Managerial skills for industrial managers in the State of Kuwait

In Kuwait the Government, represented in its various authorities, has started to import theories and practices from western countries, particularly the United States. [ncluded in these imports, are managerial skills models. From this perspective, the main argument tor this research was whether managerial skills are generic in nature or not. [n other word, the universality and the situational hypothesis were investigated within the context of managerial skills. Furthermore, it aimed at understanding. the components of managerial skills for the industrial manager, through developing a model. This moud consists of three stages. The first stage aimed at measuring the role of demographic variables, national culture, organizational culture, and organizational variables, in determining the required managerial skills for the industrial manager. The second stage aimed to determine the most important factors that lead to acquiring managerial skills. The third stage of the model, aimed at determining the relationship of managerial skills with organizational effectiveness, . and the relationship of independent variables (national culture, organizational culture, and organizational variables) with organizational effectiveness. The sample of the study, represented the industrial companies working in Kuwait, where a questionnaire was distributed to 318 managers from 56 industrial companies (governmental, private, and joint venture), and those managers represent various management levels. The results suggest that managerial skills are not absolutely universal, but there is tendency to universality. The first stage of the model, suggested that the effect of the independent variables is minor. However, organizational culture showed the highest effect, compared with the other variables. For the second stage of the model, it was found that the main four elements that lead to acquiring managerial skills are good quality education, experience acquired through work, the values and ethics of work, and finally, learning from a mentor. Three of these factors are usually acquired before managers are appointed to their positions. In the third stage of the model, it was found that the most important variable which impacts on effectiveness is organizational culture, while the other variables, including managerial skills, have shown a minimal effect. Nevertheless, these variables, combined, have had an affect on effectiveness by a value ofone third. Finally, specific recommendations have been introduced for policy makers and managers to benefit from this study. Furthermore, suggestions are made for future studies.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo