

engaged in similar study

Scope and Limitation of the Study

Because of time constraints, the primary data taken from only 13 top

managers and 150 middle-level managers were considered in the study It

dealt only with the managers and deputy managers of functional departments

at the corporate office and those of Viglacera dependent subsidiaries

The corporate offices covered the CEO assistant and secretaries,

Corporate Human Resource, Corporate Accounting and Finance, Corporate

Investment and Development; Corporate Production Division; Corporate

Real-estate Management Division and Corporate Trading Division

On the other hand, Dependent subsidiaries included the Viglacera

Vocational College, Viglacera R&D Institute, Viglacera Training & Labor

Export Center and Viglacera Faucet Company

The research was also limited to business strategies within the 10-year

period from 2010 to 2020 and covering only 12 basic core managerial

competencies Professional competencies that differ from job to job were

not examined

Definition of Terms

For clarity and better understanding of this study, the following terms

were hereby defined conceptually and operationally:

Competency refers to all the factors in an individual including motive,

character, skills, image, social role, knowledge which affect on the

performance of a specific job

Competency-based pay alternately known as skill-based and

knowledge-based pay which determines compensation by type, breadth and depth

of skills that employees gain and use in their positions

Competitive advantage refers to the quality of the employees, as a

competing organization’s systems and processes can be copied but

not its people All other things being equal among competing

companies, it is the company with best employees that has the

competitive advantage

Opportunities and Threats refers to the external environment of the

company that directly or indirectly has an impact to its operation

Strengths and Weaknesses refers to the internal environment of the

company that arises from the implementation of its policies in the

different areas of management

SWOT analysis refers to an evaluation of the company’s internal and external

condition

Chapter II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Through the years, businesses find it necessary to determine whether

employees are competent to fulfill their jobs However, the required

competencies vary from one business to another, even from a division to

another within a company

Many companies start learning to build up its own competency models

to identify its requirement on knowledge, skills, and other personal

characteristics of its employees

Competency models are also used in the assessment of employee’s

capabilities in the course of recruitment and training needs analysis

This chapter provides a discussion on meaning of competency, the

origin of competency–based methodology, and the use of competency

models

Competency: An Overview

The term “competency” was first used by psychologists, however, it

was Furnham (1992) who clarified that “the term competence is new and

fashionable, but the concept is old”

Psychologists interested in personality and individual differences,

organizational behaviors and psychometrics have long debated on the subject

of personality traits, intelligence and other abilities as elements in explaining

the concept of competency

Competence or competency is something within a person and or a

group of people It could be understood as a variety of internal factors which

influence to complete a job and reach a desired result In life, someone may

be considered competent or incompetent depending on the ability of the

person to respond on a given situation by providing satisfactory results

Competency may convey different meanings depending on the context

and purpose of a study It could be innate and may be gained by learning and

practice Boyatzis (1992) interpreted competency as “all the factors within a

person (including motive, character, skills, image, social role, knowledge)

which affect the performance of a specific job”

Similarly, Stringer and Stringer (19 ) pointed out that competency

includes skills, knowledge, behavior and attitude of a person to fulfill a task

Likewise, the New York Public Affairs Service and Labor Relation Office (19 )

indicated that competency comprises knowledge, skills, abilities and other

factors as value, motive, initiative, and self-control of a person which

influenced successful results in job performance

Competency according to MIT College (19 ) is a collection of

characteristics (i.e skills, knowledge, self-concept, traits and motives) which

enable people to successfully interact with others at work, school, home, and

in the community at large

On the other hand, the idea of competency by Spencer (1993) includes

visible competencies such as skills and knowledge and invisible

competencies such as interpersonal skills, attitudes, values, achievement and

motivation which push exemplary performance in a job Figure 8 shows the

iceberg model for competency claimed by Spencer

Figure 8 Iceberg Model for Competency

Consequently, competencies are the measurable or observable

knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (KSABs) critical to successful job

performance Choosing the right competencies allows employers to plan

how they will organize and develop their workforce; determine which job

classes best fit their business needs; recruit and select the best employees;

