Page 1 of 11

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 04 Issue 05

March 2018

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 8

Managerial Skill Gap in Various Sectors and

Industries – A Review on Existing Studies

Dr.K.PONGIANNAN

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, GOVERNMENT ARTS AND

SCIENCE COLLEGE, SATHYAMANGALAM

MAIL ID: mkpongiannan@gmail.com

T.KIRUTHIGA

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, ST.JOSEPH’S COLLEGE OR

WOMEN, TIRUPUR.

MAIL ID: tkiruthiga@yahoo.com

Introduction

A skill gap is a gap between what

employers want or need their employees to

be able to do, and what those employees can

actually do when they walk into work.

According to MIT technology review

August 2017, “two recent developments

have heightened debate over the idea of a

“skills gap”: an unemployment rate below 5

percent, and the growing fear that

automation will render less-skilled workers

permanently unemployable”.

Skills shortages are said to exist

where there is a lack of adequately skilled

and/or qualified individuals available in the

accessible labour market. Recruitment

difficulties can be symptomatic of skills

shortages, but they may also reflect or be

compounded by, uncompetitive working

conditions or ineffective recruitment

practices.

Scholars define managerial skills as

specialized technical knowledge in certain

jobs that managers should possess to

perform their duties and roles. Managerial

skills are a set of behaviors that lead to

effective job performance and without them

in many cases the knowledge of manager's

does not have any effects. This paper provides

an overview of previous research on knowledge

sharing and intranets about the managerial skill

gap.

Kerr et al. (1973)1 optimistically

anticipated that technological development

would lead to more complex types of work

task and therefore rising levels of skills and

responsibility. The study focused on the

Skill sets in the service sector. Since much

of the initial debate on skill development

and utilization focused upon the impact of

technology and on the manufacturing sector.

In this study the researchers re-looks at the

technique of scripting customer service

interactions as a means to improve quality of

customer interaction.

Beach (1982)2

indicates that 87% of

persons losing their jobs or failing to be

promoted were found to have “improper

work habits and attitudes” rather than

insufficient job skills or knowledge. It also

revealed industry’s need to hire and keep

employees who are competent in technical

skills and soft skills and passes the

responsibility of soft-skill training to the

colleges. The special focus needs to be given

to reinforcing the value of being able to

refine their soft skills.

Benson (1986)3

in the context of US

department stores, highlights the centrality

of social interaction and skills of persuasion.

He argues that “you persuade customers to

buy by introducing the products well, to

persuade them to buy you must explain very

well, when they hear that what you say is

Page 2 of 11

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 04 Issue 05

March 2018

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 9

reasonable they will buy”. Researcher adds,

at times, customers were portrayed as blank

sheets or empty vessels, ready and willing to

be led by sales staff provided that they

possessed the requisite skill.

Ross & Ruhleder (1993)4

suggest

the Information Science curriculum should

concentrate on developing technical &

business skills, working in a collaborative

setting, instilling sensitivity to social and

organizational impacts and to inculcate the

ability to self-learn in a rapidly changing

technological environment. It has been

asserted that technical skills are not the total

answer in preparing Information Science

professional. It is observed that many

system shortcomings arise from the fact that

they do not address business objectives and

neither are they sensitive to user needs or

concerns. Further, they suggest, programs

aimed at developing Information Science

professionals of the future must cover a

wide range of skills and assist to integrate

these skills in complex environments.

Calitz, Watson, & deKock (1997)5

endeavoured to find predictors to success in

matriculating high school students. They

identified several new performance and

psychometric criteria useful in selecting IT

students. In addition they identified non- technical skills that are important for success

in a business environment including

business knowledge, social skills and

communication skills as important criteria.

They particularly noted the importance of

English language, and especially technical

English. In addition, they also observed that

while the investigative personality type of

individuals succeeds in the IT industry, the

social personality type is also becoming

increasingly important.

Kakabadse & Korac-Kakabadse

(2000)6

highlight the changing role of the

Information Science/IT professional and

identify the skills and competencies required

for development in the early twenty-first

century.

