Executive Summary
This paper was created to identify and discuss relevance of skills defined by Katz to the work of top managers. The groups of skills defined by the scientist are technical, human and conceptual. At different levels of managers’ hierarchy the degree of these skills that allows for achieving success is different. For low-level managers technical skills are the most important, conceptual being the least. For top managers the ratio of these skills is vice versa. To investigate the topic in detail peer reviewed academic journal articles were used. As a result, conceptual skills received most of the attention, as they directly influence the efficiency of a top manager, while technical skills, although being important, don’t define a large part of top manager’s success. In future it is necessary to conduct similar studies with comparison of companies of different sizes, peculiarities of different countries taken into account and the effect prevalence of each of the group of skills has on the company’s efficiency.
Keywords: managerial skills, top management skills, conceptual skills, technical skills, human skills, cognitive skills.
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is identification and discussion of relevance of skills defined by Katz to the work of top managers. In order to achieve this purpose, peer reviewed academic journal articles will be reviewed and analyzed. Three skills identified by Katz are the following: technical, human and conceptual. The paper will particularly focus on the theory developed by Katz and summary of his ideas.
Katz’s theory of managerial skills
Today manager’s job is getting more and more complicated along with the rise of the knowledge body and fast development of technologies and society as a whole. As a result, responsibility lying on managers, especially those who occupy top-level positions is increasing, which requires close study of the skills and qualities they have to possess to cope with their liabilities successfully.
Robert Katz offers to consider skills and competencies that are necessary for managers to achieve their goals successfully. He identified three most important management skills: technical, social, and cognitive (conceptual).
Under the technical skills Katz refers to the ability to apply specialized professional knowledge or practical experience. Managers acquire them through intensive formal training in accordance with the training programs. But this is not the only way, as to perform many types of work it is necessary to have professional knowledge and skills that people gain in the process of work.
Human skills, in the point of view of Katz, refer to the manager’s ability to work with others, to understand and motivate them, both individually and in groups. Many people are good experts in their professions, but they are not competent in the field of interpersonal relationships. For example, they may be poor listeners, unable to understand the needs of others, or they may experience difficulties in resolving conflicts.
Conceptual abilities, according to R. Katz, are a kind of mental ability responsible for analysis and diagnosis of complex situations. Taking a decision for a manager, for example, suggests his ability to establish and identify the problem, find alternatives to resolve the issue and select the best option. Technically and socially competent managers may fail if they have difficulty in understanding and interpreting information.
Conceptual skills
As it was already stated, conceptual skills represent a cognitive ability to perceive organization as a whole and at the same time to distinguish the relationship of its parts. These skills include manager’s mode of thinking, his ability to process incoming information and ability to plan (Robbins et al., 2012). A manager should be aware of the roles of each department in the organization, of the company's position in the industry, and its role in society, as well as in the wider business and social environment. This involves, among other things, the ability to think strategically, i.e., assessing the long-term prospects of the organization.
Conceptual skills are required for all managers, but especially for the leaders who occupy top levels of the organization, who should be able to grasp the essence of every situation, to single out the most important factors and to see the possible future development. For example, the structure and organization of the leading software vendor Microsoft Corporation reflect the conceptual skills of its founder, Bill Gates. Clearly defined business objectives are known to all its employees and Microsoft receives billions in revenues and is constantly strengthening its reputation as an industry leader. Gates himself is actively involved in coordination of the business units of the company (specializing in, for example, programming or marketing) and also develops his concept of the company, delegating additional authority to the strongest managers. As it is noted by Scott Oki, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Microsoft in the U.S. every part of the company has life of its own, but Bill Gates serves as unifying glue to them.
As the manager moves to the upper levels of the organizational hierarchy, he should pay more attention to the development of his conceptual skills. Otherwise, his way to the top can end up at the distant approaches to its summit. For example, a senior engineer who is fully engaged in technical problems, not thinking about the strategy of the organization, is unlikely to succeed if he is charged with management of the company, with such responsibilities of senior managers, as decision-making, resource allocation and implementation of changes require broader views.
For top managers this group of skills is the most important. For example, the study by Javadin, Tehrani & Ramezani (2010) showed that there is a direct link between the managerial skills and work efficiency in the bank branches that they examined. In particular, the necessity to work on the conceptual qualities was emphasized, as this component of skills turned out to be one of the most influential among them.
Human skills
Manager that has developed human skills can effectively motivate his subordinates to self-expression, promoting their involvement in the organization. Thus, Rita Bailey, HR manager at Southwest Airlines (the company that relates its success primarily to the employees), uses human skills in daily contact with employees of the organization and those who want to take a vacant position in its ranks, seeking to determine the prospects for their adaptation in the internal the company culture. Conducting friendly and at the same time informative interviews requires from R. Bailey to have well developed human skills and knowledge of people. Such manager as Rita Bailey loves communicating with people. Barry Merkin, chairman of Dresher (the largest U.S. supplier of components for the furniture industry) is the favorite among his employees. He regularly visits the factory shops, shares jokes with employees, motivating them to work.
