Personal Information

101. I work hard at being honest and sincere.102. I know how to run a meeting in which everyone

feels involved and influential in the decisions thatare made.

103. I know how to use organizational culture to helpemployees adapt to change.

104. I am able to influence others through persuasion.105. I always establish a specific set of challenging

goals106. I can get others to excel in their work.107. I know how to locate the most crucial issues in a

workflow problem.108. I effectively use empathy and reflective listening.109. I try to treat any new problem as an opportunity.110. I am very relaxed when I have to speak to a group

of people.111. I often come up with useful innovations.112. I regularly use stress management techniques.113. I know how to analyze the dynamics of an on-

going organizational change process.114. I can design a job using the concept of job enrich-

ment.

115. I can produce a Gantt chart.116. I know how to stimulate conflict in a meeting in

order to ensure that different points of view areheard.

117. I can specify the advantages of a cross-functionalteam.

Personal Information

A. Gender M FB. AgeC. RankD. Are you a line manager? Yes NoE. Length of service in the government _____ yearsF. Education level

below high schoolhigh schoolcollegemasterdoctoral

148 Chinese Public Administration Review • Volume 1, Number 2 • Apr/Jun 2002

48. I am an effective public speaker.49. I can influence people through rational persua-

sion.50. I am comfortable living with change.51. I know how to turn a work group into a smooth

functioning team.52. I am very honest with myself.53. I seek out divergent opinions on how my per-

formance is seen by others.54. I can produce a critical path diagram.55. I love to feel challenged by the tasks I have to do.56. I know how to redesign a job based on consider-

ation of the task and the employee’s needs.57. Each day I have a well defined plan.58. I often inspire people to do more then they are

expected to do.59. I can design a matrix organization.60. I know how to find and eliminated unnecessary

activities in an unit.61. During a conversation, I am in touch with the

other’s reactions.62. I know which situations are inappropriate for par-

ticipative decision making.63. I know the advantages and disadvantages of job

enlargement.64. I know how to effectively acknowledge the exis-

tence of a conflict.65. I know delegating work frees up time to do more

important things.66. I know how to best involve people in designing

organizational changes.67. I am able to call on different conflict management

approaches, depending on the situation.68. I am able to mentor people, and help them grow

and develop.69. I know how to gain profound knowledge of cus-

tomer needs.70. I can list the challenges that are faced by cross-

functional teams.71. I always do the most important parts of my job

during the time of day when I perform the best.72. I am skilled at delegation.73. I know how to use rewards to effectively influ-

ence others.74. I adjust well to changing conditions.75. I frequently encourage team members to take on

different tasks and maintenance roles in order toimprove the team’s effectiveness.

76. I recognize and work on my inconsistencies andhypocrisies.

77. I encourage people to give me negative, as well aspositive, feedback on my performance.

78. I know how to do resource leveling for projectmanagement.

79. I am driven by a need for continuous improve-ment in what I do.

80. I know how to create a vision for my organiza-tion.

81. In negotiating, I know how to keep the discussionissue-oriented.

82. I like to explore new ideas.83. I feel comfortable involving people in group deci-

sions.84. I am very sensitive to nonverbal messages in a

conversation.85. I am able to implement a process improvement

plan.86. I understand the advantages of organizing by

divisional form.87. I am skilled in getting the best out of people.88. I always seek clear feedback about how I am

doing.89. I understand and know how to apply the princi-

ples of effective delegation.90. In making an oral presentation, I know how to get

people’s attention.91. I am skilled at facilitating organizational change.92. I know how to keep a conflict situation moving

towards a productive conclusion.93. I am able to advise subordinates on important

matters relating to their growth and development.94. I know how to monitor trends that will help me

anticipate what customers want.95. I can list the principles of managing a cross-func-

tional team.96. I know how to manage stress.97. I can implement the concept of job rotation.98. I am an unusually hard worker.99. I know how to determine the advantages and dis-

advantages of different organization designs.100. I have a systematic process for getting honest

evaluations of my performance.