Nickson et al. (2001)7

in his study

“managing empowered workers and the

service encounter in an international hotel

chain‟ use the term” aesthetic labour‟ to

describe the employee with good

interpersonal and social skills. He

emphasised the importance of such workers

in the productivity of an organisation.

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers

Association (PHMA) (2001)8

PHMA has

its central office in Karachi and regional

offices in Faisalabad, Lahore and Sialkot.

[http://www.phmaonline.com/home.asp].

Hosiery and knitwear sector has 3,500 large,

medium and small units, of which 85% are

small, 10% medium and only 5% large. The

sector is employer of 700,000 people.

Katz (2002)9

study aimed to analyse

the skills of an effective administrator. The

study defined managerial skills as the

manager's ability to transform information

and knowledge in to practice.

Bawa (2002)10study aimed to

analyse system approach to sustainable

development of apparel industry. The study

found that 56% apparel manufacturing units

train their work force as they understood

that like all other resources, human

resources needs to be properly managed,

developed and motivated through training

before it can be put to effective use. He

remaining 44% of the units did not provide

training to their work force because either

they considered training to be unnecessary

and expensive or even if they realized the

benefits of training, they found it to be an

expensive proposition.

Johanna et al., (2002)11 have done a

research among garment industry in

Chennai and the study found that low

wages, long working hours, oppressive facts,

socio-economic conditions are primarily the

Page 3 of 11

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 04 Issue 05

March 2018

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 10

reason for low labour productivity level for

the industry.

Mason and Wagner (2002)12 a

study comparing the automotive sector in

different countries reported that while the

UK had made gains in reducing inventory

cost and reject rates compared to other

countries since this sector focus on people

with higher skill sets. From their matched

firm studies they suggest that most of the

productivity gap between the UK and its

competitors can be attributed to differences

in investment in physical capital and skills.

It is estimated that as much as one fifth of

the productivity gap with Germany is the

result of the UK’s relatively poorly qualified

workforce.

Chaturvedi (2003)13 study aimed to

assess competitiveness level of Textile

sector in India. The study revealed that the

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles,

Government of India identifies key reasons

leading to fall in productivity level are

India’s eroding cost competitiveness across

products, extremely fragmented nature of

the industry, technological obsolescence. He

also asserts that since textiles, especially

garments is a labour intensive activity there

is a crying need to reform labour laws for

achieving high productivity and to improve

tight delivery schedules.

NPO, (2003)14 research paper found

that all the reasons are manageable. Some of

the reasons can be managed through proper

education and training of employers and

employees, while other can be managed

through bringing improvement in the

backward linkages in the CVC. Evidence of

manageability of these issues is available.

Out of 250 textile companies listed with the

Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), 25 textile

companies have been good performers

owing to the reasons like efficient use of

resources (raw material etc.), finance and

human resource management practices, use

of Total Quality Management (TQM) for

superior quality products, effective

marketing strategies, and continuous

modernization and up gradation of

production facilities.

Hoffman (2003)15 survey among

Information Technology (IT) professionals,

including management, technical staff, and

consultants, these skills desired by the

industry include “communication skills,

people skills, business skills, real-world

hands-on experience, troubleshooting,

project management, analytical skills, and

integration.” A mastery of technical and soft

skills is the trademark of a successful

computer-electronics technician. According

to this study, among the respondents of IT

professionals, 75 percent are of the opinion

that colleges and universities are not

adequately preparing students for the IT jobs

of the coming years. However, employers

were not complaining about the level of

technical skills possessed by entry-level job

applicants.

Mason and Wilson (2003)16 found

that an additional year of skill based

education among the workforce of firms in

the manufacturing and service industries in

the UK increased each firm’s productivity.

A clear connection between higher skills and

higher productivity was identified,

particularly at the intermediate level of

skills.

Nordas, (2004)17 this study found

that the Pakistani textile products lack

exposure to diversified markets. Currently,

exports concentrate on few markets. For

Pakistani products, USA is the biggest

market. In 2005-06, Pakistan exported US$

4.19 billion worth of products to USA alone,

of which cotton and textile products

accounted for 88 percent. Share of Pakistan

in the US market of textile rose from 3

percent in 1995 to 5 percent in 2002 while