ISBN 978-9955-18-355-6

MODELLING THE EUROPEAN FUTURE:

INTEGRATING THE OLD AND THE NEW
2008, Vol 4, 291-296
Vizma Kūlupa, Aivars Strautnieks
Latvia University of Agriculture (Latvia)
THE CHANGES AND CHALLENGES OF A MANAGER’S PROFESSIOGRAM
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Abstract. The paper expounds the results of a theoretical research about changes
in the manager’s professiogram
(skills, traits, professional attitude, knowledge, behaviour) in the 21st century.
The aim of the current research is to
determine the main topicalities and necessary changes in the manager’s
professiogram in the 21st century.
Latest tendencies in world’s society define human resources as the most important
and valuable resources in order to
provide sustainable effectiveness in enterprises. Managers should change their old
20th century attitude (mainly
oriented on goals, structural resources) and transform themselves to human-
oriented leaders. Under conditions of
fast changes, the manager’s professiogram has to integrate into itself leader’s
traits and functions. In order to transform
oneself to a manager – leader, the current manager’s professiogram has to be
supplemented or a proportion of
current traits in it has to be increased with the following ones: skills and
knowledge in mutual relations, emotional
intelligence, an ability to inspire oneself and others, an ability to cognize
oneself.
KEY WORDS: leadership skills, competencies of manager, leader.
Introduction
Several factors impact the content of features required for professional duties of
a manager, including
both specifics of the organisation’s internal environment and changes in its
external environment. The
external environment of a 21st century organisation is characterised by the terms
like globalisation and
fast changes which explicitly impact the organisation’s internal environment -
organisation’s resources,
organisation’s culture and the manager’s working style.
If moving from the industrial paradigm to a post-industrial one, one has to
understand that in the
21st century completely another approach is required for managing human resources
and human capital
unlike it was in the 20th century for managing industrial workers. In the 20th
century any human was managed
as a physiological creature, in the 21st century we talk about managing human
resources and human
capital. The largest attention was paid to the role of science and practise in the
21st century as structural
(material, financial, time) factor management was of primary importance. In the
21st century, the management
of activating factors (humans) is of primary importance, along with the importance
of science
and practice, dictates a need for recognising management as an art, too. Changes
make it necessary to review,
perfect and develop new skills, knowledge, behaviour and attitude which are
required for professional
performance of a manager.
In her previous publications, Kūlupa V. has justified and developed a definition
for the features required
for manager’s professional performance. A professiogram is the totality of skills,
capabilities, knowledge,
person’s traits, behaviour and attitude used in the working process. The
characterisation of a manager’s
professiogram was a central topic in many studies since the beginning of the first
half of the 20th century
when so called “The Great People Theory” emerged, which said that person’s traits
determine the manager’s
efficiency, as well as in the concepts of managerial behaviour in 1950ies and
later in the theories of situative
approach and transformation. Considering the fast changes in the organisation’s
external environment
and their influence on the specifics of the organisation’s internal environment,
new approaches were
developed over the recent 5-10 years. Yet in practice, both in a real management
process and, in most cases,
in training courses related to management, the approaches and theories developed
for organisations of the
industrial period are still used.
The research authors, considering the importance and impact of the newest studies
in this field on
organisation’s competitiveness, have set the aim: to determine the main
topicalities and necessary
changes in the 21st century’s manager’s professiogram.
The following tasks have been set to achieve the aim:
 To discuss theoretically the content of the 21st century manager’s professiogram
and its topicality
in Latvian and foreign studies and publications.
 To determine and characterise the accordance of elements included in the
manager’s professiogram
of Latvian enterprises with basic concepts of 21st century’s theories from the
point of view of employees.
V. Kūlupa, A. Strautnieks / MODELLING THE EUROPEAN FUTURE: INTEGRATING THE OLD AND
THE NEW
– 2008, Vol 4, 291-296
292
Object of research: Latvian and foreign studies, publications, theoretical
conclusions on the content
of manager’s professiogram in the 21st century.
Materials and methods
To carry out the research, the authors have chosen the monographic research
method, surveying
and mathematical statistics.
Publications of leading American and European researchers on the problem of the
nature of managers
in the 21st century were used in the analysis of literature data – J.Eider,
J.Koters, D.Goleman, M.
