EXCHANGE: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 1983, Volume VIII(2) Copyright The OBTS

THE AMA MANAGEMENT COMPETENCY PROGRAMS: A DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Edward A. Powers Institute of Management Competency American Management Association

For the past three years, the American Management Associations has operated a competency program geared especially to middle and upper level managers in Fortune 500 companies. The program has several dimensions: a Masters level program; the Competency Development Laboratory (an assessment and professional planning workshop); and skill courses based upon combinations of competencies in the AMA model. The clientele of these programs have been experienced managers who seem attracted either to the model or the developmental approach. I write from the perspective of this experience.

Definition and Grounding

The AMA program is based upon an empirically validated model of management excellence. The benchmark study was done under contract with the AMA by McBer and Company of Boston. (The research design and findings are reported in Boyatzis' The Competent Manager, A Model for Effective Performance, 1982). A competency is defined as "an underlying characteristic of a manager causally related to superior performance in a management position." Thus, a competency is seen as part of one's repertoire, a skill one can utilize in a variety of situations and job contexts.

The competencies in the model are seen as generic, i.e., applicable to an entire class of managers across organizations and positions. The generic competencies complement those explicitly needed in particular jobs, functions, and organizational environments. The model was formed initially with a series of behavioral descriptions which characterize superior managers in the research sample ("superior" being defined by the participating organization in terms of its standards of performance, superior ratings, and peer nominations). These identified behaviors through cluster analysis were then grouped into competencies and further generalized into four clusters. (A summary of these competencies and clusters is given in Table 1.)

For each of these eighteen competencies, a series of behavioral expressions or indicators defines the skill component of that "underlying characteristic. " Developing Others, for example, includes: giving feedback; providing specific tools; engaging in problem solving; taking initiative to address questions; and enhancing the ability of a subordinate or other to take responsibility for specific actions.

In addition to the four competency clusters listed above, a fifth Specialized Knowledge Cluster is included in the model. The McBer research was not geared to discern whether there is generic specialized knowledge and. if so. what it is. Clearly, the superior

Table I

Managerial Clusters and Competencies

Goal and Action Management Cluster

Efficiency Orientation—Concern with doing something better (in comparison with previous personal performance, others' performance, or a standard of excellence).
Proactivity—Disposition toward taking action to accomplish something, e.g., instigating activity for a specific purpose.
Concern with Impact—Concern with symbols of power in order to have impact on others.
Diagnostic Use of Concepts—Way of thinking in which prior known conceDts are anolied to identifv or recognize patterns.

Directing Subordinates Cluster

Use of Unilateral Power—Use of forms of influence to obtain compliance.
Developing Others—Ability to give others performance feedback and other needed help to improve performance.
Spontaneity—Ability to express oneself freely and easily.

Human Resources Management Cluster

Accurate Self-Assessment—Realistic and grounded view of oneself.
Self-Control—Ability to inhibit personal needs or desires in service of organizational goals.
Stamina and Adaptability—The energy to sustain long hours of work and the flexibility to adapt to changes in life and the organizational environment.
Perceptual Objectivity—Ability to be relatively objective rather than limited by excessive subjectivity, personal biases, prejudice, or preferences.
Positive Regard—Ability to express a positive belief in others by the manager.
Managing Group Process—Ability to stimulate others to work together effectively in a group setting.
Use of Socialized Power—Use of forms of influence to build alliances. networks, coalitions. or teams.

Leadership Cluster

Self-Confidence—Ability to express confidence and be decisive.
Conceptualization—Way of thinking in which concepts are used de novo to identify or recognize patterns in assorted information.
Logical Thought—A thought process in which the person orders events in a causal sequence.
Use of Oral Presentations—Ability to make effective verbal Dresentations to others. managers in the sample had basic understanding of the nature of organizations and the rudiments of management.

In addition to the way the compeeencies in Table I have been grouped, there is another way to group these items which convey dimensions of the model that are useful for developmental purposes. This reconfiguration involves three linkage patterns. First is Diagnostic Use of Concepts, Conceptualization, and Logical Thought which comprize an analytical or intellectual core. The second involves the three competencies which address the manager's use of power and influence—Use of Unilateral Power, Concern with Impact, and Use of Socialized Power. Developing Others, Positive Regard, and Perceptual Objectivity is the third linkage pattern which addresses the manager's role in developing subordinates.

In the competency development programs of the American Management Associations, the model serves a number of functions. It provides an empirical base which forms the basis for the coding of behavior displayed by participant/managers in various learning and assessment situations. It provides a set of norms to measure managerial performance. The behaviors identified for each competency provide strategy guidelines for development of each competency. Finally, the research design provides the base for the AMA's longitudinal study of the effects of competency programs on participants over time.

The Assessment Process

All AMA competency programs begin with some form of assessment utilizing the model as a backdrop. Such an assessment seeks to identify those competencies already possessed by participant/managers and to provide the basis for self awareness and definition of each manager's competency development profile.

