AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE ROLES AND SKILL NEEDS OF DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS: THE APPLICATION OF MINTZBERG'S CONCEPTS OF MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOR TO SELECTED INDONESIAN PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGERS

Current development administration theory stresses action-oriented public management in national development. Indonesia's Fourth Five-Year Plan (1984-1989) reflects this emphasis, calling for accelerated efforts to improve managerial capabilities for development through management training and research, utilizing development experiences and indigenous resources. Examination of managers' work activities is a prerequisite to devising training to produce action-oriented managerial capabilities. Mintzberg's ten-role theory is a tool for such scrutiny. The literature on work activity demonstrates its applicability in various American organizational settings. With this conceptual framework and a modified Delphi method, this study explored the role requirements and skill needs of 100 middle-level development managers in the Indonesian public service. Just over half the respondents reported planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reviewing, data processing, and "other" assignments in their job descriptions. Only 12 percent were able to estimate time spent in function performance. Activities cited corresponded to Mintzberg's ten roles: figurehead, leader, liaison, monitor, disseminator, spokesman, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator. Two additional roles were identified: technical expert and manager of the sociocultural environment. A need for skill development was expressed, particularly in entrepreneurship, leadership, and management of the environment. Formal and on-the-job training were rated high in importance; coaching by the boss, adjustment to local traditions, and self-teaching were less frequently cited. Indigenous culture traits were recognized as both supporting and inhibiting development. Approximately one-third of the respondents remarked on the facilitating aspects of knowledge of local customs and of working through formal and informal local leaders. The findings support recommendations for the following actions: (1) Follow-up studies of roles and skill requirements of Indonesian development managers, particularly in departments with high-priority development programs. (2) Simultaneous establishment of the infrastructure for ongoing research and its applications and validation in training, including research-based review and revision of job descriptions and skill specifications, and of curricula and learning methods. (3) Focus on application of research findings in training. (4) Application of the ongoing findings to national development management resource planning and utilization.