Some organizations invest a great deal of time and effort in elaborate training programmes designed to improve the so‐called “soft” skills of managing. Yet assessing the effectiveness of such initiatives has been rare. Indeed, some trainers have argued that such assessments are misleading....

This paper investigates the usefulness of textbook and company approaches to developing managerial skills and competencies. It suggests that textbooks, based on an “experiential” approach to skill building, are contradictory in that they ultimately privilege predispositions over training in...

Purpose – Managerial interpersonal skills (MIPS) are widely considered important for management development, yet the nature of MIPS has eluded researchers. The purpose of this paper is to propose five MIPS core skills, giving attention to the role of context, the relationship of MIPS to...

Increasing demands in university management in the 1990s in the UK requires a re‐examination of the head of school’s role. The Standards are part of a radical change in the system of vocational education and training in the UK which began in 1982. A questionnaire was distributed to deans and...

Uses survey research to investigate two general questions concerning managerial competencies and performance appraisal: whether a set of managerial competencies currently being used by organizations to describe successful managers can be identified; and whether organizations are appraising these...

This paper suggests that competency‐based, outcome‐focused management development and education programs might benefit from redirecting the non‐technical subjects away from emphasis on theories and skills, to emphasis on the decisions which managers have to make. To do this effectively,...

This study explores learning climates within a financial services organisation. Through the use of survey and case study strategies and analysis of secondary data available within the organisation, it assesses the current state of individual, team and organisational learning in the organisation...

This paper reviews a recently developed closed modular masters programme on generic project management as a project management case study of academic‐industrial collaboration. Literature on some educational issues is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the management of the development...

Research on managerial competence has been narrowly focused and confusing in its terminology. In particular, a disparity has emerged between the definitions and assessments of competence developed in the USA and the approaches adopted in the UK. In this paper it is argued that each perspective...