June, 1993

Boise State University

Management Department

1910 University Drive

Boise, ID 83725

USA

(208)385-1267 (work)

(208)385-1857 (FAX)

RMGBigel@COBFAC.IDBSU.EDU

Current U.S. skills courses are strongly influenced by studies done in the U.S. Are they relevant for international managers? This study identifies and compares skills seen as important in U.S. and international literature. It concludes that: (1) while most skills currently covered are relevant for international managers, they need to be extended to international settings, and (2) current skills courses need to add a component on entry skills. Implications for skill teaching are discussed.

American managers have come to realize the importance of managerial skills; i.e., the ability to accomplish managerial goals through direct, personal action. The popular literature has increasingly criticized business school graduates for lacking skills, and have called for more coverage of skills in the business school curriculum (Gordon and Howell, 1959; Livingston, 1971; Mintzberg, 1973 & 1975; Filley, Foster, and Herbert, 1979; Boyatzis, 1982; Mandt, 1982; Whetten and Cameron, 1983; Porter and McKibbin, 1988; Accounting Education Change Commission, 1989; O'Malley, 1989)

During the past decade, a "skills movement" has emerged in business schools, and managerial skills courses are becoming increasingly widespread. One indication of the growing interest in university level managerial skills course is the increasing numbers of skills texts being offered by publishers for university courses: Whereas before 1988 only one skills text was offered, university skills instructors can now choose from at least nine--all directed toward American audiences (Bigelow, 1993).

To what extent are these skills courses relevant for international managers? None of the skills texts currently available in the U.S. make any qualifications about the cultural extent within which the skills they consider will apply. This might lead to the impression that these skills are universal in scope and applicable to any setting, domestic or international. A closer look, however, shows that none of the texts specifically addresses skills in an international or cross-cultural setting. In addition, the research cited by these texts is primarily derived from studies of American firms and businesspeople.

The American origin of these texts suggests we can be most confident about their relevance when they are used by students who will go on to manage in exclusively American settings. The likelihood of this happening, however, is diminishing (e.g., Finney and Von Glinnow, 1988).

My purpose in writing this paper is to explore how the extension of management from American to international settings affects the nature of managerial skills which are required and must be learned. I begin by reviewing literature which lists managerial skill topics. I then review additional literature which offers some insight into the nature of international managerial skill topics, and compare this with the previously derived list. Finally, I discuss implications for the teaching of managerial skills.

A managerial skill is the ability to accomplish a particular type of managerial goal through personal action. The action may be as simple as a single behavior, or may comprise a system of behaviors implemented interactively over a period of time. This definition suggests that our image of managerial skills rests on a set of managerial goals/problems currently thought to be important by managers -- and which could change over time and setting. This definition also distinguishes the direct and indirect parts of managerial goals. For example, a manager may have a goal of facilitating a meeting, which he/she accomplishes through direct action. The group may then arrive at a quality decision -- an indirect result of the manager's action. Thus the manager's skill in group facilitation results indirectly in furthering of other organizational goals.

Based on this definition, I searched for studies which identified important managerial skills. I found nine major sources which did this and were based on U.S. settings. These sources draw on either original research into managerial skills or expertise of the authors. The skills identified are summarized in Table 1.

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Table 1 here

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Columns 1-9 correspond to the nine literature sources which are identified by the legend at the bottom of the page. A plus in a particular column indicates that the source identified a particular skill. Column 2 shows the "frequency of mention", or the number of times each skill was identified.

While it is tempting to interpret frequency of mention as an indication of a skill's importance, this is not necessarily the case, for two reasons. First, as mentioned above, some skills were identified at more than one level of abstraction, and this affects frequency of mention. For example if all specific interpersonal skills were combined into an "interpersonal skill" category, their collective frequency of mention would be far greater. A second reason not to equate frequency of mention with importance concerns date of publication. It's quite possible that the different authors were aware of previous works and were influenced by them. Consequently skills identified earlier on may accumulate a higher frequency rating as other authors refer to them. For these two reasons the frequency rankings in Table 1 are perhaps a better indication of the prevalence of skills in the literature, rather than importance.

