Introduction Competence and Job Performance
The Research Design and Methods
The Goal and Action Management Cluster
The Leadership Cluster
The Human Resource Management Cluster
The Directing Subordinates Cluster
The Focus on Others Cluster
Specialized Knowledge
An Integrated Competency Model Interpretation by Sector and Managerial Level
Summary and Implications
Outline of a Competency-Based Training Course
Chapter 2.
This chapter begins with an introduction of the basic model, or theory, of action as it applies to a management job. Two of the three elements of the model are addressed in this section: (1) the functions and demands of the management job; and (2) the organizational environment in which the job exists. The third element in the model, an individual’s competencies, are developed in great detail in a later section. Understanding the concept of competency is a prerequisite to under- standing the remainder of the study and the integrated model of management which is discussed in the later chapters. ‘The language in this study may appear to be full of jargon. The words have been carefully chosen to help members of various disciplines understand the concepts that they represent. The words have also been chosen with an emphasis on accurately describing or reflecting the concepts that they represent.
The Research Design and Methods
The Research Design and Methods
1. n Achievement (Atkinson, 1958; McClelland, 1961).
2. n Afiiliation (Atkinson, 1958).
3. n Power (Winter, 1973).
4 n Activity Inhibition (McClelland et al., 1972; McClelland, 5 6. 1975).
n Self-Definition (Stewart & Winter, 1974). Stages of Adaptation (Stewart, 1977).
The n Achievement is a measure of a person’s motive to do better.
The nAffiliationis a measure of a person’s motive to be a part of warm, close relationships.
The n Power is a measure of a person’s motive to have impact, or to be strong and influential.
Activity Inhibition is a measure of a person’s disposition (i.e., trait) to control his or her impulses.
Self- Definition is a measure of a person’s disposition to discover opportunities in the environment and to see himself or herself as an initiator in acting on the environment.
The Stages of Adaptation score reflects the four developmental stages of maturity, or ego development, originally described by Freud (1933) and later expanded and described by Erikson (1963).
CHAPTER FOUR The Goal and Action Management Cluster
At the core of every manager’s job is the requirement to make things happen toward a goal or consistent with a plan. Whether in terms of making profits, staying within budget, or producing to deadline, there are many forms of the “bottom line” to which managers attempt to move their organizations. Although the demands may vary among spe- cific management jobs and their organizational context, most managers are required to establish goals and plans of action, determine what and how people and other resources should be used, and solve problems to keep the organization functioning. To do this they must assume certain risks, have a clear image of the desired outcome, and understand when and how to take initiative. What is it about certain managers that ena- bles them to respond effectively to these demands? The first image that often comes to mind about such a person is the entrepreneur, the “shaker and mover” who can start with a hamburger stand and build it into a worldwide network of fast food shops whose corporate symbol is more easily identified than the Seven Wonders of the World. This image of a person who starts with few resources, struggles to the top, and is a success is one type of entrepreneur. Another type starts with an idea, gets new things going, and breathes new life into a sleeping giant conglomerate. Whichever of these or the many other types of images of effective managers you may have, he or she must be able to make things happen toward a goal or consistent with a plan. This entrepreneurial requirement of management jobs must be addressed by any person hoping or attempting to be a competent manager. Four underlying characteristics that enable a manager to respond to the entrepreneurial requirement described above were identified through the cluster analysis of the managers in this study.
They were labeled the goal and action management cluster. The four competencies are: (1) efficiency orientation; (2) proactivity; (3) diagnostic use of concepts; and (4) concern with impact.
CHAPTER FIVE The Leadership Cluster
To activate the human resources of the organization, the manager must stimulate people. After deciding which resources (human, financial, technical, or physical) are to be used, the manager must decide how they are to be organized to achieve the desired goals. Communicating the goals, plans, and rationale for the organization of resources to the personnel is an important aspect of stimulating their interest and involvement. A manager is also called on to motivate, or inspire, his or her personnel to have an interest in their work and the organization in other ways. The manager is often asked to represent the organization to outside groups, such as financial analysts, bankers, community and civic organizations, professional and trade associations, and government agencies. The objective of such meetings is often for the manager to stimulate an understanding and possibly interest and commitment of people concerning his or her organization. To perform these aspects of management jobs, managers should be leaders.
