Consultancy report. what companies want

EHRM Consultancy Report
July 2010

“ What Companies Want “
Graduate education needs in a global labour market

BIANCHI Paolo
ANDERSEN Solveig
GAGLIARDI Marcello
GUERIN Julia
VLEUGELS Jenneth

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The client’s demand
After the crisis and within a changing global environment impacting companies, Luiss Business School
wanted to understand “what companies want” in terms of managerial competencies needed by the
next generation of managers. The final objective was to reshape the MBA program so that it fitted
these new needs. More specifically, Luiss Business School required recommendations for an “ideal
MBA program”.
A literature research was performed to investigate external factors influencing companies.
Qualitative and quantitative research was carried out in order to gather data about managerial
competencies and direct recommendations from managers. 28 interviews were conducted with
managers.
Key findings from the research
The table below shows the main results from the qualitative and quantitative research, displaying the
most important managerial competencies organized in eight different families.
Hard skills
- Fast and efficient
decision-making
- Analytical approach
- Ability to focus on
main information

Multicultural mindset
- Speak other
languages
- Understand different
behavior and ways of
looking at things
- Work and deal with
different cultures
- Intercultural
understanding

CONSULTANCY REPORT

Political ability
- Transparency

CSR mindset
- Understanding
diversity and its
importance
- Sensitivity about
importance of CSR
- Ethic way of doing
business
- Understand
stakeholders

Business sense
- Quick understanding
of business situations
- Global overview of
the business
- Understand and
adapt to governmental
way of acting

Interpersonal skills
- Building relationships
- Communication skills
- Team working
- Motivating others

LUISS BUSINESS SCHOOL, JULY 2010

Adaptation ability
- Flexibility
- Worldwide mobility
- Deal with and
manage complexity

Personal
characteristics
- Humility
- Openness

2

Recommendations
An ideal MBA program should follow four main directions, which are represented by the four
following pillars.

1. Up-to-date content
First of all, the content should be tightly related to what is happening in companies.
Recommendations focus on a Top 5 list: CSR/ethics/diversity, intercultural management, innovation,
ICT and people management. These represent topics MBA students should be sensitive to and
knowledgeable about.
2. Practical approach
The knowledge transmitted to students, as well as the pedagogical methods used to do so, should be
practical. Recommendations to enhance this dimension in the MBA are: internship, team-work,
interaction, managerial testimonies, projects in relation with companies, active role in an association,
real life case studies, and games and simulations.
3. Preparing for complexity
An ideal MBA program should prepare students for dealing with complexity. Therefore, it is
recommended that the whole MBA program should be in English, integrating many international
students and international professors. Students should spend time abroad (internship or academic
exchange). Lastly, students should work on cross-cultural case studies and be trained to work under
pressure.
4. Soft skills orientation
The future generation of managers needs to have strong abilities in soft skills. Therefore, the ideal
MBA program should enhance self-awareness. Workshops to develop soft skills should be organized,
and theatre/role play should be part of the training. Students should participate in many networking
events and get involved in social work. More generally, lessons should include smaller classes for
discussion.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


3

TABLE OF CONTENT
1. PROBLEM ANALYSIS

___6

1.1 Content of the Project

___6

1.2 Client’s Demand

___7

1.3 Understanding of the Project

___8

1.4 Final Objective of the Project

___9

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

__12

2.1 Adaptation Perspective

__12

2.2 Business Action Theory

__12

2.3 External Factors

__13

2.4 New Service Development

__13

2.5 Managerial Competencies

__15

3. METHODOLOGY

__16

3.1 Sub-objective 1: Investigation of External Factors

__16

3.2 Sub-objective 2 and 3:
Managerial Competencies and Direct Recommendations

__17

3.2.1 Qualitative Research: Interviews

__17

3.2.2 Quantitative Research: Survey

__19

3.3 Integration of Sub-objectives in a Creative Process
4. RESULTS

__19

__21

4.1 Results External Factors

__21

4.1.1 Literature Review

__21

4.1.2 Interview Results

__28

4.1.3 Combining the Results

__30

4.2 Managerial Competencies

__31


__31

CONSULTANCY REPORT


4

4.2.2 Survey Results

__39

4.2.3 Combining the Results Interviews and Survey

__41

4.3 Direct Recommendations

__43

4.3.1 Interview Results: Suggestions about the Subjects

__43

4.3.2 Interview Results: Pedagogical Methods

__44

4.3.3 Interview Results: General Rules

__44

4.3.4 Interview Results: Competencies to be Developed

__45

5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

__46

5.1 Up-to-date Content

__47

5.2 Practical Approach

__49

5.3 Preparing for Complexity

__52

5.4 Soft Skills Orientation

__54

6. REFLECTION

CONSULTANCY REPORT

__56


5

1.

PROBLEM ANALYSIS

In this chapter a global overview of the project will be provided. This will first consist of an overview
of the context in which Luiss Business School operates. After this, the client’s demand will be
explicated. Following that, the understanding of the project will be described in order to define the
final objective of the project.
1.1
Context of the Project
Since the founding of LBS in 1986, the mission of the organization has been to design and offer
managerial education solutions both to recently graduated students and professionals, looking for
individuals who want to leverage their talent and consequently further their careers, aiming at
positions in big corporations, medium sized companies as well as in the public sector.
When LBS became private in 1999, its strategy was redefined and a restructuration of the
organization started. In an increasing global and competitive market of higher education, the crucial
objective was to create more value both for students and companies, considering two main
directions. First, the Business School had to become more international: entering a global arena was
essential. Second, LBS needed a broader internal faculty so as to create a strong basis of knowledge
within its walls.
When Paolo Boccardelli was appointed in 2004 as Head of PhD department, he struggled to make
LBS a more customer oriented company, as both the faculty and the administration showed some
reluctance to change. Thanks to the support of the CEO and the dean of Luiss Guido Carli University
(LBS being a division of it), a real evolution was initiated.
Since then, the strategy of LBS has been concentrated on three strategic pillars. Innovation is the first
one, because to remain competitive, organizations crucially need to develop this competency. As
Paolo Boccardelli –now Head of the international department- underlines it: “Innovating the value
proposition and the business model constitutes one of the most recurrent quests to be dealt with by
executives “ (see appendix 1). In the eyes of LBS’ management, entrepreneurship is included in this
strategic pillar. The second pillar is internationalization, since, as it has been said, LBS wants to enter
a more global arena. Strong efforts are therefore dedicated to develop partnerships with foreign
universities and attracting international participants. Thirdly, LBS gives high importance to the public
sector management, as it is historically a significant business for the organization.
Luiss Business School MBA
The Business School was founded in 1986, and the first edition of the full time MBA was created.
Since then the MBA was only incrementally improved and updated. Today, it represents the core
business of LBS. Each year, around 60 students participate in this 17 months program (12 months in
class and 5 months in a company-project). Part of the classes consists in elective specialized courses
and around 20 academic exchanges are offered. The classic and ideal target participant of this fulltime MBA has more or less two years of specialized professional experience (e.g. technical engineer,
R&D) and has decided to change field or reorient his/her career. As Paolo Boccardelli expresses,
students should be able to “jump to a higher level of responsibility” after the MBA.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


6

Very recently (June 7th, 2010), a new MBA program has been launched at LBS: the International
MBA1. The objective of this MBA is to provide internationally scoped content to international
students. It reflects very well the new strategic concerns of the school, the educational offer being
oriented towards very up to date fields such as globalization, technologies, entrepreneurship,
innovation, CSR, etc. Thirteen students are participating in this first edition. This is a “pilot”
experiment for LBS, since in the end the idea would be to have only one IMBA gathering around 100
participants and proposing different majors.
1. 2
Client’s Demand
On the one hand, the full-time MBA program needs to be updated because even though its content
has been revised year after year, the program remains too close to its first versions; a more radical
shift is therefore needed. On the other hand, recent social and economic events have driven
executives and managers to search for new routes of value creation and growth. Therefore, the
objective of the project is to understand “what companies want”, so as to help LBS to improve its
educational offer for the MBA program.
The requirements from the client fall down into four central tasks:
1. The main external factors -that is to say out of the company’s control- which have an impact on
companies’ organization and management have to be identified and investigated. When possible, the
impact on companies should be described. Factors such as globalization, entrepreneurial thinking,
demography, technology, CSR should be taken into consideration. Literature research is expected in
order to provide insight on these issues. This will provide a context for the qualitative research about
“what companies want”, offering a better understanding of what in their environment pushes
companies to change.
2. Interviews with around 30 managers, being either line managers, HR managers or CEOs from
multinational or Italian companies operating in varied sectors, will allow an understanding of
managerial competencies needed both in the present and in the future. Among the sample of
managers, approximately half of them are alumni from LBS. These alumni are very important in the
research because they are able to provide feed-back and eager to share about their experience.
Interview guides have to be elaborated according to the category of interviewees in order to
structure the interviews and make sure the proper data is collected. This second part represents the
main objective of the project.
3. Using creativity and starting from the “blank state” hypothesis, recommendations for an ideal
MBA program (accordingly to what companies want) has to be provided. New ideas can concern a
wide range of dimensions: topics, contents, pedagogical methods, etc. The main rule to be
respected: “Unchain your creativity!”
4. An additional task is to measure the attitude towards change of the faculty, so as to give an
outlook of to which extent the academic community is ready to support changes in the MBA
program. Interviews with faculty should be done in order to gather information. However, this

1

After this IMBA

CONSULTANCY REPORT


7

should not be taken into consideration when providing recommendations for the ideal MBA
program, in order to protect the creative dimension of the recommendations.
The client offered autonomy about the organization of the project and its possible redefinition.
1. 3
Understanding of the Project
On basis on the client’s demand a model mirroring the understanding of the project has been
prepared, so as to attain the global overview and to have a clear common understanding of the
project.