Huang, Yu/ Management Competency of Senior Public Executives in Taiwan 147

Appendix I : Survey InstrumentManagement Competency Survey

Respondents were asked to respond to the state-ments below using the following 7-point scale

7 = Highly Agree6 = Somewhat Agree5 = Agree4 = Neutral3 = Disagree2 = Somewhat Disagree1 = Highly Disagree

1. I continually seek feedback on my performance.2. I am an intensely motivated person.3. I know how to use basic planning tools in manag-

ing projects.4. I know how to gather data from potential, as well

as current customers.5. I have a clear image of who I am.6. I am skilled in team building techniques.7. My own personal coping strategies help me to

adapt to change.8. I know how to build personal power through the

involvement of others.9. When I have more than one goal, I set clear pri-

orities.10. I am skilled at motivating other people.11. In organizing, I understand the division of labor

principle.12. I can diagnose process problems in an organiza-

tional unit.13. In communicating, I am very sensitive to feelings.14. I know when to use participative decision mak-

ing.15. I think of myself as a creative person.16. In negotiating, I know how to explore win-win

outcomes.17. I know how to give people both responsibility and

authority.18. I always try to begin my day with a personal plan-

ning session.19. I can explain the concept of a cross-functional

team.20. I know how to monitor the degree of value pro-

vided to the customer.

21. I am able to coach others effectively.22. I know how to create win-win situations in con-

flicts.23. I can accurately assess the forces for and against

change in a given situation.24. When preparing an oral presentation, I consider

the purpose, the audience, and availableresources.

25. I know how to help members of a cross-functionteam work together effectively.

26. I have a passionate commitment to the things Ido.

27. I can divide components of a project so they canbe measured in terms of time and cost.

28. I try to find out how decisions affect othersaround me.

29. I have a clear set of values.30. I can turn a collection of individuals into a team.31. In dealing with changes that are imposed on the

organization, I think about how employees willreact.

32. I know how to employ formal authority in aneffective way.

33. I always have a clear set of objectives.34. I can create high performance expectations in oth-

ers.35. I know how to consider the organization’s envi-

ronment in creating an organizational design.36. I understand the principles of reengineering.37. In conversations, I put people at ease.38. I know how to employ participative decision

making techniques.39. I always try to look at old problems in new ways.40. In negotiating, I know how to base the result on

an objective standard.41. I feel comfortable with the concept of delegation.42. I always end the day with the feeling that I have

accomplished at least one significant task.43. I can design a self-managed work team.44. I know how to construct a performance monitor-

ing matrix.45. I feel comfortable acting as an advisor to people.46. I can manage tensions and get people to relax dur-

ing conflict.47. I am able to deal effectively with forces of resist-

ance when managing change.


the self-perceived management competency of the sur-vey respondents.

As Nalbandian (1981) has long pointed out,

traditional supervisory training invites a hori-

zontal slice of an agency’s personnel to gather

for a prepackaged curriculum thought suitable

for (literally) thousands of supervisors. These

programs rarely affect supervisory behavior.

the key to the effective training of supervisors is

to bring the supervisor together with subordi-

nates and superiors for practice, feedback and

guidance… (p. 196).

Therefore, if management competency developmentprograms for public managers are to maximize thepotential for training, they need to take into account theimportant personal characteristics of the public man-agers identified in this study.

C. James Huang is an assistant professor of publicpolicy and management at Shih-Hsin University. Hereceived an MPA degree (1994) in public administra-tion and policy and a Ph.D. (1997) in public adminis-tration from Florida State University. Huang’s interestsinclude web design, e-commerce, strategic planningand human resource management. He has presentedregularly at international management conferences andmany practitioner-oriented training programs.

Chilik Yu is chair and associate professor in theDepartment of Public Policy and Management at theShih Hsin University, Taiwan, ROC. He received hisDoctorate of Public Administration from the Universityof Georgia. His research interests include public man-agement, public administration, public policy, and pub-lic budgeting.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to specifically thank ProfessorFrank P. Sherwood, Professor Bart Wechsler, andProfessor Frances S. Berry for their invaluable com-ments on this research. The authors are grateful to theCenter for Public Human Resource Development of theExecutive Yuan in Taiwan for its interest in and logis-tical support of this project.