manage and train employees effectively; and develop staff to fill future

vacancies

Alongside the notion of competency is the term organizational

competency which has been used widely in performance management

Organizational competency simply means the totality of employee skills that

the company has in order to achieve its plans

Knowledge competencies which are practical or theoretical

understanding of subjects; skill and ability competencies which include natural

or learned capacities to perform acts; and behavioral competencies which

cover patterns of action or conduct are core competencies that are important

for organizational success

Use of Competency-Based Methodology

Organizations use competency–based methodology or approach to

assess how employees are performing in their jobs Mc Clelland (1973) set

out and defined competency variables which can be used in predicting job

performance that are not biased by race, gender, or socio-economic factors

A competency-based methodology may be useful in job description

which explains the duties, working conditions, and other aspects of a job,

including the competencies needed to perform the job's essential functions

Position-specific competencies are determined through the process of job

analysis, and are documented in the Position Description (PD) form These

competencies form a basis for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, and

managing the performance of employees

The competency-based method is also used in recruitment,

assessment and selection Describing desired competencies in recruitment

announcements gives job seekers a clearer picture of what jobs entail

Competencies also provide the foundation for assessment and selection

techniques, including exams, interviews, and reference checks

In employee performance management, competency-based method

allows supervisors to fully describe to employees their performance

expectations Competency descriptions show employees what level of

knowledge and skill mastery is required to successfully perform job duties,

and what behavioral standards must be consistently demonstrated

Also, competency-based approach in training and development if done

well, allows supervisors to choose and prioritize training courses and other

learning opportunities for employees Training courses often describe the

competencies students should be able to demonstrate by the end of the class

Likewise, most on-the-job and other developmental assignments are designed

to build certain knowledge and skills Knowing how class content and

developmental activities build mastery helps supervisors to 'map' each

position to a specific training and development plan that fosters growth in

required competencies

Furthermore, competency-based approach plays a key role in career

and workforce planning Knowing which competencies the future

workforce must possess to achieve business goals and deliverables helps

organizations plan and design organizational structure, recruitment strategies,

training budgets and development plans, and job assignments and individual

performance plans

Employees can also use competencies to plan a career path Knowing

which competencies are critical for certain promotions allows employees to

request training and development opportunities and seek out specific

feedback and coaching

In compensation, while competency-based methodology doesn’t

directly impact compensation, the nature and complexity of the work duties

usually requires a certain level of knowledge and skill mastery These

competencies are often represented in the class specifications as 'knowledge

and abilities.'

Components of Competency

Competency is complex concept with many different meanings It is

viewed broadly and included many factors that influence organizational

success As mentioned above, competencies vary from one company to

another To be specific and provide simple measure, only three (3) factors

affecting competency were considered in this study These include

knowledge, skill and ability

1) Knowledge is what a person understands about things or events

and is gained through learning and experience:

The Oxford English Dictionary (19 ) provides various definitions of

knowledge as (a) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through

experience or education; (b) what is known in a particular field or (3)

awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation

Philosophical debates in general started with Plato's formulation of

knowledge as "justified true belief" However, there is no single agreed

definition of knowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remains

numerous competing theories

Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes:

perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning The term

knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with

the ability to use it for a specific purpose

Knowledge refers to the practical or theoretical understanding of a

subject Knowledge requirements can be described in terms of mastery levels

The descriptions of use of knowledge in scope positions outline mastery

levels for job types such as:

a) Professional positions which are divided into three (3) levels which

include 1) Paraprofessional/technical level which consists of knowledge of a

profession's basic principles, rules, equipment, and software; 2) Junior level

which includes additional, in-depth knowledge of a profession's legal

standards, generally accepted principles, theory, and best practice and

knowledge is typically used to determine the best approach to solving a

complex issue or problem; 3) Senior level which includes additional

knowledge of a profession's trends, research, and case law and knowledge is

typically used to create new strategies, standards, and processes

b) Clerical and administrative positions which are also divided into

three (3) levels, i.e 1) Entry level covering knowledge of clerical equipment

and software, processes, techniques, and professional standards and

knowledge is typically used in routine office work; 2) Junior level which

includes additional, in-depth knowledge of best practices and generally

accepted professional standards and knowledge is typically used to determine

the best approach to solving moderately complex issues or problems; and 3)