Figure 1: Understanding of the project
On top of the model is element A, changing environment and external factors. These changing
external factors have an impact on the companies in such a way that the companies will experience
new global needs. Element B is then to identify the changing external factors’ impact on the
companies as well as the new global needs of the companies.
Caused by element B, companies’ new global needs, is element C, their requirements in terms of
present and future managerial competencies. Element C has an impact on element D, educational
MBA needs. Element D, the changing educational needs, is a part of the chain and therefore
important for the understanding of the project, but it is not an aim to investigate them explicitly.
Element D is just leading to element E, which is giving recommendations for the ideal MBA program.
The last element of the understanding of the project is element F, the professors´ reaction and
feedback on the recommendations. This is not an integrated element of the project, but an
additional service that will be provided, so as to see how well the recommendations fit LBS, and to
CONSULTANCY REPORT


8

make it easier for the client to identify possible challenges when implementing the
recommendations.
Project scope
As it appears from the description of the clients demand, the project is two-folded. One objective is
to understand what companies want, in terms of managerial competencies. The other objective is to
give recommendations for the ideal MBA program. In carrying out the latter there are many
stakeholders and sources who could have been taken into consideration, for instance the current
students, politicians, futurologists and so on. In the meanwhile it has been decided to limit the
project scope, considering the time constraints and the value of in-depth knowledge. Therefore the
focus will mainly be on understanding what the companies want by asking different managers, half of
them being alumni. Besides the core project, the professors, but not the students, will be taken into
consideration when assessing how well the recommendations fit LBS´ faculty.

1.4
Final Objective of the Project
When concentrating the client’s demand, the understanding and scope of the project into one
sentence, the following final objective has been developed:
Understand the companies’ needs, influenced by the changing environment, as
regards the competencies2 of their present and future managers, and bearing this
knowledge in mind provide valuable recommendations for the ideal MBA program
in order to meet these needs

2

Competency is defined as: “An individual’s ability to use one’s knowledge, skills and attitudes.” For
further details see part about competencies within the theory.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


9

Visual overview of the project
Dividing the final objective into smaller parts, the different sub-objectives of the project have been
worked out. These sub-objectives, can be considered as pieces of a puzzle that together make it
possible to answer to the client´s demand and reach the final objective. Below are shown the three
sub-objectives of the project and their integration in a creative process. This model is created in
order to have a visual overview of the project work. In the lower right corner of the model the feedback from the faculty is placed, as it does not lead to the final objective but it is something additional.

Figure 2: visual overview of the project
The first sub-objective, to identify the external factors and their impact on companies, will provide an
overview and understanding of the context in which LBS operates. It can be seen as a starting point
and foundation of the project, which the second sub-objective, managerial competencies, is resting
upon.
As mentioned earlier, the second sub-objective about managerial competencies and more
specifically, to explore companies’ new needs as regards present and future managerial
competencies, is the one, according to the client´s demand, which is given the highest weight in the
project.
The third sub-objective, the direct recommendations from the managers about the ideal MBA
program, is the last sub-objective before the process can go on to the integration of the three subobjectives as well as adding creativity. How the recommendations from managers are
provided/generated/extracted and how the integration of the three sub-objectives in a creative
process is done will be explained later in the methodology part. Following this process, the final
objective of the project can be reached.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


10

As it was explained previously, the feed-back from the faculty is an additional service provided to the
client, and not a part of the core project. Therefore it does not have an influence on the
recommendations, because the reaction and feedback will be collected after giving the final
recommendations for the ideal MBA program. The only influence it will have on the project is to
make the client aware of possible challenges, when eventually implementing some of the
recommendations.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


11

2.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter will provide insights into the theories which are used, either implicitly or explicitly, to
base the final ideas and recommendations on. First, the adaptation perspective will be described,
then the Business Action theory3. After this an insight in the idea of the concept managerial
competencies will be provided. Further, since the external environment is a crucial part of reaching
the global objective of the project, the developments and main trends within this environment will
be described after. Lastly, the mainstream theory about new service development is explicated in
order to give insights in the way of thinking when answering the second part of the global project
objective: providing recommendations for the ideal MBA.
2.1
Adaptation Perspective
To make it possible to reach the project objective the perspective that has to be taken into account is
based on the concept of adaptation.
¨Adaptation is a continuous process which results in changes in products or services brought
or sold, in processes of manufacture or in routines and administrative procedures and which
implies resource commitment. The resulting adaptations are investments in specific
relationships¨(Easton, 1992, p.14).
The essence of an adaption perspective is the assertion that organizations survive and prosper to the
extent that they are able to align themselves with their environments over time. Organizations that
respond more appropriately to environmental changes will, in the long term, be more effective
(Milliken, Dutton & Beyer, 1990).
This adaptation perspective has two implications for this research. First, since LBS is an organization
as a consequence it has a need to survive and in order to do that it has to adapt to its environment.
Therefore, the main current global developments (changes) such as the current economic crisis,
globalization and changes in demography can have a direct impact on LBS as an organization, which
means that LBS needs to adapt to these developments. The other way in which this adaptation
perspective is reflected is more directly linked to the focus of the project. For this, the adaptation can
be seen in two ways. First, companies as being the clients of LBS are in need of adapting to their
environment in terms of the global developments. And second, this adaptation of companies will
cause a need for LBS to adapt to its environment, being mainly the companies.
2.2
Business Action Theory
This theory can be used to gain a general understanding of business processes and business
interaction. Further it can be used as an action framework for evaluation and the design of business
processes and its supporting IT (Goldkuhl, 1996).
Within these business processes two main roles can be recognized. First there is the role of the
supplier and second there is the role of the customer. The generic business interaction model
describes the inherent business logic when customers and suppliers perform business with each
other. It described generic business actions of both communicative and material character. Making
3

From now on: BAT
CONSULTANCY REPORT


12

business involves communication, otherwise customer and supplier cannot agree on the business
deal. But it cannot be reduced to only communication, it must include the material acts of delivering
goods and or services and paying (Goldkuhl. 1998).
The BAT framework is oriented towards real business interaction between customers and suppliers
and is inspired by the business-to-business interaction. Interaction means that the two parties acts
towards each other. BAT emphasizes that the two parties are actively engaged in business
interaction. They both perform actions (decisions, communicating, value exchange) directed towards
the other party (Goldkuhl, 1998).
Essential in business interaction is the exchange of value. The supplier and the customer exchange
value and must communicate in order to do this. With this theory the view with an active supplier
influencing a passive customer is rejected (Goldkuhl, 1998). The two roles (of customer and supplier)
have been given equal importance. This viewpoint is in accordance with communicative action
theories which make sender and recipient equally important (Habermas, 1984). Within the BAT the
network theory is rejected since this theory defines relationships between the parties as being longterm (Easton, 1992). In contrast BAT states that even temporary relationships between the customer
and the supplier are relationships. These arguments explain that business interaction is not only
restricted to business exchange. It has an impact on business relationships between supplier and
customer too (Goldkuhl, 1998).
Both the adaptation perspective as well as the Business Action Theory can be seen as a prerequisite
for the validation of the problem of LBS and therefore for this research. Hence, without the need for
adaptation for LBS, either to the environmental changes directly or indirectly via its customers (the
companies, and without the need for interaction within this process (BAT), there would not be a
need for LBS to understand what companies want.
2.3
External Factors
External factors are influencing the dynamics of the global labour market and therefore companies’
needs. The investigation and understanding of the most important of these factors provide an
additional theoretical framework for our project.
The criteria used to select the main external factors were global scope and intensity of pressure upon
the organizations. Limited time available for research was also taken into consideration. Here are the
selected factors: globalization, demographic trends, economic environment and corporate social
responsibility. These factors indeed represent heavy trends in companies’ environment, which force
them to evolve (a process mentioned earlier within the adaptation perspective).
2.4
New Service Development
A number of markets are characterized by substantial changes as a result of deregulation,
technological development and increased internationalization. This forces service companies to keep
developing existing services as well as to create new ones (Edvardsson, 1997).
The idea of new service development is to design high quality into the service system from the
outset, to consider and respond to customers´ expectations in designing each element of the service.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


