Cross-national comparisons on business management processes and managerial skill practices

The present study was conducted to explore managerial skills required formanagers working for the corporations in Japan, China and Taiwan. For thepurpose of comparing differences in the pattern of managerial skill practices, Chinese managers in state-owned (n=276) and joint venture (n=186) corporations, Japanese managers in Japanese corporations (n=377) and Taiwanesemanagers in Taiwanese corporations (n=139) were asked to respond the Managerial Skill Questionnaires (total N=978). The MSQ using the 22 skillitems asked managers to report how frequently they practice each skill based ona 5-point scale, and choose the five most important skills needed for them toimprove their managerial job performance in their organizations.Results of the comparative analyses indicated that both Chinese and Taiwanese managers were found practicing Human Management and Teamworkskills more frequently, while Japanese managers practicing Business Innovation skills relatively more than others. The analysis of critical skills forimproving managerial performance indicated that Japanese managers identifystrategic, problem identification and decision making skills to be most critical, while Chinese and Taiwanese managers do people-oriented and teamwork skillsmost critical for improving their job performance. These findings wereinterpreted based on differences in managing the cycle of business processes, culture, and the nature of market pressures in each country.