References

Allison, G. T. , 1983. “Public and Private Management:Are They Fundamentally Alike in All UnimportantRespects?” In Perry, J. L. and K. L. Kraemer, (ed.),Public Management. Mountain View, CA:Mayfield.

Hofstede, G., 1993. “Cultural Constraints inManagement Theories.” Academy of ManagementReview, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 81-94.

Mintzberg, H., 1972. The Nature of Managerial Work,New York: Harper Collins.

Pollitt, C., 1990. Managerialism and the PublicService: the Anglo-American Experience. Oxford:Basil Blackwell, Inc.

Quinn, Robert E., Sue R. Faerman, Michael P.Thompson, and Michael McGrath, 1995.Becoming a Master Manager: A CompetencyFramework. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Nalbandian, J., 1981. “Performance Appraisal: If OnlyPeople Were Not Involved.” Public AdministrationReview, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 392-396.

Rainey, Hal G., 1997. Understanding and ManagingPublic Organizations, 2nd Edition. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Reid, R. P., 1988. “Charter Flight.” ManagementEducation Section of Times Higher EducationSupplement (March 25), pp.i-iii.

Wooldridge, B. and S. W. Floyd, 1990. “The StrategyProcess, Middle Management Involvement, andOrganizational Performance,” Strategic Manage-ment Journal, vol. 11, pp. 231-241.


grams to provide and how to implement them.Specifically, the survey results show that the followingprograms should receive the highest priority: “manag-ing across functions,” “living with change,” “managingtime and stress,” “thinking creatively,” “designingwork,” “managing conflict,” “presenting ideas,” and“managing across functions.”

Secondly, the survey results show the problem ofselecting training courses without a basis in needsassessment. Table 10 compares the self-perceivedmanagement competency levels of the survey respon-dents to the analysis of the management competencydevelopment programs. The results demonstrate thatsome of the most needed management competencieshave not received enough attention from the traininginstitutes. On the one hand, public service traininginstitutes in Taiwan offered many courses on relativelyfew management competencies, such as “visioning,planning, and goal setting” and “communicating effec-tively,” which respondents perceive to have mastered.

On the other hand, the four main public training insti-tutes offered only a few courses for some managementcompetencies that managers perceived were neededmost. These management competencies include “man-aging across functions,” “managing conflicts,”“designing work,” “thinking creatively,” “buildingteams,” “fostering a productive work environment,”“building and maintaining a power base,” and “moni-toring personal performance.”

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the results ofthe regression analysis can be used to improve thedesign of the public service training programs.Traditionally, in almost all leadership/managementtraining programs, trainees are classified into differentlevels based solely on their respective ranks.Nevertheless, as the survey results show, the manage-ment competency of the senior public managersappears to be unrelated to their ranks. Gender, educa-tion level, and seniority, on the other hand, are moreimportant contingency factors that have an effect on


Table 10: Comparison between Needed and Offered Courses

Management Management Competency Number of Role (in order of the respective survey mean score) Courses Offered

1 Coordinator Role Managing across functions 12 Broker Role Presenting ideas 123 Facilitator Role Managing conflict 44 Coordinator Role Designing work 05 Producer Role Managing time and stress 76 Innovator Role Thinking creatively 47 Innovator Role Living with change 78 Facilitator Role Building teams 49 Producer Role Fostering a productive work environment 210 Broker Role Building and maintaining a power base 311 Monitor Role Monitoring personal performance 112 Coordinator Role Managing projects 713 Facilitator Role Using participative decision making 314 Innovator Role Creating change 015 Monitor Role Managing collective performance 116 Monitor Role Managing organizational performance 417 Director Role Designing and organizing 518 Mentor Role Developing subordinates 619 Director Role Visioning, planning and goal setting 1120 Broker Role Negotiating agreement and commitment 021 Mentor Role Communicating effectively 922 Director Role Delegating effectively 123 Mentor Role Understanding self and others 524 Producer Role Working productively 2

tions.” Other lower-ranking management skills include“managing conflict,” “thinking creatively,” “managingtime and stress” and “presenting ideas.”