For managers to be inspirational to those inside and outside their organization, among other things, they must also be insightful. They must present ideas, concepts, beliefs, or goals that others find interesting, intriguing, or stimulating. This aspect of leadership has been called “articulating the common vision” (Berlew, 1974). This common vision may be shared objectives, values, or concerns of the personnel. It may also be a new direction, goal, or mission that others would like to follow. Numerous managers have propelled their organizations to success through identification of market needs, design of a new product, or a statement of the strategic direction of the organization. To be insightful does not necessarily refer to being “smart” in the traditional use of the term. The analytic or cognitive skills of an effec tive manager may or may not be related in any systematic manner to a generalized concept of intelligence (McClelland, 1973), often referred to as intelligent quotient (IQ), which is why IQ measures do not consistently relate to effectiveness in many occupations (McClelland, 1973). It is not enough to indicate that effective managers have analytic ability (Drucker, 1954, 1973), conceptual skills (Hersey & Blanchard, 1969), general mental ability or intelligence (Bray et al., 1974; Levinson (1980) or that they think. Bray et al. (1974) and Levinson (1980) have reported several intellectual skills that appear related to managerial effectiveness. A number of studies have shown that a variety of intellectual or cognitive skills are related to effective performance in college (Winter et al., in press) and in various occupations (Klemp, 1977). The important question is: How do insightful and effective managers think that is different than the way their less effective counterparts think? Four underlying characteristics that enable a manager to be inspirational and insightful, as described, were identified through the cluster analysis of the managers in this study. They were labeled the leadership cluster.
The four competencies are: (1) self-confidence; (2) use of oral presentations; (3) logical thought; and (4) conceptualization. Managers with this set of competencies see themes and patterns in the common or shared objectives, values, problems, products, concerns or performance of people and groups within the organization. They communicate them to others in a forceful and impressive manner.
CHAPTER SEVEN The Directing Subordinates Cluster
The two most direct methods a manager can use in guiding or controlling the activities of his or her subordinates is providing performance feedback and interpreting the feedback and its consequences. Feedback is a term borrowed from electrical engineering that refers to a flow of electrical impulses back to a source of those pulses. In management and organizational jargon, feedback has come to mean the return of information to a source. In its purest form, such information would concern only the result of a person’s or an organization’s actions, such as “Our branch hit a sales volume of $3,750,000 this month,” or “Our division realized profits of $14,000,000 this month,” or “The financial analysts were impressed with the presentation given by the treasurer.” Usually, the feedback includes an interpretation of the information. The interpretation may be in terms of variances to plan or budget, variances to organizational policies or tradition, or variances to someone’s beliefs or preferences. The interpretation often results in a person feeling rewarded or punished. If performance was better than the plan, a manager’s positive feedback (i.e., favorable interpretation of variance to plan) to the subordinate is rewarding. Similarly, if performance was over budget, a manager’s negative feedback (i.e., unfavorable interpretation of variance to budget) to the subordinate is punishing.
Unfortunately, some managers think that feedback and the motivation to improve performance should be imparted with force. They walk around the office or plant as if they have steel-toed wing tips poised, ready to provide feedback. Although giving orders and disciplining subordinates is sometimes required in management jobs, a kung-fu management style (i.e., a style emphasizing the martial arts and not the spiritual aspect of kung-fu) does not produce performance improvement over long periods of time.
What is it about some managers that enables them to guide and control their subordinates toward improved performance in a way that others cannot? Three underlying characteristics that enable a manager to respond to these requirements of the job were identified through the cluster anal- ysis of the managers in this study. They were labeled the directing subordinates cluster.
The three competencies are: (1) developing others; (2) use of unilateral power; and (3) spontaneity.
Managers with this set of competencies express themselves to others to improve subordinates’ performance by giving directions, orders, commands, and performance feedback.
