Managerial competencies of middle level managers at viglacera corporation

PREFACE In this summary dissertation, all figures and tables are numbered as in dissertation This dissertation focuses on the gaps between current managerial competencies of middle-level managers at Viglacera and the requirement from the top managers of the corporation It then goes further to propose solutions to bridge those gaps The title of the dissertation is: “Managerial competencies of middle-level managers at Viglacera Corporation” The dissertation results can be used to construct Viglacera HR development strategy and the dissertation consists of chapters CHAPTER INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH Middle-level managers’ role is to interpret and represent the established management policy and make it alive to their reporting managers and their staff They are key persons in communicating and tracking different kinds of goals and in making information flow up and down In order for middle-level managers to fulfill their jobs, they must have sufficient competency but they have it already? Recently a big question at Viglacera Nevertheless, Viglacera Top management board want to know the answer for each middle-level manager and for each of the 12 core competencies mentioned earlier If the answer is “No” somewhere then the gap training will be needed Based on the hope to contribute to answering the above question, this research focuses on managerial competencies of middle managers, to clarify whether they are under qualified or the senior expectations too high The result of the research will help the Board of Management define the strategy decision on middle management development STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Recently, Viglacera is doing very well, it achieves its target set by the Government every year despite a lot of difficulties caused by the world economic crisis However, Viglacera still does not meet its stressed target of 20% revenue growth rate per year as expected by Viglacera stake-holders and Top management board The main reason suspectedly come from competency weaknesses of human resource especially from the middle level manager force Deeply analysis needs to be taken out to identify specific weaknesses in 12 core managerial competencies then find out solutions to improve the weaknesses Also there must be an analysis on the impact of middle manager competency to the operation result of the Corporation The impact should be analyzed detail enough to point out the weight of each competency or in other words what are the key competencies that need to be addressed first This will make the later recommended solutions more convincible and help Viglacera to prioritize and implement the solutions much more effectively Research objectives: To identify required managerial competencies from top managers on middle managers at Viglacera; To assess the current managerial competency level of middle managers at Viglacera, then to find the gaps between current and required managerial competencies of middle managers at Viglacera; The impact of each competency to Viglacera performance also be analyzed and weighted so that the later proposed solutions will be more concrete and effective To recommend the solutions to bridge the identified gaps SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH - To the management of the company: Firstly, the research will provide Viglacera BOM with a significant overview of their HR force Secondly, based on the research result executive management will be able to work out what need to be done to improve quality of their HR force And last but not least, the research provides recommended solutions for improvement - To the customers and investors: The research can help improve the company image in customer’s mind and thus increasing customer’s loyalty in doing business with Viglacera - To future DBA students / Researchers: This study can serve as benchmark information for related studies - To the Researcher: This work is a test of my knowledge in business and my ability to engage in a research work SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH The objects of the research include managers / deputy managers of functional departments at corporate office, and those of dependent subsidiaries Due to time constraint the primary data shall be taken from only 13 top managers and 150 middlelevel managers The research is limited to business strategies for 10 year period from 2010 to 2020 The research does not cover independent companies within and/or outside Viglacera group, so it is limited in the following range: - Corporate offices: o CEO assistant and secretaries; o Corporate Human Resource; o Corporate Accounting and Finance; o Corporate Investment and Development; o Corporate Production division; o Corporate Real-estate management division o Corporate Trading division - Dependent subsidiaries: o Viglacera vocational college o Viglacera R&D Institute o Viglacera Training & labor export center o Viglacera faucet company Also due to time constraint the research was limited in 12 core managerial competencies classified as Generic/Basic competencies only It was not extended to Professional competencies that differ from job to job CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter briefly shows arguments on the origin of competency – based methodology, competency definitions and the use of competency models in this research 2.1 COMPETENCY – OVERVIEW This section presents 20 literatures and tens of references related to the topic 2.2 MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES Reviewing different definitions/concepts about managerial competencies including their classifications CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Chart 2.4: Work frame of the research: Management & Job analysis competencies theories Initial form