13

Relating to this, the quality of almost any service is influenced by how well numerous elements
function together in the same service process to meet customers’ expectations. These elements can
be described by three key sentences: the people who perform the service, the equipments that
support these performances, and the physical environment in which the services are performed
(Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990).
The service sector aims at creating basics for long-term profitable customer relationships. The main
task of service development is to create the prerequisites for services which the customer perceives
as attractive. This presupposes that the company has a thorough understanding of the customer´s
needs, expectations and perceptions of quality in relation to cost.
So as to really understand customers´ needs and wishes, it is appropriate and often necessary to
involve customers in the process of developing new services (Edvardsson, 1997).
Though some sensitivity is necessary. This can be made clear by the following quote:
¨There are three kinds of companies; those that simply ask customers what they want and
end up as perpetual followers; those that succeed –for a time- in pushing customers in
directions they do not want to go; and those that lead customers where they want to go
before customers know it themselves¨ (Hamel and Prahalad, 1991, p.85).
Service quality is realized in the service process, in many service encounters and since the customer
is the ultimate judge of the service, customer orientation should be a central point of departure for
all service development. This means putting them in the centre, but not being guided in all respects
by what he/she says. It is important to understand the customer, its needs, wishes and requirements,
but not to follow them slavishly. Moreover, in many cases the customer needs assistance in making
his/her needs and quality requirements explicit. About quality the author claims that quality is a
matter of satisfying the needs and meeting the expectations of three main groups: customers,
employees and owners (Edvardsson, 1997).
Further, there are three main perspectives on the concept of service. First, service can be seen as a
customer outcome, this means that it is the customer´s total perception of the outcome which ´is
the service´, which forms the perception of quality and determines whether the customer is satisfied
or not. The main task of service development is thus to create the conditions for the right customer
outcome. Second, service can be seen as a customer process. This means that the customer himself,
directly and actively participates and affects the result in terms of quality and added value. The third
element is the prerequisites for the service. This has to do with the proposed offer, how this offer is
going to be realized in the form of process and resource structure. These can be seen as the end
result of the service development process. Hence, in order to guarantee service quality, there has to
be quality in all the parts of the prerequisites for the service (Edvardsson, 1997).
These right prerequisites can be described in a model with three main concepts: the service concept,
the service system and the service process. The service concept is a description of the customers
which are to be met and how these needs shall be met in the form of service content or design of
the service package. The service system includes the resources available to the process for realizing
the service concept. And last, the service process is the chain or chains of parallel and sequential
activities which must function if the service is to be produced.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


14

Research shows that the concepts service offer, service process and the resources and structure of
the service system cover the most essential aspects in the development of new services (Evardsson,
1997).

CONSULTANCY REPORT


15

These main ideas derived from the literature about new service development has guided the
research in the following ways:
First, providing recommendations for an ideal MBA based on new companies needs can be seen as
part of developing a new service. It can be seen as rephrasing the service concept because it is
directed towards fitting more directly to the customers’ needs.
Second, support the idea that creating or developing new services is crucial in current times was
supported. It can be said that LBS is situated in a market which is subject to substantial changes (see
the part about external factors) which creates a force to keep developing existing services or create
new ones. This supports the importance of this research and the problem in itself.
Third, the theory prevent us from taking the customer’s needs (the companies needs) too much into
consideration when developing a new service (providing recommendations for the ideal MBA).
Hence, the theory explains that customers not always know what they need. In this way it might be
possible that managers, reflecting the companies needs (which can be seen as the customers), do not
always know or even are able to explain what they need, especially in the future.
2.5
Managerial Competencies
The word competency has been used to describe terms with different meanings and has not been
clearly defined in the literature (Hoffmann, 1999). For instance in the work of Boyatzis it is described
that a competency may be a trait, a motive, a skill, a person’s self-image or a social role (1982). Based
on this he gives the following definition of a competency: “a person’s generic knowledge, motive,
trait, self-image, social role or skill which is essential to performing a job, but is not causally related
to a superior performance” (Boyatzis, 1982, p.3). In the meanwhile, the most important, regarding
defining the word competency in this project, is to have a shared understanding of the of the word.
Since the term is used in a slightly different way than the definition that is described above, a tailormade definition is provided. First of all, the word competencies is not referring to the strategic core
competencies of the organisation in order to gain competitive advantage. Likewise, a distinction can
be made between skills and competencies, where a skill is the ability to carry out a specific task, and
competencies are the way one is able to use a combination of different skills. That is, the word
competency is considered as referring to an individual’s readiness to use knowledge, skills and
attitudes.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


16

3.

METHODOLOGY

In this chapter the methodology for dealing with the project will be described. First it will be
explained how the results for each of the three sub-objectives are obtained, and following this how
the integration of the three sub-objectives in a creative process is done, which will allow the final
objective to be reached. After that, the methods used for the analysis will be described to give
insights into how the results are analyzed, interpreted and how the final recommendations will be
developed from the main results. To get an overview see the figure 3 below.

Figure 3: overview of methodology
3.1

Sub-objective 1: investigation of External Factors

Literature research will be started in order to get insights into the main topics and trends in the
external environment on companies, on a global level. This research will be started by looking into
academic literature for information about these topics. Besides, this research will provide an
extraction from all the happenings in the environment focusing on the main important topics. These
topics will be used in the further research methods for reaching the overall project objective. This
further research will consist of empiric research consisting of qualitative interviews. The insights
from the literature research will be supported by asking managers for their opinion about the impact
of the external environment. Since this will be a small part of the interviews, the main choices and
topics regarding these interviews will be explained in the part about the second and the third subobjective.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


17

3.2

Sub-objective 2 and 3: Managerial Competencies and Direct Recommendations

3.2.1 Qualitative Research: Interviews
For providing insights in these sub-objectives, two different research methods are chosen, which are
qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey. First, empiric research will be conducted in terms of
qualitative interviews. The qualitative interviews will be conducted in a semi-structured way. In this
way, there is a clear guidance about what topics are included but there is also room for flexibility in
the questions and topics discussed. Like already explained the Interview guide will be based on the
literature research about the external environment and how this could have an impact on
companies. Given the structure and characteristics of these interviews, and the fact that they are
based on theory, they will provide in-depth knowledge about managerial competencies needed now
and in the future as well as providing knowledge about how these are linked to the external
environment. Besides this, the interviews will provide knowledge about the direct recommendations
from managers about an ideal MBA program.
Sample for the qualitative interviews
For conducting the interviews, a sample needs to be selected. Hence, asking ´all the managers` is not
possible. This would be too time consuming. Therefore, a sample within the network of LBS is
selected.
This method of selecting the sample could imply homogeneity within the group (most of the time
groups within one network can have homogeneous characteristics), which could influence the
possibility of generalizing the results (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson & Tatham, 2006). Hence, in this
way conclusions cannot be drawn about what companies want in general, because the sample does
not reflect the characteristics of the whole population. Further the size of the sample is important for
the possibility to generalize (Hair et al., 2006).
But what can be considered as the whole population for this project? Do conclusions have to be
drawn for all the companies (on a global level and therefore for all the managers), or is a sample of
companies within the network of LBS enough? The last question can be answered with a strong yes.
The network of LBS can be seen as an important reflection of its clients. This importance of seeing
companies as clients of LBS and its need to adapt to its clients has been worked out with use of the
adaptation theory within the theoretical framework. Further within this network there will be alumni
of the MBA of LBS, who could provide more thorough insights into the overall research object since
they will react based on their own experience. Around thirty managers will be interviewed which is
quite extensive considering the time and resources.
Furthermore, the selected sample (based on the network) also contains a lot of diversity (for
characteristics of the sample see appendix 2). In terms of horizontal diversity (different companies),
and also vertical diversity (different occupations), looking at hierarchy. There is also a mix of gender
in the sample which is 90 percent men and 10 percent women. This does not look very balanced, but
it is reflecting the actual number of managers with an international background in Italy.
Structure of the interviews

CONSULTANCY REPORT


18

Three different types of interviews will be conducted (see figure 4), in sequence: first, exploratory
interviews (two of them) are conducted to get first insights into the topic. Those will be based on
pre-readings about the external environment. Second, a semi-structured interview guide will be
created based on these pre-readings. And last, this semi-structured interview guide will be reshaped
based on the first insights from the other two categories of interviews. For an insight in the
structures (interview guides) of the two categories of semi-structured interviews see appendix 3.
Interview type:
Exploratory interview (E)
Semi-structured interviews (1)
Semi-structured interviews (2)

Interview structure:
Unstructured
Semi-structured
Semi-structured

Development:
Based on pre-readings
Based on pre- readings
Semi-structured interviews
category E + 1