Senior level which comprises additional, in-depth knowledge of office

management and business process trends, practices, and research and

knowledge is typically used to create new strategies, standards, and

processes

c.) Managerial positions where some positions are 'pure' managers,

while others combine line-staff and managerial duties, knowledge

requirements are broken down as follows: 1) Lead workers requires

knowledge of basic employee performance management standards and

practices (e.g., performance planning, coaching, and feedback); 2)

Supervisors demand additional in-depth knowledge of advanced employee

performance management standards and practices (e.g., performance

evaluation, recognition and reward, and corrective action and discipline); 3)

Program managers need additional knowledge of resource management

standards and practices (e.g., budget, equipment, facilities, and vehicles), and

the authorizing environment (e.g., internal business partners and program

customers); and 4) Executive Managers who also require additional, in-depth

knowledge of the authorizing environment (e.g., external stakeholders,

oversight boards and committees, legislative environment, and regulatory

agencies)

2) Skill is the learnt capacity or talent to carry out pre-determined

results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both Skills can often

be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills In the domain of

work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork,

leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would

be useful only for a certain job, e.g academic skills (reading; logic, and critical

reasoning); interpersonal communication (speech, listening, talking and

nonverbal communication); literacy (writing and reading); and innovation

skills

3) Ability includes personal characteristics such as traits, motives,

values, attributes, and many others Inherent with abilities is the attitude

which plays a very important role in gauging ability as it decides the

effectiveness of almost other factors

Attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's like or

dislike for an item Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an

"attitude object" i.e a person, behavior or event People can also be

"ambivalent" towards a target, meaning that they simultaneously possess a

positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in question

Attitudes are composed of various forms of judgments Attitudes are

developed based on the ABC model, i.e affect, behavioral intention, and

cognition The affective response is a physiological response that expresses

an individual's preference for an entity; while behavioral intention is a verbal

indication of the individual motive; and cognitive response is a cognitive

evaluation of the entity to form an attitude Most attitudes in individuals are

results of observation learning from their environment

Competency Analysis Process

The process of competency analysis is important as it provides a clear

understanding of the employee’s competencies which may determine

organizational effectiveness To analyze competencies, it is necessary to use

a competency model which is a collection of competencies that defines

successful job performance

A business may or may not possess an official competency model, but it

exists somehow and may vary within a business or among its departments In

reality, a company uses competency model for recruitment and selection,

career development and promotion

While there are many ways in developing competency model, the most

common are the “top down” and “bottom up” approaches

The top down approach involves strategic analysis of organization’s

objectives combining job analysis with theories on business, organizational

behavior and human resource development It is close to a management’s

view and easy to apply to a large number of employees However, this

approach may not fit to each job positions

On the other hand, the bottom up approach involves meaningful and

profound survey and interview with employees to obtain good results on the

competencies required for different positions However, this approach

consumes plenty of time and cost and may not provide quality results if

surveys and interviews were conducted incorrectly

The “top-down” approach for developing competency model was used in

the study in order to eliminate risks It followed the process of competency

analysis based from top manager’s expectations and requirements as

indicated in Figure 9

Figure 9 Competency Analysis Model

Managerial Competencies

Functions of Management

Management of a modern business organization is a complex process

which indicates an identifiable flow of information through interrelated stages

of analysis directed in accomplishing organizational objectives Accordingly,

Step 3: Recommend solutions to bridge the

gaps

management as a process may involve several activities and these are called

the functions of management

Many management experts have mentioned functions of management

by studying different organizations from various perspectives, but there is no

unanimity among them about the nomenclature of the functions of

management

George (19 ) stated that management process is not a series of

separate functions which can be performed independently, but a complete

process made up of these ingredients in which Fayol (19 ) specified the

main activities involved in managerial functions such as forecasting and

planning, organizing and staffing, leading or directing and controlling as

shown in Figure 10

Figure 10 Circle of Management

Planning is a mental process requiring foresight and sound judgment It

involves the laying of objectives and determining the course of action to

achieve those objectives which have to be spelled out before taking any other

PLANNING

LEADING/

DIRECTING

decisions It provides the basis for future evaluation of performance with

pre-determined standards

Planning is based on future situations and is a prerequisite in all levels

of management The success of a plan, therefore, lies in the ability of the

manager to forecast future situations correctly and accurately

Moreover, planning implies deciding in advance what, when, where to

do and how the results are to be evaluated It is a continuous process

required to ensure effective utilization of human and other resources to

accomplish the desired goals

The process of planning involves activities such as laying down

objectives, developing planning premises, searching alternative courses of

action, evaluation of various alternatives and formulation of a plan, formulating

