Aligning managers with strategies: Management development versus selection

Abstract

Several articles have recently been published stressing the importance of matching managerial talent with organizational strategy. These have generally relied on selection to ‘fit’ the manager to the strategy. This paper proposes the use of management development as an alternate means of achieving manager—strategy alignment. Management development is defined, its role in strategy implementation is discussed, and its benefits and costs are identified. These are contrasted with the costs, benefits and strategic role of selection. It is suggested that choice of alignment method (i.e. management development versus selection) is contingent upon particular strategic, structural, and cultural factors. These contingency relationships are presented as a series of research propositions.