Figure 4: categorizing interviews
Analyzing the interviews
The interviews in the research will be analyzed in the following way: first, the raw data on the
recorders will be transferred into written documents. This will not involve transcribing the whole
interviews, including all the content, but it will mainly be focused on the most important parts. The
criteria for what is considered as being most important are based on interpretation of the usefulness
of the data regarding the overall objective of the research. Therefore, these written documents will
look like summaries.
After transferring the raw data into written summaries, all of them will be read and the ideas and
recommendations from the managers will be extracted. This will be done in group sessions, and
every time an idea or recommendation is extracted from a written summary it will be placed into the
proper category, either external factors, managerial competencies or direct recommendations for
the ideal MBA program (see the categories in the table below).
Sub-objective
Category label
1. Identify the main changing external factors External factors
and investigate their impact on companies
2. Explore companies’ new needs as regard Competencies
present and future managerial competencies
3. Provide insights from managers about the Directs recommendations from managers about
ideal MBA program.
the ideal MBA program
Additional questions
Figure 5: categorizing the data
Within these categories, especially in the second one (competencies) and the third one (direct
recommendations for the ideal MBA program), a lot of diverse answers from managers are possible.
Getting more structure into the expected diverse answers from managers will be necessary in order
to come to conclusions. This structure will emerge gradually from all the data, since the different
ideas from the managers within each category will be clustered and linked to similar ideas. In this
CONSULTANCY REPORT


19

way different clusters like CSR, communication, cultural understanding and so on can emerge from
the ideas within the second category concerning managerial competencies. The same gradual
clustering will be done for the direct recommendations about the MBA program. In this case the
clusters could for instance be subjects, pedagogical methods and the like.
Since managers can use different words for the same kinds of competencies (or for the other topics),
as well as they can have a problem of language reflecting in other expressions than they intend, a
very strict research oriented way of coding the material will not be effective. The other complexity
involved is the factor of time. Hence the process of coding around thirty interviews is very timeconsuming and not reachable according to the time span of the project. Analyzing in a group will
include a confrontation of different ideas about the data. In this way a more valid and reliable result
will be provided.
3.2.2 Quantitative Research: Survey
The second research strategy for reaching the second sub-objective is conducting a quantitative
research survey. This strategy is used to get a more general view on the competencies needed in the
future. Hence, besides the sample of managers taken for the qualitative interview more managers
are being asked about these topics, there are more viewpoints included in the research. In this way
the results from the qualitative interviews can be generalized. The competencies used to create the
survey will be extracted from a list of managerial competencies from EM Lyon Business School (see
appendix 6). The survey will be constructed and distributed with use of the web. For an overview of
the survey see appendix 7.
Sample survey
For sending the survey to managers (in general) a sample has to be selected. Therefore, a sample
within the network of LBS was chosen. For almost the same reasons as for the interview sample, this
method of sampling is used. First, the network being an important reflection of the clients of LBS.
Second, horizontal and vertical diversity. Third, the typical mix of male and female respondents. But
in addition, the selected sample is quite large, (n=213) which increases the possibility to generalize.
Sample size
Gender

n=213
25% female
75% male
Positions
Line manager/HR
manager/ Top manager
Companies
Small/medium size/ large
Characteristics
International/multinational
companies
or
national
with
international workforce
Figure 6: sample characteristics
For more explanation see the paragraph about the interview sample
3.3

Integration of the Sub-objectives in a Creative Process

CONSULTANCY REPORT


20

The outcome of this process is to provide recommendations to create the ´ideal` MBA program,
while the rule given by the client is to ¨unchain creativity¨. In order to achieve this, a brainstorming
session will be organized.
The knowledge used as a basis for the brainstorming session comes from three sources. First, data
gathered from the interviews about managerial competencies needed now and in the future (subobjective 2). Second, the results from the survey focusing on the same content (sub-objective 2).
And third, data gathered from the interviews concerning direct recommendations from the managers
about the ideal MBA program (sub-objective 3).
For an efficient and productive brainstorming, it is important to respect some rules. As a
cornerstone, the brainstorming rules by Beaubien (1997) will be used, completed with additional
rules (see appendix 11).
The agenda of the brainstorming session will include an individual brainstorming at the beginning of
the session4, written brainstorming through passing a sheet of paper, reacting and associating on
others’ ideas, free brainstorming, and lastly brainstorming using ideas already mentioned to bounce
back on them.
After the brainstorming session, all ideas generated will be written on paper. The relevant ideas will
be selected by linking the recommendations to the different competencies. In this way, the ideas
that do not help to develop these competencies will naturally be sorted out. As a consequence it is
possible to see what subjects, pedagogical methods as well as general recommendations will help
the students to develop each one of the 30 most frequently mentioned competencies by the
interviewed managers. To see the table see appendix 13.
After the creation of the table the next step will be to identify the best ideas and in the end come to
the final recommendation for the ideal MBA program. This will be done by taking a step back, and
putting things into perspective, which will provide a global picture of all the recommendations. Then
the main directions for an ideal MBA program can be identified. Within each direction it will then be
possible to find the best ideas and afterwards provide the final recommendations for the ideal MBA
program.

4

« Brainstorming », http://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html

CONSULTANCY REPORT


21

4.

RESULTS

4.1
4.1.1

Results External Factors
Literature Review

This chapter will focus on the global external factors that generate new needs in companies
nowadays. “What companies want” will be investigated, and the major challenges that present and
future managers will have to cope with. The following pages are an excursus on topics including
globalization, technology, demographic trends, economic environment and corporate social
responsibility, summarized in order to provide the essential inputs for the development of our
research.

Globalization and technology
Globalization: description of the phenomenon
Already in 1962, McLuhan coined the expression “global village”, meaning that the developing mass
communication created for the whole world a village-like mindset. On a world basis, Internet and
telecommunication tools allowed people to be more and more connected. Furthermore, this trend is
spreading to an increasing number of individuals: in 2010, there are 4.22 billion mobile phone
subscribers. A quarter of the world’s inhabitants (1.6 billion) can use Internet, and the evolution is
astonishing: the number of Chinese Internet users has increased by 1.400% from 2000 to 2009, while
the Indian rate has reached 10.622% in 2009 (Laudicina, 2010).
As far as the world economy is concerned, one of the most significant changes over the past two
decades has been a growing globalization of markets and industries (Wiersema and Bowen, 2008).
The ongoing consequences of globalization include widespread industry rationalization and
heightened competition at regional, national, and global levels (OECD, 2003). Besides this, the
number of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and the number of multinational firms has
increased extensively (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, various years).
Emerging markets and multinationals from these markets are becoming more and more present on
the world’s stage (Pillania, 2009). For example, a growing number of emerging markets is entering
developed countries and competing with powerful multinational companies. Focusing on these new
markets, Pillania coined the concept of “Globality”, as “the new name for a new and a different
global reality in which we’ll be competing with everyone, from everywhere, for everything” (Pillania,
2009, p. 181). Regarding this challenge, the author proposes “seven struggles for each company”,
which are explained below (2009, p.182).
1. “Minding the cost gap” means maintaining costs low and continue to grow while it becomes more
and more challenging for companies as costs increase (raw materials price).
2. “Growing people”: the fast developing economies count many educated and trained workers and
managers while in the developed economies the talent pool decreases while wages rise. There is a

CONSULTANCY REPORT


22

lack of talents for some jobs or industries, and finding the best fit between the proper talent and the
job is still an HR challenge.
3. “Reaching deep into markets”: New markets are very appealing, not only for the amount of their
population, but also for the rising prosperity and sophistication of the customers. The challenge is to
reach all possible buyers, while companies still make many mistakes: they do not understand
properly their customers, they offer products that are not adapted, they have structures that are too
expensive, and their distribution systems are too complicated.
4. “Pinpointing”: many international corporations have off shored some of their operations in the
world in order to reduce costs. The challenge is to rethink the value chain, relocating its elements so
as to locate the right activities in the best locations.
5. “Thinking big, acting fast, going outside”: market leaders reach success and rapid growth thanks to
mergers, acquisitions, alliances and partnership. This allows these organizations to learn quickly.
6. “Innovating with ingenuity”: challengers may be known as expert copiers, interpreters, simplifiers
and adaptors rather than innovators. Actually their strength is ingenuity, i.e. the capability to
influence their access to the world knowledge and tailor it in an extremely efficient manner.
7. “Embracing manyness”: it is going beyond the idea of one-best-way or single global strategy. The
concept of manyness means that success will come from an adaptation to complexity, as the
company of the future is bound to adapt to many countries, economies, markets, locations, and
facilities. It will resort to many strategies for different cultures, products, services, customers and
situations. And it will use many kinds of backgrounds, skills, talents, ideas, and organization systems.
Impact on organizations
For years, companies have operated across countries’ borders: in order to do so, they have resorted
to many forms of organization (Maerki, 2008). The researcher distinguishes three steps of evolution:
1. The “international corporation” in the XIX century and before: the company did business abroad
but the decision-making, production and finance remained in the home country;
2. The “multinational model” in the XX century: corporations reproduced their operations in the
countries where they were involved. Because of globalization, this model has become redundant and
not competitive, as it is too costly to reproduce the same processes in each subsidiary;
3. The new model for the XXI century is the “globally integrated model”: companies gather their
operations in few locations to “serve the entire globe”, look at their environment from a global
perspective and implement a corporate governance to create durable economic value.
Multinational firms try to adjust to the global model so as to reduce expenses and develop their
competitive advantages (Laudicina, 2010). These rapid evolutions of course influence their
organization. For example, the changing business environment obliges global corporations to
develop longer and leaner supply chains, create decentralized service centers, and foster multipolar
management. As the author underlines, “as these trends continue to evolve, it is reasonable to
expect corporate models to evolve as well” (Laudicina, 2010, p.7).