Wheatley, R.Goffe, R.Kuran, V.Benis, S.Goshal, E.Shein, J.Maxwell, J.Pfefer, P.
Sydanmaanlakka and
the Gallup Institute. Unfortunately in Latvia, the publications of the mentioned
authors are rarely available;
besides, their availability and use opportunities are limited for the Latvian
public due to the fact that
very few works of these authors have been translated into Latvian, for instance,
J.Eider. We have to mention
the contribution and efforts of I.Forands in popularising the newest this field
studies who introduces
readers with the authors of studies in his book “Management Authorities”.
At the end of the paper, the authors show a part of not published data from a
study carried out by
V.Kūlupa in previous years. In the spring of 2006, a study was done on the
attitude of employees to the
manager’s leadership style. A larger part of the study results (except for the
data included in this paper)
was published in V.Kūlupa’s paper “Leadership Style in View of Employees of Latvia
Small and Middlesized
Enterprises “ presented at the International Scientific Conference “Economic
Science for Rural development
2007”, volume No.14. By using e-mail, computerised questionnaire forms were sent
to randomly
selected employees of Latvian small and medium enterprises. As a result, 127
completed and valid
for data processing questionnaire forms were received from about 30 enterprises.
Characteristics of the respondents:
 Gender: males 52%, females 48%
 Age: 21-57
 Education: secondary or secondary professional 46%, higher 52%, other 2%.
Mathematical statistics was applied for processing research data.
Results and discussion
21st century’s organisations are influenced by eight forces that tend to increase
their influence and cause
changes and dominate in the present world of business. According to M.Marguardt’s
concept, they are as follows:
1. Globalisation and the global economy
2. Computer technologies (including information distribution technologies, the
Internet)
3. Radical changes in the labour market
4. Increase in consumer demand and power
5. Knowledge and education as the most important value of organisations and the
state, property
6. New roles of employees and expectations
7. Biotechnologies
8. A pace of change (Marguardt, 2000)
According to M.Wheatley, if over the next ten years the way of managing business
is not changed,
it might be ruined. Any management has to admit that they alone are not able to
control an organisation,
and they have to be ready to cooperate with others as no progress can be achieved
without support and
involvement of employees (Wheatley, 2004). T.Stewart also believes that the time
of modern corporations
as well as that of modern art is over; it has to be replaced by an entirely
different approach in management
that is appropriate for post-modern cooperation. The main difference is that an
enterprise’s management
have to define what a labour force is. It is much more correct and efficient to
view employees in
a new way – not as resources, but as investors. Co-owners invest funds in
enterprises while employees
invest their time, energy and intelligence (Stewart, 2001).
The sustainability of an enterprise will be based on its employees and their human
capital invested
in it. Besides, the development of an enterprise is not imaginable without a wish
of employees to cooperate
in the time of innovation and change by offering their skills, knowledge and
experience to the enterprise
(Mourbourgne, 2001). Therefore, it is necessary to create an approach in
management that pays the
main attention to human resources and enterprise’s abilities to attract, retain
and use efficiently emV.
Kūlupa, A. Strautnieks / MODELLING THE EUROPEAN FUTURE: INTEGRATING THE OLD AND
THE NEW
– 2008, Vol 4, 291-296
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ployees, including development of their human capital. Considering the fact that
the head of an enterprise
is the key person responsible for implementing all managerial functions, these
necessary changes will
affect primarily his or her professiogram. The head has to be able to answer just
a single question: Why
the world’s best employees would like to work right in this organisation? (Leider,
2002). This is a question
that will most obviously become a serious challenge to many Latvian managers,
besides; the first
symptoms in some sectors of the economy can be observed already now. In 1990ies,
potential employees
were those who looked for a job, actually not raising any claims and setting any
conditions to a potential
employer or organisation. The present situation in Latvia is vice verse –
enterprises are forced to look for
various alternative solutions in attracting and retaining their personnel in
necessary number and quality.