The Competency Program (a master's degree program) and the Competency Development Laboratory (a seven-day professional assessment and planning event) each begin with a two pronged process — assessment or audit and feedback. The audit process consists of four interactive exercises providing simulated re-creations of diverse managerial situations plus a Behavioral Event Interview and a series of respondent tests dealing with learning style, power style, conflict approach, and management style. The interview, modelled after the Critical Incident Interview (Flanagan, 1954) is an in-depth self report of one's behavior in the managerial real world.

The video taped exercises and the audio taped interview are coded by an AMA staff of professional coders using the McBer research behaviors. This coded material geared to the 18 competencies is returned to participants later in the feedback process along with the test scores. The feedback week is designed to lead participants through the steps of the Competency Acquisition Process:
-- Recognition
-- Understanding
-- Assessment
-- Experimentation
-- Practice
-- Application

The first two steps form the heart of the early part of the feedback process. Participants share in faculty presentations of each of the clusters, compare their own performance with the model, and focus on the expressive behaviors of each competency.

A strong component is the small group in which each person participates. The notion here is that management involves getting things done through and with other people and, therefore, the testing and processing of managerial data should have an essentially social context. The group is constant throughout both the assessment and feedback weeks. Thus, group members face the music which they have made together. A faculty member facilitates the group's processing as each participant/manager is guided through the steps of the Competency Acquisition Process. This process is also used as people work on competency development.

The developmental component of the initial audit and feedback includes three elements: a competency profile, a developmental plan, and back home simulations.

The Competency Profile draws upon the coding data, input from tests, data from group members and faculty, and results from a questionnaire given to colleagues at their work places. This assessment profile is individually drawn and forms the basis for future development including areas of concentration and sequencing decisions. The profile includes both affirmation of skills well developed and acknowledgment of areas for further development. When the process is on target, the participant/manager has a precise sense of the knowledge and behaviors which need to be developed.

The Development Plan is individually tailored to help the person to achieve the knowledge and skills missing in the profile. The plan is judged by these criteria: it is to be behaviorally specific; realistic, but challenging; time phased; and measurable. Participant/managers are encouraged to plan for six months. The components of each segment of the plan include a goal definition, plans to learn more about the competency, to practice and gain feedback, and a listing of obstacles and sources of help. The AMA faculty offer a number of courses rooted in combinations of competencies and these are important components of most plans.

Within the feedback week setting (and also in the skill courses) Back Home Simalations are an important "clinching" activity for participants to put it all together. At this point, faculty become trainers, producers, and mentors with each participant/manager becoming his or his own director. The action is scripted. The cast of characters is put in place and the situation which the participant/manager will face is enacted. In advance, the relevant competencies and behaviors have been identified and the principal player tries them out in a simulated future situation which is likely to take place. It may be a presentation setting or a 1:1 with a subordinate or an influence and power situation or a problem solving enterprise. In each case, it is the appropriate testing ground for the competencies in the developmental mix. The scenarios are video taped, replayed, and the experience analyzed.

To summarize—the key elements in this initial AMA competency approach include: the use of a behaviorally specific model; assessment to foster recognition and ownership of the model and the profile; professional coding; a strong group role; faculty facilitation; and the development of concrete action/ learning plans.

The Competency Program

This program offers graduate level management education which mixes self-directed learning and faculty guidance. (An overview of the Competency Program is given in Figure I.) Managers who undertake this program, continuing their employment, will take on the average two to three years to complete it. The program begins with the audit and feedback. In that process the person focuses first on those competencies in which he or she is weak. This is the first of two tracks leading toward program completion. It is called Competency Development. Participant Managers are required to demonstrate most of the 18 competencies in an audit, either the original or a subsequent one. The rationale for this is that if competencies are underlying characteristics and if indeed they do travel, then managers will be able to demonstrate them in new managerial and organizational situations simulated in an audit.

The graduate program also has substantial requirements in the Specialized Knowledge area. Participant/ managers may satisfy these requirements either by course completion or knowledge test passage. Typical areas are accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, organizational behavior, quantitative and computer skills. They must also use some of this knowledge in applicable managerial situations. The second stream we call Documentation of Perform

Figure 1

Overview of the AMA Competency Program

Following an intensive initial Competency Audit, participant/managers are advised of their performance evaluation. Together with Competency Program faculty, they draft their individual learning plans for the develoDment of the reauired competencies.
The learning plans detail the developmental activities each participant manager will undertake, and might include—but not be limited to—specific knowledge courses and seminars, skill acquisition projects and courses, as well as plans for demonstrating the use of each comDetencY on-the-iob.
From time to time, candidates may elect to participate in an interim audit to measure their progress and revise the learning contract as needed.
Participant managers graduate from the Program upon documenting to the AMA faculty that they possess each managerial competency and that they successfully have used specific knowledge and skills in their jobs. Candidates are expected to spend approximately two to three years in this self-paced Program, depending on their individual learning plans and the responsibilities of their respective jobs.

ance, proof that the competencies have been used on the job. The DOP process is rigorous in that it requires evidence of understanding of the competency, physical evidence or testimony that would convince an impartial jury, and effective use of the focal competency in a job setting. The participant/manager prepares a portfolio of evidence which is submitted to a faculty panel which weighs the evidence from the perspectives of weight, materiality, and applicability in relation to the alleged competency use.