CONSULTANCY REPORT


23

Globalization also increases the complexity for companies, especially concerning responsibility needs
(Maerki, 2008). Governments continue to have an impact on the company’s social responsibility as
they generate regulations. Besides, companies have to take into account other stakeholders:
consumers, NGOs and communities.
Challenges to come
As Laudicina puts it, “in this transformed environment, global corporations will face difficult decisions
about how they structure their business”(2010, p. 8). Indeed, they have to find out which markets
shall bring the strongest growth, considering demographic changes and consumer preferences. They
have to understand what the future low-cost sources will be when many factors are changing: labor
costs, visibility, quality risks, transportation costs, political risks, new demand drivers, etc.
It seems that in this world of complexity, contradictions and rapidity, organizations have to be agile
and forecast probable scenarios for the future so as to know how to behave in the present
(Laudicina, 2010). Last but not least, the current challenge for organizations is to find a trade-off
between the “demands of the short term and local, with the imperative of the long-term and global”
(Laudicina, 2010, p.11.).
The global dimension of nowadays’ biggest corporations also has another important consequence:
such companies somehow shape the communities on which they insist (Avishai, 1994). This happens
while the idea of «Nation» continues to lose adhesive power and influence on societies, especially on
the multi-ethnical ones. The Nation is increasingly reduced to the role of a formal institution
(Bauman 1998). In addition to this, companies foster mobility: every resource of the globalized
company (including human resources) has to experience as much mobility as possible (Baumann,
1998): transnational companies definitely give to communities a dynamic shape, which often turns
out to be a precarious one.
These two phenomena global corporations are accountable for – the shaping of the society and the
fostering of mobility – emphasize the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility issues, as the
companies are experiencing new forms of liability that are not only related to shareholders, but
involve the broader class of the stakeholders (Avishai, 1994).

Technology as innovation
“Innovation is not useful for companies only, but also and above all
for the society which elaborates such innovation [...] Innovation does
not change only the destiny of companies, but changes the whole
world as well” (Munari & Sobrero, 2004).

Innovation is the fundamental process where technology plays the main role and becomes a
centerpiece of the whole modernity. Munari and Sobrero define a radical innovation as a ‘jump in a
new systematic and structural diversity’ (2004, p.24). Such a jump can be divided into two steps,
deeply interrelated: the innovation of sense and the useful innovation.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


24

The innovation of sense goes through the society and shapes its common sense. For example, the socalled Green economy lies mostly on an innovation of sense concerning the sustainability of our
model of growth (Lubin & Esty, 2010). This innovation quickly spread worldwide. Then the useful
innovation can come after an innovation of sense, or be the reason for an innovation of sense itself.
It is a concrete and technological innovation which concerns a product or a process in a company (a
new solar panel based on concentration lens and a new photovoltaic wafer that can produce 20%
more energy than the traditional one is an example of useful innovation).
Innovation and technology are paramount nowadays, therefore the fast obsolescence of modern
technologies are to be a major feature of the global era. It seems to be drawing the path for
economic changes. The fear of obsolescence is the driver that reshapes the new markets’ needs.
Technology innovations access the market through new companies, then they join a larger net made
by flows of information, data, people, thoughts, interests, new needs, expectations, goods/services,
which can be called the whole company-stakeholders structure (Munari & Sobrero, 2004).

Demographic Trends
The ageing population
Most executives in developed nations are vaguely aware that a major demographic shift is about to
transform their societies and their companies. They even assume that there is little they can do
about it (Strack, Baier & Fahlander, 2008).
Nevertheless, according to the facts and figures, the awareness about the impacts of demographic
trends should be increased in a significant way. The statistics are undeniable: in most developed
economies, the workforce is steadily ageing, a reflection of declining birth rates and the graying of
the baby boom generation. The percentage of the workforce between the ages of 55-64 is growing
faster than any other age group. Even in an emerging economy like China, the number of
manufacturing workers aged 50 or older will more than double in the next 15 years (Strack, Baier &
Fahlander, 2008).
To clarify this trend, on average, the proportion of individuals older than 65 years is projected to
increase by more than 10 percentage points, from 14.3% in 2000 to 25.7% in 2040. The speed of this
ageing process is expected to vary among countries and to be more rapid in the Republic of Korea,
Germany, Canada, Austria, Italy, Spain, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
In addition to ageing, many OECD5 countries are likely to experience a reduction in the size of their
population. This reduction, it appears, will be particularly pronounced in Italy, Germany, Japan,
Greece and Spain (Spieza, 2002).

5

Countries which are member of the organization for economic cooperation and development.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


25

Labour supply
The major population changes are likely to have a significant impact on the labour market. This
impact stems from the shift in the age distribution of the population and the increase in the
proportion of elderly people. As older individuals tend to have lower rates of labour force
participation, this shift is likely to result in lower overall participation rates and a contraction of
labour supply.
Implications for organizations: productivity and knowledge retention
It can be said that a main consequence of ageing is the effect on knowledge retention in the
organization. As employees get older, and retire, companies can face significant losses of critical
knowledge and skills. The demographic trend has been exacerbated by the relentless focus on cost
reduction that has become the business norm. To be more specific, retirement is causing the loss of a
worker with the skills to perform a specific job. It may also represent the loss of crucial knowledge
whose value to the organization extends beyond the individual position (Strack, Baier & Fahlander,
2008). Furthermore, the shortage in labor supply (and especially younger workers) will hinder the
replacement of older talents with new ones. Therefore, companies in industrialized markets will face
a labor shortage and brain drain of dramatic proportions (Dychtwald, Morison & Erickson, 2006).
Second, there is a strong debate surrounding the effect of aging on productivity. One the one hand
authors state that: ´the aging labour force is less efficient because elderly individuals have less
physical and social capacity, higher morbity and less dynamic and innovative aptitudes´(Simon,
1986). This argument is more directed on the incapability of the workers and therefore places the
responsibility for ineffective productivity with the employee. Other authors highlight that this
argument is too restrictive. According to them, at the individual level, the issue of ageing and
working can be seen in terms of an imbalance between functional capabilities and the demands of
work. They also focus on the ageing affect on productivity, but in a more constructive way (Coleman,
1993).
As a consequence of this last point of view, a key finding on aging and productivity is that individual
performances at work strongly depend on the content, organization and environment of the work
itself, which emphasizes the responsibility of the organization, regarding this subject (Spieza, 2002).
In terms of organizational policy, these findings about productivity and knowledge retention have
several main implications. A major organizational requirement, as a consequence of ageing, would be
to create a culture in which learning and development are given high priority among older workers,
as well as younger employees. Companies should assist older workers in moving laterally into new
and challenging jobs and provide training that is specially tailored to their requirements, to safeguard
the productivity (Spieza, 2002).

CONSULTANCY REPORT


26

Economic Environment
“The global economic crisis, which severely tested our adaptability
and flexibility this past year, will be truly transformational in its
impact. Many accepted paradigms, including the way in which
business interacts with its stakeholders, particularly governments, will
have to be rewritten. The turbulence of the last months will
significantly accelerate the development of business models that
capitalize on the new opportunities created by the crisis, including the
expansion of the so-called green economy”.
(Schwab, 2009)
“The shocks that hit the U.S. economy last fall were, by almost any
measure, larger than those that precipitated the Great Depression”.
(Romer, 2009)
The words of Schwab and Romer bring us directly into the core of the problem: after the global
financial crisis the world will never be the same. To understand what companies and managers will
have to adapt to, attention was pointed to the external environmental factors related with
economics.
The fall of Lehman Brothers appears to be a turning point in history. The figure below shows a
projection of Goldman Sachs about the GDP of the G6 and the BRIC Countries from 2000 to 2043
which highlights the most relevant over takings of emerging economies over the developed ones
(USD billions (2003)). The overtaking Countries are in bold, the overtaken in italic bold.
2000
2016
2023
2039
2041
2043
19.702 27.847 31.559 43.175 44.987 46.908
USA 9.825 15.106 17.518 26.542 27.929 29.399
Japan 4.176 4.925 5.443 5.998 6.086 6.187
4 major EU Countries 5.701 7.816 8.598 10.635 10.972 11.322
BRIC
2.700 9.02
15.110 44.147 50.038 56.473
China 1.078 5.156 8.863 24.949 28.003 31.257
India 46
1.53
2.682 11.322 13.490 15.989
China +India 1.547 6.687 11.545 36.271 41.493 47.246
Source: global economics, Paper 99, p.19
Figure 7: projection of Goldman Sachs about the GDP of the G6 and the BRIC Countries: 2000-2043.
G6

As can be seen, according to Goldman Sachs (2003), Brazil, Russia, India and China will definitely
overrun the G6 economies by 2043. In the year 2000 the GDP of the BRICs was 13% of the advanced
economies. According to Goldman Sachs the first overtaking will take place in 2016, when China’s
GDP will result greater than the Japanese one, and the BRICs will generate a GDP equal to a third of
the G6’s. The next step should be in 2023, when China alone will rank over the top four Europeans
and the BRICs will be near to the US. The final chapter is between 2041 and 2043, when also India
will overtake the best four European countries and China will reach the US. The future appears to be
a multipolar one.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