for In depth managerial interview to top identifying competencies manager competencies Top managers Requirement on Final questionnaire for managerial Questionnaires managerial competencies for middle managers Training Solutions GAP Non- Training Solutions Current managerial competencies of middle managers Subordinates Middle managers Questionnaires Top managers Source: Author’s idea In this thesis, both primary and secondary are used for identifying required and current managerial competencies of middle managers at Viglacera Secondary data: Study job descriptions, periodical performance appraisals, official HR reports to find out the problem and to design initial forms for questionnaires; Primary data: - In-depth interview: interviews shall be conducted to top managers to define criteria for managerial competencies at Viglacera - Survey: o Questionnaires shall be sent to top managers to identify required managerial competencies of middle managers; o Questionnaires shall be sent to subordinates, middle managers, top managers to identify current managerial competencies of middle managers ( as per 360 degree feedback principle) RESEARCH INSTRUMENT During the interviews, descriptions of each competency will also be discussed to agree Those are then used in designing questionnaires-form The designed questionnaire will be delivered to stakeholders to get feedback The survey will be conducted to 13 top managers, including executive officers of the Corporation They are the ones who know what they needs from middle managers in the future The collected data will be used to form up a managerial competencies requirement (Appendix is the questionnaire used at this step) The list of required managerial competencies will be also used in the questionnaire in the next step – delivering to subordinates to find out current managerial competencies of middle managers POPULATION OF THE SURVEY To determine current managerial competencies of the middle managers at Viglacera, it is essential to get evaluation from subordinates about the objectives of the study, yet evaluation from top managers and other middle managers are needed So 163 sets of questionnaire will be sent out The data will be gathered and consolidated by Excel to give out the final scoring (average value) Besides, interviews will be conducted to top managers to check the survey result for clarifying any suspicious result No correction was made after interviewing QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE Using 5-point Likert’s Scale Scale Range 4.20 – 5.00 Choice Description Extremely Good 3.40 – 4.19 Good 2.60 – 3.39 Fine 1.80 – 2.59 Bad 1.00 – 1.79 Very Bad DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE Seek approval from company to conduct the study Gather literature and secondary data through readings from books, journals, internet, etc Design questionnaires, submit for approval Administer the questionnaires, collate Organize data for statistical treatment, analysis and interpretation CHAPTER PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA This chapter presents results of the survey and provides deep analysis on the data collected as well as it interprets the major meaning of the results and finally plays a role as a concrete basis for the next chapter work 4.1 REQUIRED MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES FOR MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERS AT VIGLACERA While interviewing top managers, they were all so proactive with the questionnaires The total returned questionnaires was 10 versus 10 delivered out As interviewees were asked to put the answer in numbers, I get the numbered marking and put in Excel to calculate the final result The required managerial competencies for Viglacera middle managers are showed in the following chart: Chart 4.1: Required competencies for middle managers Competencies requirement 5.00 4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 B us in es s a w ar en e Le ss a S de et r tin sh i M gp p an ri o a gi riti ng es R the e su te a lt m C orie h an nt ge ati on o rie n T tat ea io m n A bi w lit o r y k to ing i F n ac De flu e v e to elo nc pi e fa ce ng co ot m he rs m u In ni te ca rp t e io n rs o n M al ot sk iv i at l io n sk ill 0.00 Source: Author’s consolidation from the research data 4.2 CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERS AT VIGLACERA Managerial competencies of middle managers at Viglacera have been identified through the research They not match with the requirement from the top managers Chart 4.2: Current competencies of middle managers vs requirements Current Motivation skill Interpersonal skill Face to face communication Developing others Ability to influence Team working Change orientation Result orientation Managing the team Setting priorities Leadership 5.00 4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 Business awareness Marking Requirement and current competencies Requirement Source: Author’s consolidation from the research Chart 4.3: Viglacera Competency Needs Analysis Source: HR2B As showed on Chart 4.3 above, in order for middle Managers at Vigalcera to improve their performance as well as improving performance of their company/department, they need to pay immediate attention in enhancing their “Management” skills and “Soft” skills which respectively 63% and 43% of respondents considered as critical weaknesses of middle managers CHAPTER SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS Chapter IV has identified the gaps between current competencies and requirement from top managers for the business in the future This chapter will present some solutions to bridge the gaps All the solutions are developed based on theory on management and training with the link to the context of Viglacera Corporation 5.1 BASIS FOR THE SOLUTIONS 5.1.1 Viglacera direction to develop human resource Viglacera