Discussion Board Thread

Re:  Managerial Skills

Definition:

            Managerial skills are “what individuals need to learn to become more effective managers”

Tonidandel, S., Braddy, P. W., & Fleenor, J. W. (2012). Relative importance of managerial skills

            for predicting effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(6), 636-655. doi:http//

            dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683941211252464

Summary:

            All three authors are from North Carolina; Scott Tonidandel from the Department of Psychology at Davidson College, and both Phillip W. Braddy and John W. Fleenor are from the Center for Creative Leadership. In their article, “Relative importance of managerial skills for predicting effectiveness”, the authors examine four managerial skills that contribute to this effectiveness. A study that involved 733 managers were rated in their use of the four skill dimensions – namely, technical skills, administrative skills, human skills, and citizenship behavior. Of the skills that were rated, administrative skills was the most important followed by human skills that was rated higher than the technical skills and citizenship behavior. By managers utilizing these four skill dimensions, organizations will have better working environments and be more efficient in producing goods and services.

Discussion:

            Managerial skills are vitally important to an organization’s success. According to the article, managers are part of an organization’s “Human capital resource” that will enable the company’s competitive advantage. Having spent over 15 years in the restaurant field personally, managerial skills need to be taught through experience and in theory (academics). While there are a few different types of thought that deal with managerial skills, the concepts in this study were based on the four dimensional skills of S.E Scullen (2003). “Technical skill refers to a manager’s proficiency in specific methods or techniques related to that manager’s functional area. Administrative skill subsumes areas such as planning, organizing, delegating, and coordinating. Human skill is concerned with a manager’s ability to interact and work effectively with team members. Citizenship behavior attempts to capture other beneficial aspects of work behavior such as being cooperative, loyal, and persistent”. The study that was conducted involved many different levels of managers and directors, and was shown in the results, that as the higher level of management/director was evaluated, the higher their skill levels in all four dimensions.  This goes along with what was mentioned earlier, that as upward movement in an organization the position is, the manager has increased in his/her skills through continued education and in experience. This is the trend in the business world today in order to remain competitive and to enable managers to lead their respective teams to be more productive and efficient. The study predicted that human skills would be the rated above the other skills, but if was found not to be true in this case. It showed that administrative skills were rated slightly higher in importance than human skills. Although administrative and human skills are closely related, the study was conducted with effectiveness as a higher consideration than a manager’s ability for structuring in their specific field. This, along with different variables and the fact that effectiveness and performance were part of the main criteria for the basis of the study, may be the reason for administrative skills having a higher rating than human skills. The combination of all four skills will greatly assist in the development of more productive and better suited managers in the business world. Research should continue in order to identify new skills and characteristics that will help managers to be more effective and successful.

Biblical Integration:

            In our Christian lives, having sets of skills for effectiveness, should be our goal. As we grow in the Lord and in the knowledge of His Word, we better prepare ourselves for devil’s snares. Ephesians 6:11 speaks of “putting on the whole armour of God”, this could be compared to what we have discussed in this article. As different pieces of armour are put upon us, we can metaphorically translate this as having different skills that will help us in becoming more effective and productive to “withstand” the devil. The Lord commands us to be warriors for Him. In comparison to the business aspect, by having more skilled attributes we can be competitive and ultimately successful.

References:

Carina, R. M. (2012). Managerial skills development of selected private institutions of higher

            learning in batangas, philippines. IAMURE International Journal of Business and

            Management, 3, 141-167. Retrieved from

            http://search.proquest.com/docview/1520794027?accountid=12085

Holy Bible. Cornerstone Bible Publishers. Nashville, Tennessee.

Tewari, R., & Sharma, R. (2011). Managerial skills for managers in the 21st century. Review of

            Management, 1(3), 4-15. Retrieved from

            http://search.proquest.com/docview/1272084310?accountid=12085

Tonidandel, S., Braddy, P. W., & Fleenor, J. W. (2012). Relative importance of managerial skills

            for predicting effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(6), 636-655. doi:http//

            dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683941211252464

  Managerial Skills – Articles.docx (60.915 KB)