27

While developed economies lose out to emerging countries, prices are expected to decrease
worldwide:
“Most markets will experience pressures on pricing. Economic weakness and extra capacity,
and possibly a shift in the zeitgeist from excess to frugality, have already pushed prices
downward. Expansion into poorer markets at home and abroad will intensify this trend”
(Ghemawat, 2010).
Meanwhile, a great debate is taking place concerning the behavior of large financial institutions’
leaders, as well as about the whole category of top managers, accused to be greedy and more
interested in stock options than in the common good. ‘In the United States the Pew Research Center
asked the public how much people in ten occupations contributed to the well-being of society.
Business executives were ranked at the very bottom and only 21% of respondents thought they
contributed significantly’ (Ghemawat, 2010). After top executives got their bonuses and went away,
governments had to save the day. The governmental intervention in the economy is a strong reality,
rising from the ashes of neo liberalism (Stiglitz, 2008):
“The current crisis has demonstrated that markets do not automatically control systemic risk,
any more than they automatically create competition. Pragmatically speaking, therefore,
government intervention is required to prevent markets from destroying themselves, and the
relevant question is what kind of intervention is effective” (Duncan Watts, 2009).
The governmental intervention is likely to be focused on the so-called Green economy. As Klaus
Schwab wrote at the beginning of the 2009 Davos World Economic Forum, the crisis also created new
opportunities, and the Green economy is one of the most important. Former Prime Minister of the
UK Gordon Brown claimed: ¨we will join a Green New Deal¨; meanwhile, President Obama promised
to pump $150 billion into green technology over the next decade.
To summarize, the main features of the economic environment that were considered as most
important to be taken into consideration are:
-

The global financial crisis and its consequences;
The rise of the BRIC countries;
The increase of government size into economies;
The global low-price competition and the decrease of western purchasing power;
The Green economy.

Corporate Social Responsibility
In this part first of all it will be explained why companies act in socially responsible ways, and further
what impact it has on the role of the manager.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


28

During the last two decades there has been an increasing focus on CSR both in the business press and
in academic papers, but there has not been much focus on understanding why CSR has become so
important (Cambell, 2007). In the article by Cambell (2007) were found eight propositions about
what factors have an impact on the companies’ attitudes and actions towards CSR, which will be
passed through below.
1. The first proposition concerns the financial performance of the companies. So if the companies are
experiencing relatively weak financial performance and are operating in an unhealthy environment,
they are less likely to act in socially responsible ways.
2. The intensiveness of the competition also has an impact on CSR. That is, if the companies are
operating in a market where the rivalry is low and close to monopoly, they will have little incentive to
act in socially responsible ways, because for instance the reputation of the company will not likely
influence sales. Likewise, if the companies are operating in an environment where the rivalry is very
intensive, they will be less likely to act in socially responsible ways, because the profit margins are so
narrow that investing in CSR will set shareholder value and firm survival at risk.
3. The state regulations too have an impact on CSR in such a way that companies are more likely to
act in socially responsible ways when state regulations are strong, well-enforced and ensure such a
behaviour. Further the state regulations must be based on negotiations and consensus among
government, companies and other stakeholders.
4. The companies are more likely to act in socially responsible ways, when there is a system of wellorganized and effective industrial self-regulation that ensures such behaviour.
5. The private organizations, including NGOs, social movement organizations, institutional investors
and the press, have an impact on the companies’ likelihood to act in socially responsible ways, when
they monitor the companies’ behaviour.
6. When normative calls for a social responsible behaviour are institutionalized (e.g. in important
business publications and business school curricula), the companies are more likely to act in socially
responsible ways.
7. When the companies belong to trade or employer associations that promote social responsible
behaviour, they are more likely to act in socially responsible ways.
8. When companies are engaged in institutionalized dialogue with their stakeholders (e.g. unions,
employees, community groups, investors etc.) they are more likely to act in socially responsible ways.
Because of the fact that CSR is so ambiguous, managers have the responsibility to create meaning for
their teams (Angus-Leppan, Metcalf & Benn, 2009). In order to do that, the manager needs to
understand the past, present and future. In other words, to have a so-called system perspective
(Maon, Lindgreen & Swaen, 2008). Overall, what is important regarding CSR is the mindset of the
manager, because managerial perceptions are of vital importance for the company’s CSR strategy.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


29

That is to say that the right interpretation of the environment and the requirements from
stakeholders can lead to success and improved performance, while a wrong interpretation can lead
to performance deterioration and crisis (Maon, Lindgreen & Swaen, 2008).

CONSULTANCY REPORT


30

In this part an overview of the main environmental factors, influencing companies will be provided.
This overview is extracted based on the answers from the interviews with 28 managers. The factors
are divided into five families of consequences which are explained in sequence of importance (first
highest, last lowest importance): global financial crisis, globalization, (information) technology,
governments and green economy.
Global Financial Crisis
The crisis explodes in year 2009, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, and the world economy is
still struggling for a satisfactory growth. The difficult scenario and its consequences are vivid in the
minds of the interviewees, who referred to the global financial crisis and related factors 21 times in
27 interviews. No other external factor has been quoted so much.
Managers generically pointed the financial crisis as a factor having a major impact on the companies
nine times. Occasionally, they mentioned other factors that they linked or are linkable to the
financial crisis: the decrease in demand and the fact customers purchase less are factors quoted six
times. The credit crunch was quoted four times, and the complete stop in the real estate market was
pointed once, as well as the fluctuation of the prices of energy-related commodities and fuels.
The consequences on the companies, according to the interviewed managers, are:
- Difficulties in motivating people: it is not possible to hire workers with a satisfactory
contract;
- Companies are now focused on where to create value, especially through innovation;
- In order to cut consulting costs, clients of consultancy services started developing own
internal consulting activity;
- To relocate manufacturing to countries like China and generally in Asia, became a more
important issue;
- Companies have to satisfy customers more focused on the time of delivery and on the costs
than before.
Globalization
Managers referred to globalization and other related factors eight times in 27 interviews.
Globalization has been pointed twice directly. Besides, competition-related issues have been
mentioned three times. The competition has been defined as “always changing”, as a “low-cost
competition”, or described as a “battle taking place on the field of marketing”.
China and oriental markets have been indicated three times as impacting the world trade, source of
new competitors, great opportunities, as well as Russia, for the real estate business. Once a manager
generically referred to the emergence of new markets.
In addition, one manager offered his point of view about the consequences of globalization on
companies, explaining that they need to rethink their organization. Italian companies in particular are
still operating with a lot of “power to the centre”: operations all around the world are rather an
“execution of what is decided at the centre”.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


31

(Information) Technology:
Managers mentioned once technology and the IT revolution, along with research and development,
as factors impacting their businesses.
Governments
The government and the dynamics of the public sector have been highlighted once as influencing the
business, and the regulatory environment has been mentioned once as well, because of its role in
writing the rules of particular markets as the energy market.
Green economy
Once a manager pointed the booming of the market of renewable energies in Italy as the factor that
mainly affected the company.
4.1.3 Combining the Results: Interviews and Literature Review
The results from the semi-structured interviews support part of the choices of subjects made earlier
in the literature review. The literature review was concentrated on five main issues: globalization,
technology, demographic trends, economic environment and corporate social responsibility. When
asked about “the most important external factor, out of the company’s control, that had a major
impact on the organization, within the last three years”, 21 times the managers answered referring
to the global financial crisis, which was the first part of the literature review about the economic
environment (Schwab, 2009; Romer, 2009).
The interviewees mentioned – eight times in 28 interviews – the importance of globalization, that
was thoroughly examined within the literature review (Avishai 1994; Baumann, 1998; OECD, 2003;
UNCTD, 2003; Wiersema and Bowen, 2008; Pillania, 2009; Laudicina, 2010). One of the interviewed
managers defined the kind of competition fostered nowadays by globalization as a “low-cost
competition”. In parallel to that the first of the “seven struggles for each company” described by
Pillania, part of the literature review, is “Minding the cost gap”: companies have to maintain costs
low and continue to grow, while it becomes more and more challenging for them as costs increase –
e.g. raw materials price (Pillania, 2009). On the same issue Pankaj Ghemawat was also quoted,
underlining that “most markets will experience pressures on pricing” (Ghemawat, 2010). Another
manager underlined the importance of relocating the production to low-labor-cost markets, and this
is linkable to what Pillania calls “pinpointing” (Pillania, 2009). In addition to that, one of the
interviewed managers explicitly mentioned the decentralizing effect of globalization on the
organization of companies. It is exactly what Laudicina means when he writes that companies have
to create decentralized service centers, and foster multipolar management (Laudicina, 2010).
The rise of the BRIC countries described through a Goldman Sachs study (Goldman Sachs, 2003)
appears to be an acknowledged issue to the interviewees, who mentioned China and the oriental
markets three times. Also the increase of government size (Stiglitz, 2008; Duncan Watts, 2009) was
quoted twice.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