Despite this caveat, high frequencies of mention in Table 1 do correspond well with the skills currently covered in university skills texts. For example, the three major texts with a managerial skills focus (i.e., Lewis, Garcia, and Jobs (1990); Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, and McGrath (1990); Whetten and Cameron (1991)) include the highly ranked skills of this list, with the exception of written communication, planning, and controlling. These latter skills are commonly addressed in business school curricula, but outside current university skills courses.

In sum, Table 1 provides an indication of the managerial skills topics and skill types currently covered in university skills texts. The primarily American origin of these sources, however, raises a question as to their extendibility outside American settings. Does this set of skills topics need to be amended to prepare prospective managers to work effectively in international settings? In addressing this question, let us first consider what skills international managers may find useful.

International management considers management in a variety of cultural settings. It is therefore more diverse and difficult to summarize. Even so, a number of authors have addressed aspects of international skill. Specifically, I have identified 33 studies which identify managerial skills appropriate in international settings (see tables 2a and 2b for references). Although many of these studies are less rigorously conducted than those of the previous section, many draw credibility from experience or expertise of the authors. The skills which these sources identify are shown in Table 2. Because of its width, this table has been broken into Tables 2a and 2b.

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Tables 2a and 2b here

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Column 1 of table 2 lists the 27 international skills topics identified. The numbered columns correspond to the literature sources which are identified by the legend at the bottom of the page. A plus in a particular column indicates that the source identified a particular skill. Column 2 shows the "frequency of mention", or the number of times each skill was identified. As discussed earlier, the frequency of mention indicates skill prevalence in the literature, but not necessarily skill importance.

A comparison of Tables 1 and 2 suggests some definite differences in the kinds of skills topics mentioned in the U.S. and international skills literatures. Essentially a skill may fall within one of three categories: primarily mentioned in the international literature, primarily mentioned in the U.S. literature, and mentioned in both literatures. Figure 1 illustrates the categories into which the skills of Tables 1 and 2 fall.

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Figure 1 here

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The skills in the left circle are mentioned in the international literature and those in the right circle are mentioned in the U.S. literature. Those in the intersect are mentioned in both literatures3. This classification should not be thought of as a definitive statement as to where each of these skills belongs. Evolution of the literature and further studies could lead to shifts in classifications as well as emergence (and submergence) of particular skills. Still, Figure 1 does give a sense of the skills which authors consider important in the U.S. and international scene.

One way of bringing out the differences in these three classifications is to consider the types of skills mentioned in each. Examination of the skills of Figure 1 suggests that they can be more broadly classified into 6 skill types:

If the skills in Figure 1 are classified by type, we can get a sense of the presence or absence of each skill type in the three categories. Table 3 shows the number of times each of the above 6 skill types are mentioned in the three categories of Figure 1.

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Table 3 here

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In this table the broad differences of skill mention among these categories are clearer. These differences may be summarized as follows: (1) Both literatures emphasize the importance of interpersonal skills and to a lesser extent, learning and intrapersonal skills; (2) the U.S. only literature emphasizes administrative skills, and; (3) the international only literature emphasizes entry skills, and to a lesser extent, personal characteristics.

These findings indicate a shift in skill emphasis as one moves from managing in a relatively more homogeneous U.S. setting to managing in a more international setting. This shift involves a decreased emphasis on more specific administrative practices which have been established in U.S. firms and which may not be appropriate in other cultures, and an increased emphasis on adaptive skills which enable a person to quickly learn about and adjust to different managerial situations found in other cultural settings. In addition the findings strongly support the importance of interpersonal skills in all managerial settings.

The above discussion contains both good and bad news for current managerial skills courses. The good news is that international writers regard many of current skill topics usually covered in managerial skills courses as relevant for international settings--although the cross-cultural connections may need to be made more specifically. The bad news is that these writers also identify some key skills which are currently not addressed: Little if any assistance is currently provided to students who will one day need to enter and establish working relationships in a cross-cultural setting.

Instructors wishing to internationalize their skills courses, then, will want to both internationalize their current skill topics and add an entry skills component to their skills courses. Given the nature of skills courses this is not simply a matter of adding a reading or two on the topics. Rather, it requires an extension of course goals and a corresponding extension of course pedagogy.

