Text 3: managerial knowledge, skills and performance

For managers to develop work agendas, act out roles, and engage in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, they need a sound knowledge base and key management skills.

Knowledge Base

Although managers often switch companies and work in different industries, they are apt to run into difficulties if they don't have a rea­sonably extensive knowledge base relevant to their particular manage­rial job. A knowledge base can include information about an industry and its technology, company policies and practices, company goals and plans, company culture, the personalities of key organization members, and important and customers.

Key Management Skills

In addition to having a knowledge base, managers need three key types of skills to carry out the various functions of management. A skill is the ability to engage in a set of behaviors that are functionally related to one another and that lead to a desired performance level in a given area. For managers, the three key skill types are technical, hu­man, and conceptual.

Technical Skills. Technical skills are skills that reflect both an understanding of and a proficiency in a specialized field. For example, a manager may have technical skills in a specialized field such as ac­counting, finance, engineering, manufacturing, or computer science.

Human Skills. Human skills are skills associated with a man­ager's ability to work well with other both as a member of a group and as a leader who gets things done through other. Managers with effec­tive human skills typically are particularly adept at communicating with other and motivating them to develop themselves and perform well in pursuit of organizational goals.

Conceptual Skills. Conceptual skills are skills related to the ability to visualize the organization as a whole discern interrelation­ships among organizational parts, and understand how the organiza­tion fits into the wider context of the industry, community, and world. Managers need to recognize these various elements and understand the complex relationships among them so that they can take actions that advance the goals of the organization. Conceptual skills, coupled with technical skills, human skills, and a knowledge base, are impor­tant ingredients in organizational performance.

Performance

What constitutes high performance in an organization? Perform­ance actually is made up of two important dimensions: effectiveness and efficiency.

Effectiveness. Effectiveness is the ability to choose appropriate goals and achieve them. Effectiveness, then, has two parts. First, goals must be appropriate. Second, goals must be reached.

Efficiency. In contrast, efficiency is the ability to make the best use of available resources in the process of achieving goals. In the case of Nordstrom, the store enjoys the highest sales per.

In essence, organization need to exhibit both effectiveness (doing the right things) and efficiency (doing things right) in order to be good performers.