32

CONSULTANCY REPORT


33

4.2

Managerial Competencies

4.2.1

Interview Results

General overview
As it appears from the data, there are eight main families which emerge from the data, in sequence:
hard skills, political ability, business sense, adaptation ability, multicultural mindset, interpersonal
competencies, CSR mindset and personal characteristics. It is obvious that some of these families
cover a wide range of different competencies (the precise results can be found in appendix 5).
It is interesting to notice that the families business sense and interpersonal skills cover a high number
of different competencies which could imply that these families of competencies are very valued
within the companies.
Within each family there are some competencies which are mentioned more frequently. This could
imply that they are given higher priority by the managers interviewed. In the table below are shown
the most frequently mentioned competencies, and therefore the most important competencies
according to the managers.
Multicultural mindset
- Speak other
languages
- Understand different
behavior and ways of
looking at things
- Work and deal with
different cultures
- Intercultural
understanding

CSR mindset

Interpersonal skills

- Understanding
diversity and its
importance
- Sensitivity about
importance of CSR
- Ethic way of doing
business
- Understand
stakeholders

- Building relationships
- Communication skills
- Team working
- Motivating others

Personal
characteristics
- Humility
- Openness

Figure 8: most frequently mentioned competencies

CONSULTANCY REPORT


34

In-depth overview within families of competencies
The figures below show for each family of competencies all the competencies mentioned by
managers, and the most frequently mentioned are highlighted in bold letters. Within each family the
competencies that are linked close to each other are clustered in elements.

Figure 9: linking the competencies: hard skills
As it can be seen in figure 9, having an analytical approach is appearing very often in the interviews,
so it is highlighted as being important (put in bold characters in the figure). Analytical approach is
linked to other competencies, which are: critical thinking, problem solving, evaluating trade-offs and
performing risk analysis. This might imply that these competencies are more important for
companies as well.
Further, within another element in the figure, it appears that fast and efficient decision-making and
focusing on main information is marked as being crucial. Since there are two main competencies
marked as important it can imply that this element (sub-category) should be considered as more
essential. This means that the competencies efficiency and prioritizing are crucial as well.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


35

Figure 10: linking the competencies: political abilities

In figure 10 above the competencies that belong to the family of competencies called political
abilities are shown. Among these competencies transparency was mentioned very often by the
managers, which implies that it is an important managerial competency. Transparency is closely link
to credibility and the ability to build legitimacy as a leader, so the whole element consisting of the
three competencies can be considered as essential.

Figure 11: linking the competencies: business sense

CONSULTANCY REPORT


36

As is appearing from figure 11 there are two competencies within one element which are mentioned
very often in the interviews. These are: having a global overview of the business and having a quick
understanding of business situations. After looking more in-depth to the competencies they were
linked to the following competencies: having a global world view and being able to understand the
environment of the company. Since there are two competencies of the same element mentioned
very often, it can be said that these kind of competencies are perceived as being important by
managers, and therefore companies.
The other competency which is mentioned very often is understanding and adapting to the
governmental way of acting. For this competency some sensitivity is needed. As can be seen in
appendix 9 the other competencies within this element are: associating the goals of the government
with the goals of the company and the ability to lobby with the government are only mentioned once
and twice. Further, as can be seen in the interview summaries (appendix 4), the competency related
to understanding and adapting to governmental way of acting is only mentioned when the question
about the government is asked (dependent on the category of interviews either being question 4 or
5). This can imply that the question pushes the interviewees to answer in a certain direction. In short,
this competency should not be seen as being very crucial for managers.

Figure 12: linking the competencies: adaptation abilities
Above is shown the competencies that belong to the family called adaptation abilities, and within
this family, six sub elements emerge from the data. It is very clear that one of these elements,
flexibility and world-wide mobility, is given higher priority by the managers, because these
competencies were without any doubt the ones that were mentioned most frequently within the
family, and therefore they are highlighted in bold characters. Besides that, the competency, to deal

CONSULTANCY REPORT


37

with and manage complexity, was mentioned quite often as well, which implies that it is an essential
competency for the next generation of managers.

Figure 13: linking the competencies: multicultural mindset
As it appears from figure 13, the competencies related to dealing with and understanding different
cultures and behaviors are mentioned very often. The three competencies within the element are:
working and dealing with different cultures, having a cultural understanding, understand different
behaviors and ways of looking at things. They are mentioned often and can be seen as linked to each
other. Hence, understanding different behaviors and ways of looking at things can be interpreted as
having a cultural understanding. Further, being able to work and deal with different cultures might
involve that the cultural understanding is present. As a conclusion, the competencies within this
element are considered as being vital for managers and therefore companies.
As can be seen in the figure 13 speaking other languages is mentioned frequently and therefore is
given higher priority. Another critical point can be made regarding this topic.
The ability to speak English has to be included in the competency of speaking other languages.
Hence, what does it mean when a manager talks about speaking other languages? This involves
most of the time speaking English. Therefore, this language can be included in the competency to
speak other languages, and in total it can be seen as being crucial for managers.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


38

Figure 14: linking the competencies: CSR mindset
Figure 14 above shows the family of competencies called CSR mindset, and consists of four elements.
Among all these competencies, sensitivity about CSR is the one mentioned most frequently by the
managers, and therefore is considered as an essential competency for the next generation of
managers. The three competencies, to understand the impact of the green economy on the
company’s image, and understand the advantages of green economy as well as understand the
stakeholders are competencies which are all part of being sensitive to CSR. Therefore the whole
element can be considered as vital managerial competencies. Regarding diversity, the managers give
high priority to the understanding of diversity and its importance, since they mentioned this
competency often. As more specific parts of diversity, the managers also mention understand gender
diversity and its importance and understand the different generations and how they can add value.
These two competencies are a part of diversity in general, and therefore the whole element
regarding diversity consists of crucial competencies for the next generation of managers. Finally, the
managers mention ethic way of doing business quite often, which is related to taking limited risks
and having a long-term focus. This implies that the ethic way of doing business is a essential
managerial competency.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


39

Figure 15: linking the competencies: interpersonal skills
Within this family of competencies seven elements are created. Among these four of them contain
competencies mentioned frequently by managers. In the first element the competency ability to
build relationships is mentioned. In the second element the competency communication skills is
placed. Since the other competencies such as listening are closely related to this, these can be
perceived as being significant as well.
Furthermore, within the third element in the figure team-working is mentioned very often and can
be perceived as being essential. Within this element the competencies knowledge sharing and the
ability to learn from others are mentioned often as well. It can be said that together with teamworking these two competencies are being perceived as essential by managers.
Within the fourth element, motivating others is mentioned very often. Further, the ability to
understand people is also mentioned quite frequently. Since these two can be linked very easily (you
need to understand people before you can motivate them) both of them are considered as very
essential for managers.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


40

Figure 16: linking the competencies: personal characteristics
The last figure 16 of the families of competencies is called personal characteristics and consists of
eight elements. This family is characterized by the fact that many of the competencies are not
specifically linked together and only mentioned few times by the managers. However, there is one
exception, because there is one big element to which openness and humility belong. These two
competencies are mentioned most often. Therefore openness and humility are considered as
essential managerial competencies.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


41

4.2.2 Survey Results
In this chapter the results from the quantitative survey will be provided. To get a visual overview of
all the results from the survey see appendix 8.
Hard skills vs. Soft skills
As can be seen in figure 17, the respondents answered in a balanced way about the importance of
hard and soft skills. The respective percentages are for hard skills: 49.03% and for soft skills: 49.9%. It
is obvious that the two percentages do not add up to 100%. This means that some respondents have
made mistakes in distributing the points. After detecting the response with missing answers and the
response containing significant mistakes, it becomes clear that these mistakes do not change the
percentages significantly. Therefore, these percentages reflect the fact the managers give equal
importance to the hard skills and soft skills managers should have.