In internationalizing current skill topics, instructors will want to investigate the way culture affects the way skills are practiced and the issues surrounding skill use in other cultures. Adler (1991) provides much useful thinking about the ways such skills as communication, teamwork, leadership, motivation, decision making, and negotiation translate across cultures. In addition the reader may use Table 2 as a resource in locating readings which discuss particular skills in international contexts. Skills courses often use cases as a part of skill application, and international cases such as those provided by Lane and DiStefano (1988) may be used. Mendenhall (1988-89), while not specifically discussing management skills, provides many useful ideas and activities potentially useful for internationalizing a skills course.

The U.S. is a heterogeneous society and universities have been slow in recognizing the cultural differences which already exist in U.S. firms. The emerging "managing diversity" movement is generating valuable ideas for managing the differences which already exist in U.S. culture (e.g., Bell, 1988-89; Taylor, 1991; Schor, 1991). Thus, the prospects of both internationalizing and "intranationalizing" skills courses seem highly synergistic.

In adding an entry skills component, instructors may find the going more difficult, since they will need to more directly raise and confront issues of ethnocentricity and flexibility -- personal issues of which many students are as yet not even aware. As Gallos (1988-89) pointed out, many college students are in a "right-wrong dualism" stage of development, and have difficulty accepting that other ways of viewing the world may be valid. This may make it difficult for them to accept and work with the basic differences in perceiving and doing that they will encounter in international settings.

In my own cross-cultural training work with the Peace Corps I found that many trainees reacted emotionally and evaluatively to events they witnessed in other cultures. I found it useful to have trainees discuss their reactions in a support group. By sharing their reactions and hearing the reactions of others they were more able to be aware of their hitherto subconscious and unexamined values and how they affected their cross-cultural interactions. A similar process might be brought to the classroom using structured experiences with local cultures; e.g., through a visit to the home of a family of a different culture or viewing of foreign language TV programming, followed by a group debriefing.

Once personal barriers inhibiting effective entry have been raised, it should be possible to provide students with exercises or experiences in which their entry process can be developed. The classic BAFA BAFA exercise and Punnett's book of cross-cultural exercises (1990) may be helpful here.

By highlighting the importance of interpersonal skills in international management skills, these studies also point to the primacy of language skills as an essential prerequisite for interaction. While U.S. universities are increasingly emphasizing oral and written communication skills , all too often these skills are only learned in the English language.

One might argue that since English is close to an international language of business, one need not learn another language. I disagree with this proposition, for three reasons. First, it is very difficult to gain an appreciation for another culture without learning its language. Events may seem strange from the lens of another language, but make perfect sense within the framework of an indigenous language. Second, even when individuals from another culture speak English, it may not be the intrinsic language of the firm. Consequently, translation to and from English can comprise a chronic impediment to communication: concepts understood well in the firm's language may not translate well. Third, the assumption that individuals of another culture should extend themselves to speak another language sets an inegalitarian tone, which itself can become a barrier to effective communication. For these reasons, students aiming to establish effective communication in another cultural context should study the language of that context.

A final point: It should be made clear to students that entry into another culture is not something that can be learned before engaging with the specific culture. As an illustration, Larry Michaelsen reports attending a group at an international conference which attempted to develop some general rules of thumb which could be used when encountering someone from another culture. He comments:

Until a general theory of cultures is developed then, the essence of entry skills is receptivity, creativity and adaptability -- not simply learning beforehand what differences exist between two cultures.

Current skills courses in the U.S. have been influenced by studies drawing heavily on U.S. firms. While the skills covered do have relevance for international managers, the international application of these skills is not considered in skills courses. Further, entry skills, of critical importance to managers entering international firms, are not covered at all. As U.S. businesses become increasingly international, the international aspect of skill learning, including language learning, will become an increasingly critical factor in the success of business school graduates. Instructors of skills courses can look forward to some interesting times as we learn how to address these skill aspects in our courses.

1. My thanks to Nancy Napier for her comments on an earlier version of this paper.

2. One might infer from the number of studies that more work is being done around international management skills than in the U.S. This is not necessarily the case. The U.S. studies cited are focal studies, drawing on a larger literature. The international studies, on the other hand, tend to treat skills as a part of a broader topic, and to draw more on field observations than formal research. For both these reasons, they are more numerous.

3. In order to get a sense of these skills considered important by more than one author, only skills mentioned at least twice in each of the literatures were included in the intersect.