K.Nowack characterises changes in the business environment in the USA in a similar
way. Before enterprises
played a role of buyers, which just had to choose and take, to buy the most
appropriate talent. In the
modern global economy, enterprises have to compete, make an effort to find,
attract, develop and retain
talented employees. In some way enterprises are clients to whom employees
voluntarily decide to sell or
not to sell their talents. Often employees sell their talents to many enterprises
(Nowack, 2006). If no unpredictable
and radical changes take place in the processes impacting the current labour
market then, considering
the present tendencies, managers would have to accept and admit a need for
reviewing and
changing their approach in management. In Japanese management, the head is advised
to pay the main
attention not to work, but to the employee. After a delay of half century, the
need for introducing this approach
is increasingly popularised and emphasised in the newest American and European
studies. In
many of them a key idea is that employee’s satisfaction, loyalty to the
organisation and his or her working
efficiency is mostly dependent on mutual relations and interaction with
organisation’s leaders (Eisenberger,
R., Stinglhamber, F, Vandenberghe, C.; Sucharski, L., Rhoades, L., 2002; Ribelin
2003).
The most important is to understand that the need for change in the professiogram
is the same for
all level managers, not just, for instance, for the higher one. A study on the
most significant elements for
an organisation in attracting and, what is most important, in retaining the best
employees, conducted by
the Gallup Institute in 1998, revealed that one of the determining factors for
employee’s satisfaction with
the job and the working environment is his or her immediate manager. According to
I.Forands, the research
authors affirm that employees leave their immediate manager, not the enterprise
(Forands, 2007).
A similar tendency was found in studies carried out by the Career Systems
International in 2005. One
fourth or 25% of 7500 respondents admitted that the most essential reason for
staying at a particular
workplace was “supportive, good manager” (Nowack, 2006).
The newest studies reveal variations for a manager’s professiogram oriented toward
human resources
and human capital.
The authors of studies at the Gallup Institute conclude that the manager must
consistently define
what is expected from each employee, but at the same time each employee has to be
treated differently.
Make employees feel that they are at the right place where they can use their
talents and at the same time
stimulate their professional development. The manager has to be interested in each
employee, praise employees
and, if necessary, the manager has to be able to lay employees off even if they
were praised and
interesting to the leader before (Forands, 2007). So, the leader has to possess
communication, contact and
general skills and abilities. Or according to R.Kaca – skills and knowledge of
mutual relations, which includes
an ability to work with individuals, conversations, meetings, motivation (Praude,
Beļčikovs, 2003).
It means to the whole organisation that its leadership structure has to be
developed in a way that the manager
would be able to have individual contacts of sufficient quantity and quality with
his or her subordinate
employees. Two solutions exist: whether to improve the skills and knowledge of
mutual relations of
higher-level managers or to employ more lower-level managers, thus, the number of
subordinate employees
per manager is reduced. An optimal solution is to try to improve the existing
skills and knowledge
and the motivation to use them. It has to be concluded that the content of
bibliographical sources
used most often for educating management specialists has to be reviewed, and more
attention has to be
paid to theories relating to manager’s professiograms. For example, R.Kaca’s
approach explaining how
important is that three-level skills and knowledge are in accordance with the
level of management. Quite
often, when expounding the Kaca theory (e.g., Praude, Beļčikovs), it is assumed
that lower-level managers
mostly need technical skills and knowledge, and the great importance of mutual
relations for this level
managers is not stressed. In the same way, conceptual and analytical skills and
knowledge are emphasised
for higher-level managers. However, according to the newest studies on the
influence of an immediate
manager on his or her subordinate employees, one has to realise that each level
managers have subordiV.
Kūlupa, A. Strautnieks / MODELLING THE EUROPEAN FUTURE: INTEGRATING THE OLD AND
THE NEW
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nate employees and, therefore, all-level managers have to develop their skills and
knowledge of mutual
relations to an equal level.
Goshal stresses that the basic function of a manager is the mobilisation of human
capital under
modern competition conditions for organisations. In addition to knowledge provided
by human capital,
also social capital and emotional capital (an ability and wish to cooperate) have
to be taken into account
(Forands, 2007). In a similar way the basic function of managers is defined by
Sydanmaanlakka in his
study in 2003 – it is an ability to motivate and convince employees driven by
their own and voluntary
wishes to work continuously for the benefit of an organisation. The manager has to
see not only two employee’s
hands, but the whole employee’s personality (Sydanmaanlakka, 2003). In a
publication in 1960,
French and Raven have pointed in their classification of five types of power that
employees cooperate in
the best way in case of referent power which is related to a personality and his
or her charisma (French,
Raven, 1960). However, only during the last two decades of the 20th century
leadership theories started
developing. In Latvia, too, in spite of many errors in translations causing
confusion with terms, the difference
between the manager and the leader, the key features and functions characterising
them have been
defined. Besides, in order not to regard these terms as synonyms, an idea is
emphasised that not every
manager is a leader and not every leader can be a manager. V.Kūlupa in her Ph.D.
