ARTICLE IN PRESS

Hospitality Management 22 (2003) 281–295

Competency needs among managers from Spanish hotels and restaurants and their training demands$
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S. Aguta,*, R. Graub, J.M. Peiroc a Department of Psychology, University of Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo Ed, Luis Vives,
30100 Espinardo (Murcia), Spain b Department of Psychology, Jaume I University, Campus de la Ctra. Borriol,
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12080 Castellon de la Plana, Spain c " ˜ez
Department of Psychology, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Iban 21, 46021 Valencia, Spain

Abstract
This study aims to: (1) identify managerial competency needs in the Spanish hospitality industry, (2) to differentiate present and future training demands requested by managers, and
(3) to identify the relationship between managerial competency needs and training demands.
The sample was made up of 80 Spanish hotel and restaurant managers.
Results show technical managerial competency needs mainly in computing, languages, and economic–financial management. Generic managerial competency needs appear mostly in job performance efficacy and self-control and social relationships. All training demands refer to technical issues, while none refer to generic managerial competencies. Moreover, these competency needs do not lead managers to demand training in order to meet them.
Implications and limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Competency needs; Training; Managers; Hospitality industry

1. Introduction
The hospitality industry will have to face up to both present and future competition resulting from globalisation, technological, and market changes in order to remain competitive. To achieve this, organisations make changes to their
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This research was supported by a grant from Region Government (GV-3268/95)
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-968-36-77-17; fax: +34-968-36-41-15.
E-mail addresses: sagut@um.es (S. Agut), rgrau@psi.uji.es (R. Grau),
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Jose.M.Peiro@uv.es (J.M. Peiro).
0278-4319/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0278-4319(03)00045-8 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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S. Agut et al. / Hospitality Management 22 (2003) 281–295

structures, strategies, work systems, and management. Furthermore, increasing customer demand for care in quality of service is highlighting the critical role played by managerial competences in promoting quality performance from contact employees, thereby leading to customer satisfaction (Bitner et al., 1990; MartinezTur et al., 2001; Shemwell et al., 1998). All these challenges are even more critical for countries, such as Spain, with leading positions in the international tourism sector.
Coping with these transformations requires managers—key figures in any organisation—to possess the appropriate competences to deal with them (Hotels Association of Spanish Tourist Areas, 1997). Thus, identifying this set of competences is a critical task for researchers and practitioners, although up to now, it has received limited attention. The aim of the present study is to contribute to competency1 needs analysis in hotel and restaurant managers and to identify the areas in which managers recognise that they require training in order to develop the competencies considered. 1.1. Managerial competency needs
Managing an organisation involves adaptive responses both to the job tasks and the changing environment. To cope with these demands, the traditional management framework, mainly based on knowledge and skills, is insufficient. For this reason, the wider concept of managerial competences has been recently introduced
(Kanungo and Misra, 1992; Lawler, 1994), which identifies two interrelated sets of managerial competences: technical and generic (Boyatzis, 1982; De Ansorena, 1996;
Levy-Leboyer, 1997). Technical managerial competence consists of having the knowledge and skills that enable