The standard deviations of the responses indicateconsistency among the survey respondents. As shownin Table 7, the management competencies having thehighest standard deviations (i.e., standard deviationover 0.8) include “managing across functions,” “pre-senting ideas,” “building teams,” and “managing con-flict.”

The results of the regression analysis are displayedin Table 8. In general, education level, gender and sen-iority are shown to have a significant effect on the man-agement competency levels of the respondents. Rank,on the other hand, does not show a significant relation-ship with the dependent variables, with the competen-cy of designing work as the only exception.

As expected in the research hypotheses, the man-agement competency levels for male managers are onaverage higher than for females. Specifically, amongthe 24 management competenciesdelineated by Quinn et al., malemanagers receive higher scores for20 items.

Education level also correspond-ed significantly with the level ofeach of the respondent’s manage-ment competencies. Managers witha graduate degree consistentlyreceive higher scores for all of themanagement competencies.

Seniority was also an importantcontingency factor for the compe-tency levels of the respondents. Asshown in Table 8, seniority signifi-cantly affected rankings of 20 of themanagement competencies.

Analysis of the ManagementCompetency Training Programs

Fourteen management compe-tency training programs were ana-lyzed. The programs were thenclassified according to their contentinto one or more of the eight man-

agement roles described by Quinn et al. The results ofthe content analysis are presented in Table 9.

Discussion and Conclusion

This research is concerned with the levels of manage-ment competencies of senior public managers inTaiwan. It also seeks to explore the effects of a numberof contingency factors on the managerial competenciesof public managers. The results of the above analysisnot only have theoretical implications for those interest-ed in studying how public managers behave, but alsocarry important practical implications for humanresource development institutions in the public sector.

First of all, the survey results specifically indicate anumber of management competencies that public man-agers in Taiwan should seek to improve. This studyprovides a basis for public service training institutes todecide what leadership/management development pro-


Table 9: Number of Courses Offered for the 24 Management Skills by the FourMajor Public Training Institutes

Role Competency Courses Offered

Producer Role Managing time and stress 7Fostering a productive work environment 2Working productively 2

Coordinator Role Managing across functions 1Designing work 0Managing projects 7

Director Role Designing and organizing 5Visioning, Planning, and goal setting 11Delegating effectively 1

Innovator Thinking creatively 4Living with change 7Creating change 0

Broker Role Presenting ideas 12Building and maintaining a power base 3Negotiating agreement and commitment 0

Monitor Role Monitoring individual performance 1Managing collective performance 1Managing organizational performance 4

Facilitator Role Managing conflict 4Building teams 4Using participative decision making format 3

Mentor Role Developing subordinates 6Communicating effectively 9Understanding self and others 5

Findings

Survey Results

As mentioned earlier, the sample for this study con-sists of the senior managers in different agencies of theExecutive Yuan who completed the 117-item multiple-choice survey. By March 10, 1998, 759 questionnaireswere returned (a return rate of 28 percent). To estimatehow the survey data may represent the population ofsenior managers in the central government of Taiwan,demographic sample statistics were compared withpopulation parameters (provided by the CentralPersonnel Administration of the Executive Yuan) usinga Chi-square test. As indicated in Tables 4, 5, and 6,the gender, age and rank distributions of the respon-dents are not significantly different from the populationat large.

Table 7 presents the mean scores of the survey

responses for each of the 24 management skillsdefined by Quinn et al. (1996). It should be noted thatthe purpose of this research is not to seek a singlegrade for each governmental manager, but to developa set of observations about general management com-petency levels in the public sector that can be used asa foundation for future improvement. In short, sincethe data are self-reported perceptions, we are less con-cerned about the absolute score of each of the mana-gerial competencies than with the differences betweenthem.

