Relationships between organization characteristics and needs for management training in developing countries

Management training has been considered as an important issue attracting the interest of several individuals and organizations in both developed and developing countries. Moreover, empirical evidence shows that there are differences in many aspects of management training that may result from different features of organizations and countries concerned. However, there has been little research on the relationships between organizational characteristics and the need for management training, especially in developing countries. An understanding of these relationships will not only help organizations in developing their human resources but also help training suppliers in their marketing strategies. This research attempts to take a first step towards integrating theories and empirical findings into a conceptual framework that describes the above-mentioned relationship in developing countries. In particular, the research identifies and tests the impact of particular organizational indicators on the needs for training of task-related and people-related skills for both upper and lower managers. The results confirm that types of industry, technological characteristics, ownership, organizational structure, size and business environment, etc., are among variables explaining the training needs of various kinds in a company. The results would also provide regression models as tools in assessing training needs for management skills at various companies. However, it is the perceived needs rather than the real needs that is the concern of trainers, because perceptions lead to action, i.e., their business opportunities. Lastly, the direction for further studies is proposed, including the impact of macro variables, featured for developed and developing countries, and of variables that interfere with the process of transferring from real needs to perceived needs