CHAPTER EIGHT The Focus On Others Cluster
There is the expectation, or at least the hope, that managers will have some degree of wisdom or perspective on events, the organization, and life. Sometimes, this characteristic is called maturity. The maturity of a manager refers to the level of psychological development or ego strength he or she has attained. It specifically refers to the “sense” that people have of themselves, and to psychological and social aspects of their relationship to the surrounding world and life. It is expected that, as people pass through various life stages, they emerge with some greater degree of maturity. The characteristics involved in this development are not totally dependent on age or breadth of experience although both usually contribute to it. Some people develop aspects of maturity at a relatively early age in their adulthood. Other people, though they encounter successive life stages (Sheehy, 1976; Levinson, 1978), do not adequately deal with the issues or crises involved, and therefore do not advance in their maturity.
How do mature managers act? Four underlying characteristics of managers examined in this study were identified in the cluster analysis that correspond to the concept of maturity. This has been labeled the focus on others cluster.
The competencies in this cluster are: (1) self-control; (2) perceptual objectivity; (3) stamina and adaptability; and (4) concern with close relationships.
Managers with these competencies would take a balanced view of events and people. They would withhold their personal views, needs, and desires in service of organizational needs and concerns of others. They would be concerned with understanding all sides (e.g., opinions and feel- ings) of an issue or conflict. They would attempt to build close relation- ships with others. They would not be self-centered or narcissistic, and, therefore, have a focus on others in their environment.
CHAPTER NINE Specialized Knowledge
Specialized knowledge refers to facts, principles, theories, frameworks, or models. Through the competency assessment approach, specialized knowledge has been further refined to mean usable facts and concepts. A model of performance in any job must include specialized knowledge in this sense. Although it may seem like a semantic quibble, the qualification of specialized knowledge as usable information rather than information is a more stringent clarification. The specific information of concern in assessing competence in certain jobs must be practical; if it is not usable, the possession of information is not related to performance. Although it is beyond the scope and data available in this study to provide elaboration of the structure of specialized knowledge or what knowledge is needed by managers, several points about this competency can be made.
A THRESHOLD COMPETENCY
In the various competency assessment studies conducted on specific jobs in particular organizations, which have been combined for the aggregate sample in this study, specialized knowledge was often identified as related to performance as a manager (Klemp, I979). In some cases, the specialized knowledge appeared related to the managerial function be- ing performed, the products being produced, the technology being utilized, or appeared as a level of other competencies. None of these studies showed that superior performance as a manager was related to possession of more facts and concepts than average performance as a manager. It did appear in several studies that both average and superior performing managers had and used certain facts and concepts that poor Specialized Knowledge performing managers did not have or use. No set of facts or concepts (i.e., specialized knowledge) was identified as being consistently used by managers in the aggregate sample regardless of the performance group. This may have been a function of the methods used in the studies (i.e., the Behavioral Event Interviews and tests). Neither the interviews nor the tests included questions about specialized knowledge needed during certain events. Results at the social-role level (i.e., from the job element analysis) show that items related to specialized knowledge do appear in man- agers’ perceptions. In six of the seven studies, managers listed them as required for performance in their jobs. Managers in only two of these studies perceived these items as distinguishing superior performing managers. This included items such as: “knowledge of international law,” “high degree of technologic ability in a speciality,” and “knowledge of codes, statutes, and policy.” This suggests that certain facts and concepts are needed by a man- ager to perform his or her job, but that having more of the specialized knowledge does not by itself contribute to superior performance as com- pared to average performance in the job. In this sense, specialized knowledge can be considered a threshold competency. For example, marketing managers may need to know certain fundamentals about human motivation. They may be effective in the job if they know that people in marketing jobs (i.e., their subordinates) have a type of motivational disposition that suggests that rapid and specific performance feedback stimulates increased performance. They may also be effective if they know they should establish moderate risk performance goals for each subordinate to stimulate a maximum degree of striving toward a standard of excellence, rather than making the standard so high that the subordinate gives up, assuming that the goal is unattainable and therefore not worth attempting. On the other hand, the level of specialized knowledge about human motivation reflected in a graduate degree in psychology may not result in better performance by marketing managers. As a matter of fact, this level of specialized knowledge may cause the manager to view this part of his or her job as so complicated that it interferes with other aspects of the job. In addition to the potential limitation imposed by the methods in this study, there are three issues that complicate further inquiry into specialized knowledge. As a result of these issues, the only conclusion that can be made regarding a generic model of management is that specialized knowledge appears to be a threshold competency and that further research is needed before anything more elaborate can be said.