The material from this effort is impressive! Participants get the competencies into focus, use them in their daily work, and involve people from their work environment in serious reflection on their managerial

performance. The improvement for everyone involved can be significant. A manufacturing vice president, for example, worked intensively at the analytic skills in the competency model, especially Conceptualization, and as a result he improved the company's new product development, scheduling efficiency, and problemsolving skills. A human resources staff person involved in labor negotiations utilized perceptual objectivity so skillfully that he improved a set of bargaining sessions by honing them in on the critical issues for settlement.

Included in the Competency Program as developmental resources is a skill course component. Each course centers on particular competencies and depends upon an interplay of practice, situational analysis, theory, and use of videotape feedback. The courses have an assessment component using material furnished by the participant/managers from their own situations. Thus, they provide strong links with the job setting and allow opportunities to develop skills and techniques for using the competencies there. A sample of courses and competencies include:

-- Coaching and Appraisal Skills (Developing Others; Positive Regard)
-- Executive Croup Dynamics (Managing Group Process; Use of Socialized Power)
-- Impacting Change (Efficiency Orientation; Stamina and Adaptability)
-- Influence and Power (Concern with Impact; Use of Unilateral Power; Use of Socialized Power)
-- Superior Communication (Logical Thought; Use of Oral Presentations)

The graduate program is currently small reflecting its experimental stage on the AMA agenda. Student/ Faculty ratio is expected to be 25:1. When developed to capacity it is expected that five classes of twenty persons each will enter the program each year. After their initial audit and feedback, participant/managers will work with a faculty advisor in the development and implementation of learning plans. These plans include competency development, skill courses, and documentation of performance components. Each participant/ manager is required to complete a minimal number of demonstrations of competencies in an audit, to show proficiency in key specialized knowledge areas, and to complete 24 documentations of performance representative of all five cluster areas.

Complicating Factors

These programs are effective in identifying relevant competencies and their behavioral expressions in managers. They help managers to improve their skills and conceptual understanding. But, four factors must be taken into account.

First, the research and model reflect experienced managers. Those who are participating in AMA programs who are not now working managers (individual performers or staff persons without subordinates) or whose managerial experience is limited, do not appear to benefit as much because all the players and frames of references are not in place.

Second, such programs are expensive in that they are labor intensive. To achieve their highest promise, they involve faculty as group facilitators, assessors, and mentors, as well as teachers and evaluators.

Third, these programs require a highly trained and skilled facultv with exDerience both in the management community and in interactive teaching toward behaviorally specific objectives.

Fourth, the effectiveness of such programs is largely dependent upon the learner's motivation. Even though the environment is relatively safe and extremely confidential, high risk is involved. Managers expose themselves to assessment and feedback scrutiny and then they commit themselves to move forward in a self-directed learning style. To undertake the graduate program their organization and people in their immediate work environment are inevitably and extensively involved. These complicating factors can be solved in a variety of ways. In fact, as they are solved, they enhance the process and make it work. But they must be addressed for successful implementation to take place.

Conclusion

The AMA program began as a logical extension of this nonprofit corporation's sixty year history of managers teaching managers their craft. The generative questions were — what are the distinguishing characteristics of superior managers and how can others attain those characteristics? The McBer research and model answered the first question. The second is being addressed by the AMA in its graduate program and in other competency offerings described in this essay. The competency approach appears to be an especially effective way to upgrade the knowledge and skills of working managers.

References

Boyatzis, Richard E. The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance, New York, Wiley, 1982.
Flanagan, J. C. "The Critical Incident Technique," Psychological Bulletin, 51(4), 1954, 327-358. Relevant Readings
Daloisio, Tony, and Firestone, Marsha. "The Case Study in Applying Adult Learning Theory in Developing Managers," Training and Development Journal, February 1983, 73-78.
Goleman, Daniel. "The New Competency Tests: Matching the Right People to the Right Jobs," Psychology Today, January 1981, 3 5 -46 .
McClelland, David C. "Testing for Competence Rather Than 'Intelligence,"' American Psychologist, 28(1), 1973, 1-40.
Pottinger, Paul S., and Goldsmith, Joan (editors). Defining and Measuring Competence: New Directions for Experiential Learning, no. 3, 1979, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schneider, Carol, Klemp, George O., Jr., and Kastendiek, Susan. The Balancing Act: Competencies of Effective Teachers and Mentors in Degree Programs for Adu/ts, Chicago, Center for Continuing Education, University of Chicago, August 1981.
Sherwood, William B. "Developing Subordinates: Critical to Managers and Their Organizations," Personnel, January-February 1983, 46-52.

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