Future Managerial Competencies Required for the Manufacturing Sector in South Africa

The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and resulting technological advancements on the manufacturing environment requires new competencies from managers. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of managers concerning essential managerial competencies for future success in the manufacturing sector in South Africa. Studies on future managerial competencies are currently under-represented and served as motivation for this study. An exploratory qualitative research approach was followed and an interpretivist paradigm was employed. A qualitative descriptive empirical research design was used. The research sample comprised 20 managers from a variety of manufacturing organisations. Purposive sampling was used, and online semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. Conventional qualitative content analysis was employed to analyse the data. The participants indicated that cognitive, general managerial, intrapersonal, macroeconomic, mesi-economic, organisational-focused and social skills will be critical managerial competencies for future success in the manufacturing sector. Limitations of the current study were reported and recommendations for future research were made. The findings of this study can inform talent acquisition, development and retention in the manufacturing sector of South Africa. In this study, we highlight the importance of social skills for managers such as people management, employee empowerment and interpersonal skills. Our study adds to the body of literature by highlighting the essential managerial competency of adaptability in the manufacturing sector. Managers should have the ability to adapt to change if they wish to be successful in the South African manufacturing sector. Another significant contribution was to qualitatively explore critical managerial competencies for the 4IR in this sector, from the perspective of those managers who already function in these roles.