Workers into Managers - Developing Leadership Competence of Production Unit Managers

Abstract

Die Discussion Papers dienen einer möglichst schnellen Verbreitung von neueren Forschungsarbeiten des ZEW. Die Beiträge liegen in alleiniger Verantwortung der Autoren und stellen nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des ZEW dar.Discussion Papers are intended to make results of ZEW research promptly available to other economists in order to encourage discussion and suggestions for revisions. The authors are solely responsible for the contents which do not necessarily represent the opinion of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0513.pdf Non-technical summaryA key position in high performance work organizations is the production unit manager. His or her performance has an immediate impact on the bottom line of the organization and on the employees who actually produce the goods and services. The production unit manager has traditionally fulfilled the role of a technical expert who received orders from upper management and passed these orders on to shop-floor personnel. In self-managed production units, this position receives considerably m ore responsibilities and broader spans of control: Production supervisors are responsible for discrete areas on the shop floor. Here, they are accountable for quality, output levels, planning, controlling, cost efficiency, and improving production processes. In addition, many responsibilities are transferred from specialist departments to the production line and become part of the supervisor's job. Therefore, the supervisor's role in a selfmanaged teamwork structure is more managerial, shifting from traditional supervision and control to greater emphasis on coaching and facilitation.The new role demands a higher level of competence from production supervisors, especially in the areas of interpersonal and leadership skills. Few studies have examined the new situation of first-line managers in high performance work organizations. This present study sheds light on the supervisors' situation in autonomous production units. It identifies typical areas of competence problems and their relevance to outcomes such as acceptance as a manager by subordinates and superiors, quality of the interaction with subordinates and superiors, and job satisfaction. In addition, it examines how far the identification with the managerial role and the awareness of expectations towards their position are determinants of those outcome variables. Finally, this present study analyses the impact of a leadership development programme for first-line managers on leadership competence, leadership identity, and the outcome variables.Results indicate that the managers have difficulties with their new leadershiprelated tasks. Higher levels of leadership competence were found to be associated with better acceptance as a manager by superiors, but not by subordinates, better interaction with both subordinates and superiors, and with higher job satisfaction. Identification with the managerial role and the awareness of expectations were also shown to be relevant ...