Development of managerial competencies in multinational corporations based on Motorola CGISS

Abstract

During the last years, growing interest in international business has been observed. Companies have been extending their operation, what partly brings employees’ development into the picture. My latest job experience in a multinational corporation was an inspiration for me to focus, more than before, on issues regarding international business and possibilities of managers’ development in this area. I decided to fulfil my curiosity about competences required in multinational corporations and possibilities of competencies development. The main objective of this thesis is: “The description of recent trends in managerial competences creation and diagnose of main steps in these competences development process”. I have stated a following hypothesis: “Managerial competence development is one of the key issues of personnel policy in multinational corporations“. In depth literature study, from the field of international business and international human resource management and face to face interview with Human Resource Development manager in Motorola CGISS EMEA are the sources to meet the main objective and verify the hypothesis. The thesis contains of four main chapters. First two chapters give more theoretical and second two, more practical point of view. To understand needs and circumstances of competences creation and development, first chapter characterises managers’ environment in multinational corporations. It is an in depth dive into international business, its objectives, means of engagement and external influences. To show validity of the subject, first chapter shows also the reasons for recent international business growth, differentiation of multinational corporations and typology of managers. International corporations have to face many challenges starting from operating in turbulent markets, technology management and organization’s structuring. The chapter treats as well about international marketing, logistics and managing multinational workforce, as challenges, showing it from the managerial point of view. Second chapter gives a background for competence development such as globalization impact, preparation to work in international environment with an example of pre-departure training program. It also defines competencies, their clusters and models and presents relevant theories such as: adult experiential education, motivation acquisition, social learning and self-directed change. It presents examples of competence development methods, which range from Development Centre, Self-Development Resources Guides, Computer and Interactive Video-Assisted Training, Mentoring Leadership to Organizational Structure, Process and Culture Interventions. “Big Five” personality traits, discussed in this chapter, cover an issue of how some elements of competencies, such as traits, attitudes and motives, differentiate across cultures and countries. Third chapter brings closer Motorola and its Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector (CGISS), as an example of international corporation. It gives a clear view on Motorola’s Leadership Standards “4 E’s +E” which impact competence creation and development processes. Fourth chapter is a kind of case study on current situation in competence development issues in one of Motorola CGISS departments. It describes Skill Matrix which is a competence analysis’s tool used for many years. It also, in detail, presents use of competence development’s results, with many interesting templates not published before. Findings from the interview helped to capture trends in development processes and verify the hypothesis.