HR development plan always aligns with its business development strategy and the Corporate Core Values that are showed in the following charts Chart 5.1: Viglacera business development strategy for 2010-2020 Source: Viglacera Business Development Plan 2010-2020 10 Chart 5.2: Viglacera Corporate Core Values Source: Corporate HR Department In the following parts, the reasons for the gaps will be presented under the view of the author after doing some in depth interviews inside Viglacera That would be the basis for recommending solutions to bridge those gaps 5.1.2 Reasoning the gaps between required and current competencies of middle managers Established in 1974 by merging different entities, Viglacera have been so difficult in planning for human resources People from different working environments joined in 11 one organization; it created conflicts among the team in the way of working That is why many issues were found in the HR management aspects: - There is still unclearness in delegation of top managers to functioning departments However working procedures are being set and corrected Levels of authorization and delegation are step by step clarified and implemented - The demand for human resource development is not so clear Quantity and quality of middle management were not defined based on a careful job analysis - Human resource policies and mechanisms are not very competitive to create inspiration of labor force - The recruitment and selection procedures are still complicated and not very contributive They are not tempted to high quality labors - Current labor force is not reasonably categorized and planned - There is not a suitable integrated training strategy - Learning culture is still not built inside the Corporation Those issues create the gaps between required and current competencies of middle managers inside Viglacera To understand clearly, the researcher has spent time with top managers It was clarified as the follows: During the merge of entities to establish Viglacera, middle managers were gathered from different entities, those were different in management style, working attitude, corporate culture and management requirements It therefore leads to the fact that someone is not good in this person view but still good in other eyes As a result, middle managers not exceed the “just fine” level under deferent views, despite they are rather well fulfilling their current jobs 12 Besides, business context is changing It urges the Corporation’s behavior change accordingly So it raises up the requirement for human resource competencies toward meeting the future condition So the gaps get bigger and bigger 5.2 SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS To bridge the gaps, we need to look at aspects of solutions: training and nontraining The training solutions focus on improving middle managers competencies, meanwhile the non-training solutions focus on enhancing the human resource system of the Corporation 5.2.1 Training solutions 5.2.1.1 Training courses The following is the courses I would like to proposed to Viglacera Table 5-1: Training courses proposed for middle managers No Courses Running business in changing world Experiment with new approaches Creative thinking Leadership skills Time management Managing people Building team spirit in your organization Coaching staff Effective communication 10 Developing your EQ 11 Motivation skill Source: Author’s idea 13 5.2.1.2 Training sequence 5.2.1.3 Training methodology 5.2.1.4 Training providers 5.2.1.5 Training supportive activities a) Training policies and training procedure b) Set up an internal training system c) Building a continuous learning culture in the Corporation 5.2.2 Non-training solutions 5.2.2.1 Enhance human resource management system 5.2.2.2 Plan well human resource 5.2.2.3 Improve human resource policies 5.2.2.4 Enhance recruitment and selection procedures Having deployed analysis in previous chapters, in Chapter the Author have proposed sulutions / recommendations for improvements Those solutions / recommendations are summarized in the following matrix Table 5-2: Solutions / Recommendations Matrix Objective Methodology Results Identifying rerquired Interview & Chart 4.1 competency level for Questionnaires Conclusion / Recommendation Chapter 4.1 & Chapter middle managers Assessing current Interview & Competency level Questionnaire Chart 4.2 Chapter 4.2 & Chapter Of middle Managers Identifying the gaps Analyzing survey Between Required & Results Chart 4.2 Chapter 4.2 Chart 4.3 Chapter 4.2 Current competency Analyze the impact Study performance Of each comptency Appraisals 14 Objective Methodology Results Conclusion / Recommendation Bridging the Training courses & Table 5-1 11 training courses Identified Gaps Supportive activities & other supportive Enhancing HR activities management system (Chapter 5) To biz performance CONCLUSION Understanding the role of middle managers, the Management Board of Viglacera has clarified a direction to develop them However, how to overcome the gaps between current managerial competencies of middle managers and the requirement is a big question This thesis contributes author’s point of view on that In the thesis, managerial competencies have been clarified to skills, knowledge, selfconcept, traits and motives of people in management aspect By surveys and in-depth interviews, those were then listed in more details into 12 core competencies for middle manager at Viglacera Also through survey, the big gaps between current core competencies of middle managers and requirement from the top managers were recapped The reasons of the gaps are also explained Those include specific characteristics of the Corporation after establishment by merging from many entities and the expectation from top managers toward the job in the coming time As the success of the research, a series of solutions