paper has extended a
definition of manager by V.Praude and J.Beļčikovs, stating that a manager is an
officially elected, appointed
or authorised person in an organisation who makes decisions as a responsible
executive to
achieve organisation’s goals by planning, organising, motivating and controlling
all resources. However,
a leader is an individual who is able to influence individuals or a group of them
to achieve goals collectively
without using coercion or other formal methods of power (Forands, 2007; Wright,
1996). Thus, in
case of leader, personality’s power, sometimes expert’s power is applied. With the
role of skills and
knowledge of mutual relations becoming more important in manager’s work, more
often a new point of
view is introduced in research. The terms “manager” and “leader”, viewed before
separately, are conditionally
integrated into one model or hybrid “manager-leader”. In an international
conference in 2005,
J.Kotera admitted that the only way for maintaining the competitiveness of an
organisation during a period
of rapid changes and economic growth is an ability of the manager to combine in
himself or herself
both leader’s and manager’s functions. Kotera points that more and more often the
manager has to help
employees to understand their given tasks, to be interested in these tasks, to
convince employees of a need
for changes and overcoming them. The more the surrounding environment changes, the
larger demand is
for leaders who can help individuals adapt themselves to the restless,
unpredictable surrounding world
(Forands, 2007). In the beginning of 1990ies V.Bennis also developed an idea about
competencies required
for the manager who guides an organisation through changes to a goal, i.e., an
ability to inspire
others to accept manager’s ideas as their own; an ability to be a mediator, a
helper and a signpost between
the presence and the past; an ability to achieve unity and trust between him or
her and his or her followers,
to form a team; self-guidance (cognition, development, motivation, purposefulness)
(Беннис, 2006).
Bennis used a term “social architect” to describe these competencies (Forands,
2006).
J.Eider is one of the founders of an idea about the role of leaderism in manager’s
work; he regarded
leadership as a skill that can be learned, but not just a phenomenon that is
inherited (Eider, 2007, 2008). It
enables any manager to develop particular skills and abilities in himself or
herself, especially in relation
to mutual relations, contact and communication skills, by breaking stereotypes and
preconceptions about
leadership as an inherited talent (“given by God”) and a privileged advantage for
a limited number of
managers. The newest studies offer numerous solutions for developing and
integrating necessary leadership
traits in manager’s work. Sydanmaanlakka in his book “Intelligent leadership” has
developed a model
of six leadership styles with an idea that an individual has to become a leader
for himself or herself and
only after that – for others (Sydanmaanlakka, 2003).
R.Goffe with co-authors point that a primary characteristic in a manager-leader’s
professiogram,
which makes employees voluntarily follow their manager in order to reach a goal,
is “genuineness”
(Goffe, 2000). The principal emphasis was placed on manager’s roles in the last
century (Goffe, 2000)
which have to be played irrespective of personal traits, whereas Goffe stresses
that “genuineness” cannot
be imitated. Therefore, the manager has to cognise himself or herself, his or her
traits and, when playing
the necessary role, use only his or her genuine traits (Forands, 2007).
D.Goleman regards “a self-critical leader who praises others” as a key of success
for a 21st century’s
manager. The manager has to convince others of being just one of employees, and
there is nothing
superhuman. According to Goleman, a good manager is efficient because he or she
causes resonance.
V. Kūlupa, A. Strautnieks / MODELLING THE EUROPEAN FUTURE: INTEGRATING THE OLD AND
THE NEW
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Goleman believes that an efficient manager is harmonised (or like a musical
instrument is tuned) with
other people feelings and, thus, leads them in a direction of positive emotions.
Such a manager talks authentically
about his or her own values, priorities and orientation toward a goal and
resonates with emotions
of other individuals. Under guidance of such an efficient leader, employees feel
mutual comfort.
