Managerial competencies: A comparative study of US-India employer's needs

COVID-19 pandemic brought novel challenges for society and businesses. Along with psychological impact on humans, COVID-19 led to significant changes in business processes. Managerial competencies, which positively impact performance of both the employees and businesses, are influenced by changing social and business context. In this milieu, there is a call for research to understand the impact of recent changes on managerial competencies to make them future-ready. Further, in light of prior studies that present opposing findings, a related question worth exploring is—does the importance of managerial competencies differ across countries? By answering these questions, key competencies, that can boost both employee performance and business profitability, can be assessed and nurtured for a positive global impact.

This paper presents theoretical background, methodology, findings and implications from a two-part study that was conducted to answer above questions. Phase 1, which included literature review, analysis of US Government's O*NET database and expert validation, yielded a unique 9 × 51 Managerial Competencies Framework. Using quantitative methodology, that involved primary survey of Indian experts and hypothesis testing on matching data-sets, Phase 2 of this cross-country study reports a broad agreement amongst US and Indian experts on the importance of key managerial competencies. Study offers many theoretical and practical implications, along with directions for future research.