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Managerial skills: what has changed since the late 1980s

In todays changing nature of business importance managerial skill is considered to be an important consideration. Changes in the workplace have taken place with shifts in the managerial skills over the past 15 years. The understanding of whether certain managerial skills are important to a managers job is essential. Managers must have a mutual understanding of the skills and responsibilities necessary for other managers across similar and different organizational levels and functions (Kraut et al., 1989). If these skills and responsibilities are not clearly understood, managers will not be able to coordinate work effectively, communicate expectations, deliver feedback, prepared for job transitions or other training and career development activities (Kraut et al., 1989). A number of researchers have identified the roles, tasks, or activities of managers (e.g. Mintzberg, 1973; Luthans, 1988; Kraut et al., 1989). Studies related to managers have been focused to identify managerial skills needed at different levels and functions in todays work context. Mintzberg (1973) provided one of the most influential works on managerial roles. Mintzberg identified ten roles of managerial work, which were divided into three categories: interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. Expanding on Mintzbergs (1973) work, Kraut et al. (1989) investigated the differences between managerial levels in the perception of role importance. Luthans (1988) research also examined differences between the activities of an effective manager versus a successful manager. In addition to differences between levels, Kraut et al. (1989) also compared managerial activities across the different organizational functions of marketing, manufacturing, and administration. This research study have used survey methodology, is within the context of field research. The findings of 1980s and today are relevant as managerial skills are always important aspect. However, the importance of relationships, organizational ability and time management shifted over the last

fifteen years and importance of these managerial skills not only coincided with the changes in the work environment, but also are context dependent based on managerial level and function. The future research should investigate what direct reports and supervisors of managers think are

important skills for managers to acquire a more global perspective of managerial competencies, similar to those acquired through competency modeling (e.g. Lucia and Lepsinger, 1999). Moreover, one should take note not only of how the importance of certain skills change over time, but also, that certain skills believed to be important for managers.

References
1. Kraut, A.I., Pedigo, P.R., McKenna, D.D. and Dunnette, M.D. (1989), The role of the manager: whats really important in different management jobs, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 3, pp. 286-93. 2. Mintzberg, H. (1973), The Nature of Managerial Work, Harper & Row, New York, NY. 3. Mintzberg, H. (1990), The managers job: folklore and fact, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, pp. 163-76. 4. Luthans, F. (1988), Successful versus effective real managers, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 2, pp. 127-32. 5. Lucia, A.D. and Lepsinger, R. (1999), The Art and Science of Competency Modeling: Pinpointing Critical Success Factors in Organizations, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, San Francisco, CA. 6. Kotter, J.P. (1982), The General Managers, The Free Press, New York, NY. 7. Lipshitz, R. and Nevo, B. (1992), Who is a good manager?, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 13 No. 6, pp. 3-7.

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