CHAPTER TEN An Integrated Competency Model Combining the findings about various competencies and clusters into an integrated competency model is similar to completing a jigsaw puzzle.
THE COMPETENCY MODEL
Causality: Before putting the pieces together, several points should be clarified regarding causality. It was stated in the definition of a job competency that the “underlying characteristic would result in effective and / or superior performance.” It was explained that this meant that the use or demonstration of the characteristic would lead to effective actions, or behavior. It would be inaccurate to say that the person’s competency causes the effective behavior, but that it is a cause. The competency is necessary but not sufficient for effective behavior. These relationships between the competencies and job performance have been examined in Chapters 4—9. Statistically speaking, the relationships examined through the findings in this study would mostly be called associational. In only two of the samples were the performance measures based on longitudinal information. In the other cases the performance information was collected at approximately the same time as the competency information. For a complete examination of the causal relationships, all of the performance information should be collected on future performance of a manager (i.e., his or her performance following the collection of information about his or her competencies). Even with some longitudinal and mostly associational information, causal relationships between the competencies and effective job performance were described and inferred in the earlier chapters. In Chapter 2, effects that various levels of a competency may have on other levels of a competency were explored. Even though there are causal relationships among the levels of competencies, to minimize confusion with the relationship between competencies and job performance, these relationships will be called “interactions.” There remains one additional type of relationship that may or may not be considered causal. What effect does the demonstration of one competency have on the demonstration of other competencies? Cluster analysis was used to determine these relationships among the competencies at the skill level. In describing the relationship among the competencies in each of the clusters, the term “primary relationship” was used. Because it is difficult with the information available to determine whether the relationship among the competencies within a cluster is causal or associational, primary relationship was used to mean a substantial and significant direct relationship. In such a primary relation- ship, the demonstration of one competency can be said to stimulate or precipitate the demonstration of the other competency (Klemp, 1979). In contrast, in a secondary relationship, the demonstration of one competency can be said to enhance the use of the other competency (Klemp, 1979). For example, a primary relationship can be said to exist between the ingestion of certain nutrients and the functioning of the human body. Consider the nutrients in chicken. A person can ingest these in several forms and effectively feed his or her body. A liquid could be made of the chicken meat and pumped directly into a person’s stomach. A person could roast a chicken, remove the skin, and eat the meat or a person could eat chicken kiev. Although a chef would disagree, the difference among these various forms of ingestion of the nutrients in chicken meat are found in secondary relationships to nourishment of the body. The “taste” of the chicken has a secondary relationship to the benefits of its ingestion. The sensation of tasting the roasted, plain chicken meat may make the ingestion experience interesting. The additional sensations of the butter, chives, tarragon, and deep-fat frying of the chicken kiev make the experience delightful. The spices and process of preparing the chicken kiev enhances the experience, makes it a richer human experience, and for most people increases the likelihood that they will eat chicken again.
The Integrated Competency Model
An integrated competency model would include the competencies and threshold competencies that appeared in the six clusters. Efficiency orientation, proactivity, diagnostic use of concepts, and concern with impact would be included from the goal and action management cluster. Self-confidence, use of oral presentations, conceptualization, and logical thought would be included from the leadership cluster. Use of socialized power, managing group process, positive regard, and accurate self-assessment would be included from the human resource management cluster. Use of unilateral power, developing others, and spontaneity would be included from the directing subordinates cluster. Perceptual objectivity, self-control (at the trait level only), and stamina and adaptability (at the trait level only), would be included from the focus on others cluster. Specialized knowledge would be included.
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