The survey results show that all of the mean scoresrelated to management skills are above 5. The item thatreceived the highest score was the competency of“working productively” (mean = 5.85). Other higher-ranking management skills include “delegating effec-tively,” “communicating effectively,” and “understand-ing self and others.” On the other hand, the itemreceiving the lowest score was “managing across func-


Table 8: Regression Analysis Results

Management Skill Gender Seniority Education Rankb b b b Adj. R2

Delegating Effectively .31** .015** .21** .01 0.073Visioning, Planning, Goal Setting .25** .0094* .36** .046 0.092Designing and Organizing .25** .012** .24** .01 0.063Managing Time and Stress .18** .011* .22** .014 0.038Fostering a Productive Work Environment .23** .016** .28** .025 0.076Working Productively .054 .01* .19** .035 0.032Presenting Ideas .272** .0096 .39** .062 0.087Negotiating Agreement and Commitment .25** .074 .21** .045 0.054Building and Maintaining a Power Base .24** .084 .25** .05 0.068Thinking Creatively .31** .011* .23** .024 0.065Creating Change .32** .014* .33** .018 0.087Living with Change .34** .0072 .24** .043 0.078Developing Subordinates .24** .013* .21** .022 0.056Communicating Effectively .067 .011* .183** .029 0.031Understanding Self and Others .053 .011* .25** .012 0.044Managing Conflict .37** .013* .27** .024 0.084Using Participative Decision Making format .31** .015* .30** .043 0.103Building Teams .3** .014* .27** .039 0.077Monitoring Personal Performance .13 .013* .27** .018 0.051Managing Collective Performance .26** .0087* .28** .028 0.075Managing Organizational Performance .26** .011* .22** .0071 0.056Managing Projects .18** .016** .25** .0094 0.063Designing Work .19** .014** .22** .024** 0.051Managing Across Functions .34** .015** .34** .0013 0.069

* p < .05 ** p < .01

Finally, the education level (EDU) of a senior man-ager is predicted to have a positive effect on his or hermanagement skill levels. Consistent with the expecta-tion for seniority, those with advanced degrees aremore likely to have been exposed to management tech-niques and relevant information. The education vari-able is encoded into a dummy variable, with the valueof 1 representing respondents with a graduate degree.

Content Analysis of Leadership/ManagementTraining Programs

This study also analyzes the content of managementcompetency training programs for senior managersoffered by the four major public service training insti-tutes in Taiwan (the Center of Public Human Resource

Development of the Executive Yuan, the HumanResource Training Unit of Taiwan ProvincialGovernment, the Public Service Training Center ofTaipei, and the Public Service and Teachers’Development Center in Kaoshiung). The analysis pro-vides a general picture of how the management com-petency of senior managers has been developed.

With the help of the Central PersonnelAdministration of the Executive Yuan, the relevantcontent (related to the 14 training programs devoted todeveloping management competency in 1997 and1998) was collected and analyzed using the competingvalues framework.


Table 7: Competency Descriptive Statistics

Management Skill Mean St. DevWorking Productively 5.85 0.72Understanding Self and Others 5.70 0.67Delegating Effectively 5.67 0.73Communicating Effectively 5.65 0.73Negotiating Agreement and Commitment 5.54 0.76Visioning, Planning, Goal Setting 5.52 0.78Developing Subordinates 5.47 0.74Designing and Organizing 5.45 0.71Managing Organizational Performance 5.43 0.72Managing Collective Performance 5.41 0.71Creating Change 5.39 0.79Using Participative Decision Making 5.35 0.76Managing Projects 5.33 0.72Monitoring PersonalPerformance 5.30 0.74

Building and Maintaining a Power Base 5.29 0.74Fostering a Productive Work Environment 5.25 0.76Building Teams 5.23 0.82Living with Change 5.20 0.76Managing Time and Stress 5.19 0.77Thinking Creatively 5.19 0.77Designing Work 5.17 0.77Managing Conflict 5.15 0.80Presenting Ideas 5.14 0.89Managing across Functions 5.02 0.90Mean 5.37

