ZEW Discussion Papers
Workers into Managers – Developing Leadership Competence of Production Unit Managers
Zwick, Thomas and Christoph Rappe (2005), Workers into Managers – Developing Leadership Competence of Production Unit Managers, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 05-13, Mannheim. Download
This study analyses the competence gaps of lower-level managers in a typical manufacturing plant in Germany that had recently introduced a teamwork structure.
Results indicate that the managers have difficulties with their new leadership-related tasks.
Higher levels of leadership competence are 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.
Finally, a quasi-experiment shows that a combination of
workshops and individual coaching had measurable effects on leadership competencies and partly improved identification with the managerial role.
In terms of methodology, a new format of self-assessments is suggested for a more valid measurement of competencies.
Keywords: Leadership skills, first line managers, training, experiment
