In what proportion do you think management is about knowledge, skills and abilities?

Justify your
answer?

Page 1 of 4

Knowledge is critical because at the cutting edge of innovation in the new economy are
knowledge producers: universities and businesses whose fundamental products are the ideas
and research which provide the engine for change in goods and services. Service industries, in
particular, have been transformed by technological advances. The demand for skills needed to
understand and operate complex systems and to deliver more sophisticated choices to
customers has grown substantially. (DfEE, 2000, p. 4, cited in Thompson, P. et al. pp.994).

A manager has to have the capabilities to make decisions, recognise problems and take
appropriate actions to benefit their business. To achieve this they have to follow the process
of management, which involves the four main functions of a managers ability to manage to
plan, to organise, and to control the use of resources and to lead the team to achieve defined
goals (Schermerhorn, J. et al.). The modern work force is knowledge driven, performance
driven and in turn needs knowledgeable, skilled workers whose abilities can work in the best
interest of the company and who places great value on their intellectual strengths.

With the different level of management the type of skill or ability and/or the level of
knowledge required and the percentage proportion of each skill will vary within each of the
categories. For example a top level manager, requires more conceptual based skills and
knowledge for solving problems, innovate and critique within their division and will demand
a higher need for certain skills than those is the position such as the lower level managers
(Schermerhorn, J. et al.). For the low level managers, their technical skills, often the physical
construction and production of the end product will be of greater need. The need for human
skills required by middle management probably exceeds required of top and lower
management (Schermerhorn, J. et al.). Those in middle and low levels of management have a
greater need for procedural knowledge whereas a top level manager would have a requirement
for both procedural knowledge as well as strategic action knowledge (Liebowitz, J. et al.).
Even though these levels of management may require more or less of a certain skill use within
their job each category is a vital component that when combined at all different keeps the
company and their businesses running smoothly and makes their processes much more
manageable.
Business leaders need to meet the challenges that the future will bring and if they do there is
some evidence that where business leaders are meeting these challenges well, their
organisations perform better effective and inspiring leadership does seem to have a real
impact on the bottom line(Blass, Hackston). The way that leadership is now being perceived
In what proportion do you think management is about knowledge, skills and abilities? Justify your
answer?

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within the workplace is changing from the way people once viewed it, there is more of a focus
on the way that the leaders themselves are behaving within the workplace, rather than a focus
on the role that the leader plays within the organisation itself (Blass, Hackston). The ability of
a manager to change and shape their way of leadership to mirror this new view can contribute
to the way the organisation runs. Management as a discipline has the aim of generating valid
knowledge so it only makes sense a manager is constantly learning new ways of conducting
their job that are what work best with the environment that they are working in. By constantly
to research and renew their knowledge they continue to keep their business moving towards a
positive future and continue to improve the working of their business and the employees of
the company.

Unlike work equipment and physical aspects of the workplace, once the skills, abilities and
knowledge of a worker are applied and shared throughout their work they do not decline in
value or what is left they in fact increase in the amount that they are needed (Moise. et al.). A
business is able to achieve much more through using these assets and knowing their value, as
through their usage new ideas and new directions arise that can lead to a better future for the
company. Through the application of these capabilities individuals are given the improved
opportunity of the ability to move between jobs, a success start up for a company, increased
wages and a high job quality and satisfaction (Moise. et al.). Employers can gain from these
capabilities through enhanced productivity, better performance for their business and a higher
chance of achieving greater profitability (Moise. et al.). A highly skilled workforce also
becomes a far more employable workforce and those with medium or high level qualifications
are more likely to be employed than those who only have low level qualifications. There is
more to gain through the continued and improved use of skills knowledge and abilities than
there is when other work aspects are focused on.
Knowledge has now become increasingly important within an organisation than it may have
been in the past years due to the intense pressures felt by many businesses now. Businesses
are now in a very competitive and different marketplace than they once were, in regards to
needing to meet a consumers rapidly changing needs and wants (Waller & Holland). Also
with many businesses now turning to the internet as a way to market their business and a
faster way to communicate with customers and suppliers, they now have the ability to enter
the global market, which they may not have been able to before, and with it global
competition (Waller & Holland). Being able to be responsive to these changes in their
In what proportion do you think management is about knowledge, skills and abilities? Justify your
answer?

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business by realising the value that they stand to gain it gives them the chance to gain a
competitive advantage against their competitors if they are able to access and use the new
ways to market their business to the best of their abilities.

The development of capabilities of the workers for individual, team and organisational work
is becoming increasingly important in businesses today. This makes one of the most important
task of management in their workplace is to create a good work environment that is
supportive in all aspects of work such as group tasks, innovative ideas and the creation of new
knowledge by employees and management themselves (Tajeddini, K.). Through continually
using the skills and abilities of all involved in the business they are more likely to be able to
grow and expand in the future with what their business is capable of achieving.

Society and the workplace can only gain from the possession of skilled managers as decisions
and actions are more likely to be made that will create a positive effect throughout these
environments. Specific job related capabilities learned throughout education and training must
be supported by the managers possession of intersecting capabilities, especially those relating
to digital and entrepreneurial capabilities. The work environment we are experiencing now is
being managed by managers who need to have not just basic but varying degrees of specialist
skills, abilities and knowledge to create and sustain an appropriate and supportive
environment. So, management does require all three skills to be found in any manager at all
times. One needs knowledge, skills and abilities to plan outcomes, manage the work force,
organise resources and produce a successful end product.
DfEE (Department for Education and Employment) (2000). Opportunity for All: Skills for the
New Economy. London: DfEE. , cited in Thompson, P. et al. (2001) IGNORANT THEORY
AND KNOWLEDGEABLE WORKERS: INTERROGATING THE CONNECTIONS
BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND SERVICES. Journal of Management Studies, 38
(7), p.924 - 930.

Eddie Blass, John Hackston, Future skills and current realities: How the psychological
(Jungian) type of European business leaders relates to the needs of the future, Futures,
Volume 40, Issue 9, November 2008, Pages 822-833, ISSN 0016-
3287,10.1016/j.futures.2008.07.013.
In what proportion do you think management is about knowledge, skills and abilities? Justify your
answer?

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(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328708001213) accessed, 15 July
2012.

Liebowitz, J. et al. (2000) Case Study: The Knowledge Audit. Knowledge and Process
Management, 7 (1), p.3 - 10.

Moise, Mihaela, and Tatiana-Roxana Nae. "The importance of skills improvements." Annals
of DAAAM & Proceedings (2010): 951+.Academic OneFile. Web. 20 July 2012.

Schermerhorn, J. et al. (2011) Management. 4th ed. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia,
Ltd, p.10 - 25.

Tajeddini, K. (2009) Perceptions of learning among Swiss watch managers. Journal of
Workplace Learning, 21 (7), p.527 - 528.

Waller, D. and Holland, T. (2009), Managing skills and knowledge using online tools,
Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 252-60.