Table 4: Sample Population Comparison Based on Gender

*chi-square = 0.0006 < chi-square (.05) = 3.841

Gender Survey Population Respondents (%) (%)

Female 21.2 21.3Male 78.8 78.7

n = 759 n = 2,674

Table 5: Sample Population Comparison Based on Age


Age Survey Population Respondents (%) (%)

40 and younger 12.6 14.441-50 54.7 51.051-60 27.7 24.1Over 60 5.0 10.4

n = 759 n = 2,674

Table 6: Sample Population Comparison Based on Rank


Position Level Survey Population Respondents (%) (%)

9 45.7 53.310 10.6 13.511 29.7 20.512 13.9 12.8

n = 759 n = 2,674

ments inquiring about the respondent’s attitudes towardhis or her management competency. Respondents wereasked to choose the answer that best described theirlevel of agreement with the statement along a seven-point scale. For example, a respondent’s skill in “nego-tiating agreement and commitment” is measured bycalculating the mean of the respondent’s levels ofagreement on items 16 (“In negotiating, I know how toexplore win-win outcomes”), 40 (“In negotiating, Iknow how to base the result on an objective standard”),and 81 (“In negotiating, I know how to keep the dis-cussion issue-oriented”).

Ordinary least square (OLS) multiple regression wasused to estimate the research models that examine theimpact of several contingency factors on how respon-dents perceive their own management skill levels. Amultiple regression equation for each of the twenty-four management skills described in the CompetingValues Framework was constructed. The regressionequations are as follows:

SKILLi_1-24_ = _i +_i1GENDER +_i2RANK+_i3SENIORITY +_i4EDU

SKILL = mean score of related questions meas-uring a management skill

GENDER = gender of the respondent, male (1),female (0)

RANK = position level as defined by theExecutive Yuan’s position classifica-tion system.

SENIORITY = the respondent’s number of years serv-ing in the government of Taiwan,R.O.C.

EDU = graduate degree (1), other (0)

The characteristics of the senior managers used asexplanatory variables in the analysis include gender,rank, seniority, and education. Gender appears to influ-ence how respondents perceive the level of their ownmanagement skills. Specifically, it is expected thatmale managers will regard their management skillsmore positively than female respondents for at least

two reasons. First of all, compared to west-ern countries, Taiwan has been a more“masculine” workplace (Hofstede, 1993).It is expected that males in general aremore confident and assertive than femalesin the country. Secondly, males in generalhave tended to receive more opportunitiesto handle important tasks. Managers inTaiwan are no exception.

Rank is expected to relate positively to themanagement skill levels of the respondents.Since position level usually reflects both thecomplexity of the respondent’s work and thenumber of people the respondent needs tosupervise, respondents at higher levels tendto have higher management abilities.

Seniority was measured by the numberof years that the respondent had worked inthe government and is predicted to have apositive influence on the respondent’smanagement skill levels. The longer arespondent serves in the government, themore likely he or she is to acquire manage-ment skills and techniques (Wooldridgeand Floyd, 1990).


Table 3: Survey Items Measuring the Twenty-four Management Skills

Management Skill Survey Item No.1 Delegating Effectively 17.41.65.72.892 Visioning, Planning, Goal Setting 9.33.80.105.3 Designing and Organizing 11.35.86.99.59.4 Managing Time and Stress 18.71.96.112.5 Fostering a Productive Work Environment 10.34.58.73.106.6 Working Productively 55.2.26.98.101.42.7 Presenting Ideas 24.48.90.110.8 Negotiating Agreement and Commitment 16.40.81.9 Building and Maintaining a Power Base 104.8.32.28.49.10 Thinking Creatively 23.31.47.91.6611 Creating Change 15.39.82.111.10912 Living with Change 7.113.50.74.103.13 Developing Subordinates 21.45.68.87.93.14 Communicating Effectively 37.61.84.13.15 Understanding Self and Others 108.5.29.52.7616 Managing Conflict 22.46.64.67.92.11617 Using Participative Decision Making 14.38.62.83.10218 Building Teams 75.6.25.30.5119 Monitoring Personal Performance 1.77.88.100.53.7920 Managing Collective Performance 44.35.107.12.54.6021 Managing Organizational Performance 20.4.69.9422 Managing Projects 78.115.3.57.2723 Designing Work 43.36.56.63.97.11424 Managing across Functions 19.70.95.117