and recommendations have been proposed to bridge the gaps The proposal contains both training and non-trainings solutions The training solutions cover courses those help to improve all employees’ competencies from attitudes, new approaches to specific skills and knowledge The 15 non-training solutions cover activities to support mainly for human resource development It includes human resource planning, improvement of human resource management systems, policies; recruitment and selection procedures In conclusion, the thesis has completed the initial objective and somehow contributes idea to the Corporation’s strategy to develop middle management force Despite of limitation of time and resource, but the author has brought in to the research all the advantages of an inside members Those are the understanding of the organization, the relationship with stake holders and relevant people, the ability to penetrate the facts and figures within the organization Possibility after-study: After reviewing the result of the research, there are opportunities for training and consulting providers come to propose services The scope of the service could be expanded to lower employee, but further research need to be conducted During the competency assessement survey, the author found that the job description book containing the skill set required for each position is out of date, it does not match with the new job situation and no more align with the expectations from the executive management board as well as the strategic business development plan of the corporation, so the author would recommend a post-study project of updating job description book and turning it into a standard book that can be used for any SOE working in construction industry 16 [...]... role of middle managers, the Management Board of Viglacera has clarified a direction to develop them However, how to overcome the gaps between current managerial competencies of middle managers and the requirement is a big question This thesis contributes author’s point of view on that In the thesis, managerial competencies have been clarified to skills, knowledge, selfconcept, traits and motives of. .. details into 12 core competencies for middle manager at Viglacera Also through survey, the big gaps between current core competencies of middle managers and requirement from the top managers were recapped The reasons of the gaps are also explained Those include specific characteristics of the Corporation after establishment by merging from many entities and the expectation from top managers toward the... reasonably categorized and planned - There is not a suitable integrated training strategy - Learning culture is still not built inside the Corporation Those issues create the gaps between required and current competencies of middle managers inside Viglacera To understand clearly, the researcher has spent time with top managers It was clarified as the follows: During the merge of entities to establish Viglacera, ... assessement survey, the author found that the job description book containing the skill set required for each position is out of date, it does not match with the new job situation and no more align with the expectations from the executive management board as well as the strategic business development plan of the corporation, so the author would recommend a post-study project of updating job description book and... Corporation s behavior change accordingly So it raises up the requirement for human resource competencies toward meeting the future condition So the gaps get bigger and bigger 5.2 SOLUTIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN REQUIRED AND CURRENT COMPETENCIES OF MIDDLE MANAGERS To bridge the gaps, we need to look at 2 aspects of solutions: training and nontraining The training solutions focus on improving middle. .. sulutions / recommendations for improvements Those solutions / recommendations are summarized in the following matrix Table 5-2: Solutions / Recommendations Matrix Objective Methodology Results Identifying rerquired Interview & Chart 4.1 competency level for Questionnaires Conclusion / Recommendation Chapter 4.1 & Chapter 5 middle managers Assessing current Interview & Competency level Questionnaire... corrected Levels of authorization and delegation are step by step clarified and implemented - The demand for human resource development is not so clear Quantity and quality of middle management were not defined based on a careful job analysis - Human resource policies and mechanisms are not very competitive to create inspiration of labor force - The recruitment and selection procedures are still complicated...Chart 5.2: Viglacera Corporate Core Values Source: Corporate HR Department In the following parts, the reasons for the gaps will be presented under the view of the author after doing some in depth interviews inside Viglacera That would be the basis for recommending solutions to bridge those gaps 5.1.2 Reasoning the gaps between required and current competencies of middle managers Established... improvement of human resource management systems, policies; recruitment and selection procedures In conclusion, the thesis has completed the initial objective and somehow contributes idea to the Corporation s strategy to develop middle management force Despite of limitation of time and resource, but the author has brought in to the research all the advantages of an inside members Those are the understanding of. .. establish Viglacera, middle managers were gathered from different entities, those were different in management style, working attitude, corporate culture and management requirements It therefore leads to the fact that someone is not good in this person view but still good in other eyes As a result, middle managers do not exceed the “just fine” level under deferent views, despite they are rather well fulfilling