The influence of contextual variables

in training and professional life in a

sample of elite business managers

Margarida Martins, José F. Cruz, & Leandro S. Almeida

(Instituto de Educação e Escola de Psicologia,
Universidade do Minho)

International Congress of ANEIS 2016

1. Introduction

2. Goals
3. Methodology

4. Results
5. Final considerations
Professional Excellence

Some authors argue that excellence comes by genetic

inheritance (e.g., Plomin, Owen, & McGuffin, 1994) others
claim that is learning and experience that determine
excellence (eg, Pinker, 2002), while for still others, the human
performances result from the interaction between internal and
external factors (e.g., Baker & Horton, 2004).
Professional Excellence

“Our review has also shown that the maximum level of

performance for individuals in a given domain is not
obtained automatically as function of extended experience,
but the level of performance can be increased even by
highly experienced individuals as a result of deliberate
efforts to improve”.
(Ericsson et al., 1993, p. 366)
Professional Excellence

“Gifted individuals, then, are those who develop

expertise at a more rapid rate, or to a higher
level, or to a qualitatively different kind of level
than do non-gifted individuals”.

(Sternberg, 2001, p. 161)

Goals of the study
Obtain data on the importance and influence of
environmental and contextual factors associated
with its superior performance.

There are several authors who reported the contextual

factors as very important variables in excellence
(Baltes & Staudinger, 2000; Coughlan, Williams,
McRobert, & Ford, 2014; Ericsson & Lehmann, 1996;
Ericsson et al., 2007, Sternberg, 2001
Methodology - participants

Manager (n=3)

Women (n=6)
Manager/
entrepreneur
(n=3)
Participants
(n=12)
Manager (n=3)

Men (n=6)
Manager/
entrepreneur
(n=3)
Methodology – Instruments

Retrospective Interview

Considered by different authors as a tool that has the

ability to exploit relatively underexplored topics, the
retrospective interview allows an understanding of the
world through the eyes of the interviewees and
accounts of their experiences (Creswell, 1998; Kvale,
1996).
Methodology - Retrospective Interview

Interview topics
1. Training route;
2. Actual performance;
3. Engagement in task;
4. Personal characteristics;
5. Reference figures along the route;
6. Interpersonal relations;
7. Relationship with the business community;
8. Projects and ambitions in the future.
Results - Analyze Content
Categories and Subcategories
Academic Context
(e.g.: school environment,
meaningful choices, added value,
etc.)

(e.g.: business environment, team

Professional Context
working, etc.)

Conditions and (e.g.: unrelated activities, luck,

Contextual developmental processes etc.)
factors

Micro Context (e.g.: family, friends and

colleagues, teachers, etc.)

Macro Context

Risk Factors
Results
Analysis of categories and subcategories in relation
to current performance

High Moderate Minimum

intensity intensity intensity
Macro context Teachers
Family
Significant other people School setting
Coworkers and
friends Business environment Meaningful choices

Institutional aspects Added value

Team functioning
Consolidation Factors Performance evaluation

Learning Development of the

Unrelated activities
environments interests
Previous knowledge Meaningful choices
Luck and
opportunities Risk factors Career Expectations
Final Considerations
1) The results suggest the importance of contextual factors and
their influence on the careers of these professionals.
2) The macro context, whether the dynamics of the markets or
for more social reasons or policies, comes with a moderate
relevance.
3) It highlights the aspects of the micro context, particularly
the support received from family, friends and coworkers,
team working and the luck / opportunities.