The role of human skills of a manager is constantly growing, which is fueled by globalization, and the increasing degree of diversity of the workforce. In order to strengthen the relationships between employees of the Singapore plant of pagers production and a similar enterprise in Florida (USA), Motorola Company organizes joint vacation of its employees in Colorado, where they not only have fun, but also improve team collaboration. As a study by Kumar & Jain (2010) shows, for graduate students who seek to become managers survival skills are also important to get the jobs that they want.
A good manager is always attentive to the people. John Vanderpoul, head of one of the teams in the company of American Express Financial Advisors, noting the overall achievements, arranges dinner for all 20 of its members. Former race car driver Roger Penske, who bought Detroit Dieselcompany in decay from General Motors, chose motivation as the first anti-crisis measure. Solving the arising problems, he answered hundreds of questions from employees, regularly meeting with representatives of trade unions, using his human skills to motivate staff to fast and courteous customer service.
In the first year of work under his leadership sales of engines for trucks increased by 25%. Effective managers at the same time fulfill the role of the captains of their teams, subordinates and assistants, coaches, and teachers. They trust their employees, and help them realize their potential, mastering management skills.
Human skills of top managers are very important for successful work and reaching of the set goals. While the amount of technical and conceptual skills differs from level to level in the managerial hierarchy, the human skills remain very important, and the role is increasing proportionally to the level of management. In the study by Mostafa et al. (2012) human skills were found to be of the highest priority in physical education offices of universities in Iran, followed by conceptual skills and then technical, which additionally highlights their importance in general.
Technical skills
Technical skills are special knowledge and skills required to perform job tasks, i.e. skills to use methods, techniques and equipment needed to perform specific functions, such as research and development, manufacturing or finance. Manager’s possession of technical skills requires professional knowledge, analytical skills and the ability to correctly apply tools and other means to resolve problems in each particular area. The study of Chugh (2004) shows that implicit bias affects behavior of managers in unexpected ways, which is heightened in the pressured, messy and distracting environments, in which managers have to operate, which is why skills need to receive proper attention to ease managers’ work.
Based on their technical skills, Rodney Mott, chief engineer of the Nucor steel mill in Arkansas (USA), took the decision to install new foundry equipment worth more than $ 50 million, which made it possible to double the production capacity (up to 36 tons of steel per week). This kind of skills is especially important at the lower levels of the organization. Many employees receive their first managerial position (i.e., become managers) owing primarily to their skills in the technical area. However, as they progress through the stages of hierarchy, the need for these skills decreases, and the value of human and conceptual skills increases.
Conceptual, human and technical skills of managers enable them to perform the basic functions of management (planning, organizing, leadership and control) in large and small companies, specializing in the production of goods and services, commercial and non-commercial ones. Each manager is responsible for performance of certain duties: he directs the activities of various departments and divisions, is working at different levels of the organization. The research conducted by Gillard (2009) in particular shows effective leading is preferable to managing in a project and that leadership style directly influences the outcome of the project.
For example, Mary Lee Bowen, the middle manager of Rubbermaid, is responsible for a team, developing bathroom accessories, and Philip Knight, acting as a chief executive officer of Nike, the world leader in the development and manufacturing of sports shoes. Both of them are managers, and both are involved in planning, organization, leadership and control in their companies, but - in different proportions, and they perform their functions in different ways.
Among the studies that are dedicated to other models of skills that managers should have to achieve success there is one by Ramezani et al. (2011) that shows peculiarities of the managerial roles in the sports sphere in Iran and defines the perfect framework of this role. Tengblad (2006), in his turn when comparing the roles described by Mintzberg reaches a conclusion that there are certain differences that require further adaptation to the current peculiarities of manager’s work.
Conclusion
The Katz’s theory of managerial qualities can be considered at different levels of management hierarchy, and at each of them there are certain peculiarities as to the degree of skills necessary to achieve the best possible results. For top managers conceptual skills are the most important, human skills go after them and technical skills are the least important, although also playing an important role.
Recommendations
References
Chugh, D. (2004). Societal and Managerial Implications of Implicit Social Cognition: Why Milliseconds Matter. Social Justice Research, 17(2), 203-222.
Gillard, S. (2009). Soft Skills and Technical Expertise of Effective Project Managers. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 9, 723-729.
Javadin, S.R.S., Tehrani, F.A.M., & Ramezani, A. (2010). Studying the Relationship Between Managerial Skills and Efficiency of Bank Branches. World Applied Sciences Journal, 11(2), 170-177.
Kumar, D., & Jain, V. (2010). Survival skills of business management graduates: a study with reference to retail and banking. Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, 1(1), 49-77.
Mostafa, A., Habib, H., Farzad, Q., & Nahid, J. (2012). Prioritizing Managerial Skills Based on Katz’s Theory in Physical Education Offices of Universities in Iran. World Applied Sciences Journal, 20(3), 388-394.
Ramezani, Z.N., Khabiri, M., Alvani, S.M., & Tondnevis, F. (2011). Use of Mintzberg's Model of Managerial Roles to Evaluate Sports Federations Managers of Iran. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 10 (5): 559-564.
Robbins, S.P., Bergman, R., Stagg, I., & Coulter, M. (2012). Management, 6th ed. French Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia.
Tengblad, S. (2006). Is there a ‘New Managerial Work’? A Comparison with Henry Mintzberg’s Classic Study 30 Years Later. Journal of Management Studies, 43(7), 1437-1461.