Figure 17: importance hard and soft skills
Dimensions of hard competencies
When looking at the distribution of dimensions of hard competencies, it can be said that they are
rather equally distributed, with a range from 7.99% to 17.34%. Most of the dimensions are
distributed around 12%. Two of the dimensions are given a higher score. These are: strategy &
organization (17.34%) and innovation (17.16%). This means that these subjects are given a higher
importance by managers.
Families of soft competencies
Within these answers on this topic there are three families of competencies that are given high
importance. In sequence: cognitive competencies (19.69%), entrepreneurial competencies (16.34%)
and adaptation competencies (16.54%). Further, the following competencies are almost all very
closely linked to these competencies. Only the CSR mindset is quite distant, because it has the lowest
score (11.95%).
Cognitive competencies
Within this family there are two competencies which are given high priority. For the highest ranked
competency: priority setting and time management 31 out of 59 managers have put this competency

CONSULTANCY REPORT


42

in their top three list (52.54%). For the ability to solve complex problems, 30 managers (50.85%) give
high priority to this.
Besides these two competencies there are three competencies which are selected a lot of times. The
number of times the competencies are selected is in a very close range: intellectual agility (26 times
selected, 44.07%), fast-decision-making (27 times selected, 45.75%) and having a strategic
orientation ( selected 27 times, 45.76%).
Political competencies
Within this family there are two competencies clearly more often selected by the managers. Building
credibility is selected by 51 out of 59 managers in their list of three main competencies. Further,
managing through networks is selected by 47 out of 59 managers (79.66%) in their list of three
competencies.
Entrepreneurial competencies
Within this family of soft competencies there are two competencies clearly more often selected by
the managers. Innovating is selected by 41 out of 59 managers (69.49%) in their list of three main
competencies and client orientation 37 times (62.71%).
Following these competencies there are result orientation (selected 26 times out of 59, 44.07%) and
opportunity seeking and taking (selected 25 times out of 59, 42.37%).
Adaptation competencies
Within this family of competencies there is one competency selected very often which is flexibility.
This competency is selected by 52 managers in the list of three main competencies of 59 managers.
CSR mindset
Within this family of competencies there are two competencies selected very often compared to the
others. First, ethics and values is selected frequently, 55 managers (out of 59) selected this
competency in their list of three main competencies.
Second, social responsibility is selected by 51 managers.
Interpersonal competencies
Within this family of competencies there are three competencies selected more frequently than the
others. These are: conflict management, openness to others and delegation and empowerment. The
number of times they are selected, to be in the list of main competencies, is respectively: 43, 41 and
40 times out of 59 managers.
Intrapersonal competencies
Within this family there is one competency clearly more often selected by managers to be a main
competency. This is developing others, which is selected by 43 out of 58 managers.
To summarize, managers give almost equal importance to soft skills and hard skills. Further within
the family of hard competencies they rank the dimensions strategy and organization and innovation
as being essential.
CONSULTANCY REPORT


43

There are three main families within soft competencies which are given more importance. These are:
cognitive competencies, entrepreneurial competencies and adaptation competencies. Within the
family cognitive competencies, the main selected managerial competencies are: priority setting and
time management and complex problem solving.
Within the family entrepreneurial competencies the main selected managerial competencies are:
innovating and client orientation.
Within the family adaptation competencies the main selected managerial competency is flexibility.

4.2.3 Combining the Results: Interviews and Survey
As is appearing from the interview results it seems that hard skills are not given much importance by
managers. Hence, the competencies within this family are not mentioned a lot of time. However,
these competencies will further be considered as being equally important. This conclusion is based
on several arguments. First, the interview questions direct the interviewees partly towards
mentioning soft-skills. Second, a lot of different managers mention that: ¨hard skills are taken for
granted¨ or ¨are basic¨. And third, the result from the survey shows that managers value soft skills
and hard skills as being almost equally important.
From the quantitative survey it becomes clear that priority setting and time management are very
valued by managers. Though, in the qualitative results the competencies prioritizing and time
management are not valued as being very important since they have not been mentioned a lot of
times. From the quantitative data a conclusion should be drawn that these competencies should be
given more credit.
Further, from the quantitative research it becomes clear that the ability to solve complex problems is
essential. This can be linked to two competencies within the qualitative results, being: problemsolving and dealing with and manage complexity. The last competency is already given high
importance to, but the first is not. This means that there should be given more importance to the
competency problem solving.
Building credibility appears to be an important competency from the quantitative web-survey. There
are three competencies (from the qualitative results) that can be linked to this competency, which
are: transparency (managers claim that this is necessary to build credibility), building legitimacy
credibility. The importance given to credibility within the quantitative survey means that a higher
priority should be given to this competency.
Managing through relationships is highly valued by managers within the quantitative survey. This
competency can be linked to two competencies within the qualitative results. First: building
relationships, which is already highlighted as important. Then: networking, which should be given
more credit according to the results of the web-survey.
Flexibility is given high importance both in the quantitative and qualitative research. This supports
the idea that this competency is crucial for managers.
From the data generated from the quantitative survey it appears that one of the most important
managerial competencies is the ability to develop others. This competency was also mentioned in
the interview, in a slightly different way, however. It is, the ability to make people grow. They can be
CONSULTANCY REPORT


44

considered as the same competency. From the qualitative data the ability to develop others is only
mentioned twice and therefore not considered as one of the most important competencies, in the
first place. In the meanwhile, the result from the quantitative data suggests that the ability to
develop others should be given a higher priority.
The next competency, which appears to be one of the most important based on the quantitative data
is empowerment/delegation. This competency also emerges from the qualitative data and is
mentioned quite often. This means that from the qualitative data it was not one of the most
important competency, but still not one of the least important either. So the quantitative data shows
a stronger importance to empowerment/delegation, and therefore it might be more appropriate to
upgrade the priority of the competency.
Openness to others is also a competency that appears to be one of the most essential from the
quantitative data. From the qualitative data the competency openness, in general, not necessarily to
other people, is mentioned most frequently, which means that the quantitative data confirm the first
implication that openness definitely is one of the most crucial managerial competencies.
Further, conflict management appears to be one of the most important competencies based on the
quantitative data. During the interviews this competency is mentioned six times, which means that it
is not ranked as one of the most crucial competencies, but still not one of the least crucial either. The
result from the quantitative data implies that the overall importance of conflict management should
be increased, and in this way conflict management should be given a higher priority as a managerial
competency.
Social responsibility in the survey can be linked to the competency of responsibility in the CSR
mindset family from the qualitative research, which was mentioned quite a lot. It can also be related
to sensitivity about importance of CSR which is a prevailing competency in the family. The result of
the survey is therefore confirming the value that interviewees grant to the social responsibility of
managers.
In the result of the quantitative survey ethics and values can be related to the CSR mindset family in
the qualitative research. Being ethic can be linked to an ethic way of doing business, which is
frequently mentioned. Then the values can also be connected to the responsibility already referred
to in last paragraph. Thus, it is verified from quantitative survey that an ethic way of doing business is
an important competency required from managers.
From the results of the quantitative survey client orientation is strongly related to customer
orientation in the results from qualitative data in the business sense family. However, in the
qualitative research, this competency was not cited very frequently. Therefore this survey result
highlights something that did not appear clearly during the interviews: customer orientation is a
significant competency managers should have.
The innovating competency from the quantitative survey is closely linked to the competency
innovativeness from the business sense family in the qualitative result. This competency is not

CONSULTANCY REPORT


45

mentioned very often by managers. It can be concluded that the survey sheds light on an additional
important competency for the new generation of managers: the ability to innovate.
For a clearer overview of the most important competencies both from the quantitative and the
qualitative data see appendix 9.
4.3
Direct Recommendations
In this chapter direct recommendations from managers about the MBA will be provided. These
recommendations are concerning subjects, pedagogical methods and competencies to be developed
during an MBA. For a global overview of all the direct recommendations from managers about an
ideal MBA see appendix 10.
4.3.1 Interview Results: Suggestions about Subjects
Below in figure 18 is given an overview of the different subjects that the managers recommend for
the MBA program. The subjects highlighted in bold characters are the ones mentioned most
frequently, and are the following: finance, strategy, marketing and organization. This implies that
these subjects are still very important and therefore should remain in the MBA program.
From the data emerge different groups of subjects, which are put in different places in the model
according to how classical or original/new each group of subjects is. That is, on the left side of the
model, in blue colours, are shown all the classical subjects that the managers mentioned. In the
middle, in purple colours, are shown the subjects that are in between, which means that in some
business schools they are not new, but in others they are quite new. Finally, on the right side of the
model are shown, in red colours, all the new and original subjects that the managers mention during
the interviews. These might be especially interesting for the further interpretation, idea generation
and the final recommendations, since they bring a valuable input to the creative process.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


46

Figure 18: organizing recommendations subjects
4.3.2 Interview Results: Pedagogical Methods
First of all, what is obvious is the fact that in the mind of managers, an equilibrium between theory
and practice is needed. Models and frameworks are useful to understand the world. Globally,
managers insisted mainly on the practical dimension needed in an MBA. Second, students should be
confronted with real situations and be provided testimonies from diverse managers . Tangible
examples are necessary, not only about successes but also about failures. Third, using best practices
is mentioned as a good way to teach.
Besides that, students should learn in a practical way, that is to say mainly through case-studies
(including cross-cultural case-study). The managers interviewed use the meaning of case study in two
different ways. First, a case study is a written document in the Harvard Business School style, which
proposes students to analyse a situation and provide recommendations. According to the second
meaning, it is much more interactive: a manager presents to the students a situation he/she went
through and makes them analyse and provide recommendations. Another idea is to propose games
and simulations. Last but not least, the need to learn through internships is highlighted as something
essential.
Next, the aspect that is very much underlined by the majority of managers was the need to do
project works in teams.

CONSULTANCY REPORT


47

Consultancy report. what companies want

Consultancy report. what companies want

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (19)

En vedette

En vedette (9)

Similaire à Consultancy report. what companies want

Similaire à Consultancy report. what companies want (20)

Plus de MARCELLO GAGLIARDI

Plus de MARCELLO GAGLIARDI (6)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Consultancy report. what companies want