Goleman believes that an ability to induce resonance is naturally inherited by
those people who are endowed
with high emotional intelligence (self-confidence, self-guidance, social
responsibility, guidance of
relations), including general intelligence aspects as well. Resonance can be
induced in six ways, and it
allows us to classify six management styles which have to be applied depending on
a situation (Goleman,
2002). Initially in studies related to leaderism a charismatic leader was
emphasised, but presently, according
to Forands, a leader being able to inspire is the most efficient for
organisation’s performance. They
are less showy and striking, maybe a bit more introvert in behaviour relative to
the first type of leader, but
they possess sometimes even nonverbal abilities to inspire. A charismatic leader
receives energy from his
or her followers, whereas an inspiring leader gives energy to the followers, so
that they can redistribute
and boost it and move toward a goal themselves. A charismatic leader is on the top
of pyramid, whereas
an inspiring leader is in the middle of the team’s network, allowing any team
member to receive energy
from the leader and return energy back to the common network (Forands, 2007). Like
in Goleman’s or
Goffe’s studies, it implies that the leader learns to inspire others through his
or her own examples of performance.
Inspiration and enthusiasm not only by words, but also deeds, real ardour and full
conviction is
required to achieve the goal.
V.Kūlupa in her study in the spring of 2006 ascertained that Latvian employees
perceive their
bosses in three categories: “manager-lord”, “manager-supervisor” and “manager-
master”. It was proved
that 79% of the employed working for a “manager-master” were convinced that the
influence of manager’s
professional performance on their work quality is “positive” or “more positive
than negative”
(Kūlupa, 2007). This type of manager possesses a great deal of traits of an
inspiring leader, e.g., care of
subordinate employees, both employs and rewards, free communication with
subordinate employees, human
resources and the manager’s own work process is of primary concern, makes others
enthusiastic with
a personality and professionalism. Everything new is well-forgotten old.
Historically one of the work organisation
forms was joint work. According to ancient essays, the master or, in case he is
physically disabled,
his authorised person was the one who reaped crops in the front of others without
looking back, calling on
others with singing and his enthusiasm to follow his example. Why there are so
many folk songs in Latvian
folklore about work as the idea of life and a life’s calling? Folk songs were sung
most often while working
in order to convince oneself and others of the importance of reaching a goal and
of an internal wish not to
resist the working process. A folk song says: “It was fun to work where masters
are joyful; they were busy
like bees around their reapers” (Endzelīns, 1932).
Along with the basic problems about the application of management styles in
Latvian enterprises,
the respondents were also questioned about the types of power their immanent
managers use. The classification
of types of power by J.French and B.Raven (French, 1960) was used for working out
response
options in the survey questionnaire, which included the following types of power:
legitimate, reward,
coercive, expert and referent (charismatic).
The respondents were asked about a style of power their manager applies most often
to make subordinates
to fulfil a task. The responses were as follows: 34% of respondents believe their
manager most
often uses coercive power, 27% - reward power, 26% - legitimate power and 8% -
expert power. Only 5%
mentioned referent or charismatic power. It shows how relatively small proportion
of surveyed managers
presently applies the best type of power for a “manager-leader” that is oriented
toward human resources.
Conclusions and Recommendations
1. Under conditions of fast changes, the manager’s professiogram has to integrate
into itself leader’s
traits and functions.
2. In order to transform oneself to a manager – leader, the current manager’s
professiogram has to be
supplemented or a proportion of current traits in it has to be increased with the
following ones:
 skills and knowledge in mutual relations (communication, contacts)
 emotional intelligence (self-confidence, independence, empathy, social
responsibility, elasticity,
tolerance against stress, impulse control, optimism, an ability to resonate, an
ability to express
own emotions adequately)
V. Kūlupa, A. Strautnieks / MODELLING THE EUROPEAN FUTURE: INTEGRATING THE OLD AND
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 an ability to inspire and motivate oneself and others,
 an ability to cognize oneself.
3. According to the respondents, only 5% of managers apply referent and 8% -
expert power, which
would fit the nature of a “manager-leader”.
4. A study course on leadership, development of leader’s abilities in oneself and
others as well as theories
and practises of communication psychology, group sociology and self-cognition has
to be included
in any curriculum or study program preparing new business and management
specialists.
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