Quinn’s Competing Values Framework

Quinn and his colleagues synthesized the previousfour management models into the “competing valuesframework.” They argue that while the rational goal,internal process, human relations, and open systemsmodels were developed based on entirely differentviews of organizations, they can be seen as closelyrelated and indeed interwoven, and the competing val-ues framework sought to integrate them. It takes a sys-tematic view of management, pointing out that effec-tive managers need to master a variety of roles andskills in order to function successfully in today’schanging organizations.

Specifically, the framework identified eight distin-guishing roles of organizational managers, and 24 man-agement competencies that are embedded in the differ-ent roles. The eight roles include mentor, facilitator,monitor, coordinator, director, producer, broker, andinnovator. Each role represents a pattern of functionalbehavior exerted by managers. Above all, Quinn et al.advocated the need for managers to simultaneouslymaster the different roles and skills associated withmanagement.

Research Methods

The main data collection methods of this researchinclude a self-administered survey of senior mangers inthe central government of Taiwan, and a documentreview of leadership/training programs in the majorpublic service training institutes in Taiwan.

Senior Manager Survey

Survey questionnaires were mailed either to seniormanagers in the Executive Yuan (population size =2,674) or the agencies/departments directly reportingto the prime minister at the time the survey was con-ducted. A senior manager is defined as having a rankof grade 9 or above. Under the civil service system inTaiwan, ROC, civil servants are divided into 14 grades,with the first grade being the lowest.

The questionnaire used to measure the competencylevels of the senior managers is adapted from the oneused by Quinn et al. As shown in Table 3, each of the24 management skills of the competing values frame-work is measured by averaging the responses to a num-ber of the survey items. All survey items are state-


Table 2: Theoretical Models of Organizations

Means-ends theory

Emphasis

Climate

Role of manager

Rational Goal

Clear direction leadsto productive out-comes

Goal clarification,rational analysis, andaction taking

Rational economic: “the bottom line”

Director and producer

Internal Process

Routinization leads tostability

Defining responsibili-ty, measurement,documentation

Hierarchical

Monitor and coordinator

Human Relations

Involvement resultsin commitment

Participation, conflictresolution, and con-sensus building

Team oriented

Mentor and facilitator

Open Systems

Continual adaptationand innovation leadto acquiring andmaintaining externalresources

Political adaptation,creative problemsolving, innovation,change management

Innovative, flexible

Innovator and broker

cational level, rank, seniority, and gender made any dif-ference in the managerial skills of the senior managers.

This paper has five sections. After this introduction,a literature review describes the theoretical frameworkupon which this study has been undertaken. The reviewalso develops a hypothesis about how several personalcharacteristics may influence the competency levels ofsenior managers. The third section concerns the surveyinstruments and research methodology, while thefourth section presents the major findings of the surveyresults. The paper concludes by discussing the impli-cations of the findings for future improvement ofhuman resource development for senior public man-agers in Taiwan.

Prior Conceptualizations of Management

At present, a large body of literature describes and pre-scribes the roles, skills, and abilities of managers inboth the public and private sectors. Table 1 providesonly a partial list of the existing models.

Managerial Roles and Functions

The literature makes it clear that executives, espe-cially senior managers, need to assume a variety ofroles and functions in managing their organizations.The literature clearly describes the function of man-agement as a combination of art and science. Therequired roles and skills of an effective manager rangefrom highly technical to highly interpersonal activities.Various authors have suggested that the effective per-formance of management requires the simultaneousmastery of seemingly contradictory management skills.

