Exploring managers’ perceptions of critical managerial competencies for future success in selected South African manufacturing organisations

Abstract

The manufacturing sector contributes to the gross domestic product of South Africa and employs many people in the country. The advent of the fourth industrial revolution, with its technological advances, is set to disrupt the manufacturing sector, which is already competitive. Having managers with the requisite managerial competencies will be critical for the future success of managerial organisations in this fast-changing sector. Managerial competencies consist of skills, knowledge and abilities. Managers should have the right balance of competencies in their respective fields. It is, however, not clear what managerial competencies are critical for future success from the perspective of current managers in the South African manufacturing sector. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of managers regarding the critical managerial competencies needed for future success in selected manufacturing organisations in South Africa. A qualitative research approach with an interpretivist research paradigm was used in this study. Purposive sampling was employed to select the sample of (N= 20) managers. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. Conventional (inductive) qualitative content analysis was used to process the collated data. The findings of this study indicated that the managers should have a variety of managerial competencies to ensure future success. These competencies can be grouped as: cognitive, general managerial, intrapersonal, economic, organisational-focused, and social skills. Most notable were the importance of people skills, empowering others and interpersonal skills, because managers of the future will have to work very closely with teams to be successful in the competitive manufacturing environment. Participants made recommendations to manufacturing organisations, such as management training courses, curated training, innovation, coaching others, and the proper assessment of managerial ability. In addition, the researcher made recommendations for future research and practice.