An investigation of managerial skills:Implications for personnel policy

This research explores the conceptual basis in adopting a skills approach to management development. The literature reveals a number of development approaches but only a limited appreciation of how the manager does his job i.e. of the skills that he needs. An investigation of managerial skills was conducted with 10 manager s mainly occupying middle and senior positions. The principal source of evidence was the manager's thoughts on what he did and how he did it, although the interviews were supplemented by formal and informal observation. There was also a dialectic value from discussions with other analysts/managers and empathy between analyst and practitioner also played a part. Each manager was invited to comment upon his own skills analysis as a check upon validity. The study supports the view that the manager similar to other skilled practitioners, is conceptually a model builder and operationally a navigator (Singleton 1978b) . The manager variously holds enactive, pictorial, symbolic and hybrid models that enable him to understand his world and act in it. The universal managerial function is decision making and the study presents a preliminary nomenclature in classifying decision processes or perceptual skills. Managerial skills are also reflected in interpersonal interaction where the hallmark is mutual construction and attribution and in 'self-management’ where the requirement is to cope with the inner rather than the outer world. Differences between the managers are most evident in perceptual skills, the more senior manager requiring increasing ability to process abstract information and take account of environmental uncertainty. He will also make greater use of 'off- line’ information. The practical purpose in studying managerial skills is to facilitate the improvement of managerial performance and the implications of the research for training, selection and appraisal are explored.

Public policy and electrical-grid sector innovation

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the manner in which technological innovation in the European electrical-grid sector has developed by focusing, in particular, on the effect of public policy on innovation. To achieve this aim, this paper highlights how technological innovation and development progressed from the 1960s to the 1980s, and contrasts this period with the deregulated/privatization environment. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a series of in-depth multiple company case studies of grid companies, some of their suppliers and other actors in their broader business network. Empirical data were collected through 55 interviews. Findings – The authors find that a phase of mutual collaboration was encouraged in the first period, which led to strong technological innovation with a focus on product quality and the development of functionality. Buyers played a pivotal role in the development of products and posed technical requirements. In contrast, the current role of the buyer has transformed principally into one of evaluating competing bids for specific projects. Today, buyers face increasing pressure to substantially lower CO2 emissions and transform the energy grid system. These goals are difficult to achieve without a new way of thinking about innovation. Research limitations/implications – Models to achieve innovation must not only focus on individual research projects; instead, the innovation should be factored into normal business dealings in the supply chain. Practical implications – We propose that policymakers and regulators need to: accommodate for innovation and address the collaborative elements of innovation when developing policies and regulations. Furthermore, regulators have the option of either developing a strategic vision for the electrical-grid network or incorporating sustainability into the evaluation of electrical grids and, thus, consumers’ willingness to pay. Originality/value – This paper makes a distinctive contribution in the area of innovation for electrical grids. Our paper shows how innovation and the development of new technology for electrical grids changed over time. Furthermore, this paper describes the energy sector in terms of a business network comprising the different actors involved in innovation and development and, thus, their role in the energy supply chain.

Discursive approaches to language policy

This book brings together the fields of language policy and discourse studies from a multidisciplinary theoretical, methodological and empirical perspective. The chapters in this volume are written by international scholars active in the field of language policy and planning and discourse studies. The diverse research contexts range from education in Paraguay and Luxembourg via businesses in Wales to regional English language policies in Tajikistan. Readers are thereby invited to think critically about the mutual relationship between language policy and discourse in a range of social, political, economic and cultural spheres. Using approaches that draw on discourse-analytic, anthropological, ethnographic and critical sociolinguistic frameworks, the contributors in this collection explore and refine the ‘discursive’ and the ‘critical’ aspects of language policy as a multilayered, fluid, ideological, discursive and social process that can operate as a tool of social change as well as reinforcing established power structures and inequalities.