Experimental evaluation of executive skills in an EU country

Abstract

Corporate executives constitute the highest echelon of the managerial hierarchy, responsible for implementing the strategic plans and policies established by the board of directors on an operational basis. Often the inquiry about executive skills evolves around the search for managerial skills. Executive skills form a distinct category of skills; however, they are often conceived as a set of managerial skills. This article presents the results of an extended survey concerning executive skills based in empirical measurements among executives in Greece. International literature suggests a wide range of executive skills. Based on this, a list of 42 skills, divided into six categories, was created. This list was evaluated by 110 executives of the larger corporations in Greece. Using a structured assessment methodology, skills and categories were assessed and validated. Then, factor analysis was applied to these results and a set of 11 executive skills synthesized from this work. Findings are discussed and compared with those of other surveys, and topics for further research are set out.