Managerial Resourcefulness: A Reconceptualization of Management Skills

Abstract

The diverse nature of the prevailing conceptualizations of skills required for successful managerial performance hinders our understanding of the phenomenon. This paper examines the limitations to our understanding of the nature of managerial skills based on the analysis of managerial jobs that are often non-routine, unprogrammed, and ill-structured. A framework that distinguishes between managerial "skills" and "competencies" along several dimensions such as specific-generic, task driven-person driven, and transferable non-transferable is suggested as a possible alternative mode of conceptualization. Competencies representing fundamental generic cognitive characteristics are viewed as managerial resourcefulness. Integrating research from the fields of cognitive, clinical, personality, and social psychology, the paper identifies and explicates various components of resourcefulness which have implications for selection and training of managers. Developing appropriate operationalization, assessment, and training procedures with respect to various components of resourcefulness are suggested as areas for future research.