A comparative analysis of managerial competency needs across areas of functional specialization

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is a set of management competencies that should be possessed by managers irrespective of their areas of functional specialization using quantitative methodology. Design/methodology/approach – For the study, 31 individual competencies were analyzed. The study was confined to a fully integrated telecommunication service provider; 198 managerial employees participated in the survey. Findings – The findings reveal broad level competencies that are important for managers working in one of the seven functional areas. The findings suggest the importance of competencies from value and skill clusters than knowledge cluster across all functional areas. Further, there was hardly any congruence with the perceptions on current expertise and current importance across all the functional areas. Practical implications – While the findings of the study have a specific relevance to the managers in the telecommunication industry, they could have a rather broader relevance with implications for management development initiatives. Originality/value – Although there is an enormous diversity in the scope of competency literature, a few empirical research studies have been conducted on management competency requirements for different functional areas. A limited number of competency studies have been conducted in Asia and in many cases those were confined to identify requisite competencies for managers from a specific functional area, such as human resources development. Hence empirical research studies are needed to fill this lacuna in literature. This paper fills some of the gaps