policies and procedures, and preparing schedules, programs and budgets

Organizing on the other hand is done when planning is getting done It

is an important activity by which management brings together manpower and

material resources to accomplish pre-determined goals

Organizing is the process of establishing relationships among

members of the organization where relationship is created in the form of

authority and responsibility Each member in the organization is assigned a

specific duty to perform and is granted the corresponding authority to do it

Allen (19 ) mentioned that organization is the process of identifying

and grouping the work to be performed and dividing it among the individuals

creating authority and responsibility relationship among them for the

accomplishment of objectives

The process of organizing thus involves the following activities:

identifying the activities involved in achieving the objectives; grouping the

activities into a logical pattern; assigning the activities to employees;

delegating authority and fixing responsibility; and coordinating the

authority-responsibility relationships of various activities

Likewise, staffing involves manning the positions created by the

organization process It is concerned with the human resources of an

organization and is considered as a separate function in view of the need to

employ the right kind of people and develop them for the well-being of the

organization

Koontz and O’Donnell (19 ) conveyed that managerial function of

staffing involves manning the organizational structure through proper and

effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles

designed in the structure

Staffing function, thus involves manpower planning, i.e determining the

number and the kind of personnel required; recruitment of personnel; and

selection of the most suitable personnel

Directing is otherwise called management in action It is concerned

with activating members of the organization to accomplish its goals Terry

(19 ) articulated that directing means moving to action and stimulating power

to the group thus it involves issuing instructions (or communication) to

subordinates, guiding, motivating and supervising them

Furthermore, controlling is the process of seeing whether the activities

have been performed in conformity with the plans It helps the management to

get its policies implemented and to take corrective actions if performance is

not in accordance with the planned objectives

Brech (19 ) pointed out that controlling is the process of checking

actual performance against the agreed standards with a view to ensuring

satisfactory performance

The process of controlling involves the determination of standards for

measuring work performance; measurement of actual performance;

comparing actual performance with the standard; finding variance between

the actual with the standard and the reasons; and taking corrective action to

ensure attainment of objective

These functions are so interlinked, that in actual practice it is not

possible to separate them from another Planning provides the lease for

control and control gives meaning to planning An efficient system of control

helps to predict deviations well in time and initiate corrective steps before the

loss occurs

Managerial Competencies

A manager as a member of an organization will be judged based on

his/her performance which is drawn from his/her competencies

There are many descriptions on managerial competency and the very recent

is provided by the First Multipurpose Assessment Centre of India which built

up a clear description of managerial competencies

It stated that managerial competencies are a combination of behaviors

that encompass skills, knowledge, abilities and personal traits that taken

together are critical to a successful job accomplishment

The theory on managerial competencies can be divided into basic and

professional competencies All competencies are interlinked and there is a

high core-relationship between basic and professional competencies

Basic (generic) competencies encompass mental ability, motivation,

temperament and personality of an individual All individuals have basic

competencies but the combination and levels of these competencies differ

from individual to individual Basic competencies can be classified as

intellectual, social, emotional, and motivational which are described in this

study

The intellectual competencies cover analytical ability which is the ability

to grasp the essentials of a problem well and to arrive at conclusions by

rational thinking The reasoning ability under the intellectual competencies

includes receptivity, inquiring attitude, logical reasoning and seeing the

essentials of a problem

To further elucidate, reasoning ability includes: receptivity which is the

ability to understand and absorb new impressions and involves interest,

attention and grasping power; inquiring attitude which means the healthy

curiosity resulting in an urge to increase one’s general knowledge and

experience in life; logical reasoning which is 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 which is 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 and sift them in order of importance

and make the best use of them towards achieving a solution