Quinn and his colleagues (1996) indicate that preva-lent management models in different times (Table 2)are based on different assumptions about individuals ororganizations. For example, the basic assumption ofthe rational goal model, represented by the works ofWeber and Taylor, is the belief that clear direction leadsto productive outcomes. Hence, there is a continuingemphasis on organizational processes such as goal clar-ification, rational analysis, and action taking.Emphasizing internal processes, the authors assumethat routine leads to stability. Therefore, managers

should concentrate on defining responsibilities, andmeasuring and documenting performance of the organ-ization.

The basic assumption of the human relations modelis that involvement results in commitment, and henceproductivity, while the open system theory postulatesthat organizations evolve through continual adaptationand innovation. Hence, the most important skills ofmanagers are political adaptability, creative problemsolving, and managing change.


Table 1: Models of Management Competency

Mintzberg (1973)● figurehead● leader● liaison● monitor● disseminator● spokesperson● entrepreneur● disturbance handler● resources allocator● negotiator

Katz (1974)● technical skills● human or interpersonal skills● conceptual skills

Griffin (1996)● technical skills● human or interpersonal skills● conceptual skills● diagnostic skills

Hellriegel & Slocum (1996)● technical skills● human or interpersonal skills● conceptual skills● critical thinking skills● communication skills

Luthans et al. (1989)● routine communication● traditional management● networking● human resource management

Today, management is increasingly seen as a dis-tinct organizational function that plays a majorrole in the performance of government. In order

to deal with ever more turbulent political and econom-ic environments, public organizations have been look-ing for ways to increase their own capacities. Whilethere are a variety of potential strategies, people gener-ally believe that “business success will depend increas-ingly on the qualities and professionalism of man-agers” (Reid, 1988). Therefore, in order to improvegovernment, it would seem that public managers haveto be equipped with the right qualities.

A large body of literature provides empirical classi-fications of the characteristics, roles, and skills of suc-cessful managers in both the public and private sectors.For example, Pollitt (1990) observes that effectivemanagers in the public sector “set clear objectives,communicate them throughout the organization, allo-cate resources to ensure their achievement, controlcosts, motivate staff, improve efficiency and…movestrategically and proactively” (p. 5).

More specifically, Quinn et al. (1996) identifies

eight roles and 24 managerial skills that enable man-agers to exert their organizational influence. While itis generally accepted that most of the listed qualitiesare equally important, managers operating in differentcontexts tend to differ significantly in these qualities(Allison, 1983; Mintzberg, 1973; Rainey, 1997).

This research assesses the management skills of sen-ior public executives in Taiwan based on the compe-tency framework developed by Quinn and his col-leagues. In addition to describing the competency pro-file of Taiwan’s public managers, it seeks to explore theimportant factors that influence public managers’ com-petency levels.

This study accepts the assumption that successfulpublic managers must be balanced in playing a varietyof roles in their work environments. To inquire aboutthe management competency levels of managers, anational survey of all senior executives in Taiwan’scentral government and a series of personal interviewswith a group of external observers were conducted inthe spring of 1998. Furthermore, this research con-structed a set of regression models to test whether edu-

Management Competency of Senior Public Executives

in TaiwanChaomeng James Huang, Shih-Hsin University

Chilk Yu, Shih-Hsin University

Chinese Public Administration Review • Volume 1, Number 2 • Apr/Jun 2002 137

Abstract: Based on the Management Competency Model developed by Quinn et al., a national survey of all senior executives(Rank 9 and above) in Taiwan’s central government was conducted in 1998, to measure managerial skill levels. This researchtested whether educational level, rank, tenure and gender affected managerial skills. Responses indicate that among twenty-four management skills, public managers in Taiwan generally are best at working productively, delegating, communicatingand goal setting. The research showed that public managers would benefit most by improving skills in cross-functional man-agement, expressing ideas, and conflict resolution. Moreover, the most significant factors that influence how public managersperceive their managerial skill levels are education and gender. This study provides a number of management developmentstrategies. Note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Society for Public Administration NationalConference in Orlando, Florida, April 10-14, 1999.

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