Smaller business is outperforming larger organisations in key aspects of management capability, a new report has revealed.
The Australian Management Capability Index (AMCI), released by the Australian Institute of Management, shows that companies with 25 employees or less have outscored organisations with over 500 staff.
“The AMCI shows how Australian managers perform in ten areas that impact on performance and profit,” says Bryan Nye, incoming AIM national president.
The average score of smaller companies was 72.2, compared to 66.1 for bigger companies, with the smaller companies rating better in nine out of ten categories.
The ACMI measures management capability in areas such as performance leadership, applying technology, and building external relationships.
Other areas examined include being innovative with products and services, and applying technology and knowledge, areas in which small business rated above the national averages.
Nye says the Index allows managers to benchmark and then track their performance, helping them to identify areas they need to work on, and will also allow people to see how managers in the Asia-Pacific region perform.
“The AMCI is incredibly important in a regional perspective because today Australia is just part of a wider region, particularly in Asia,” Nye says.
“One thing that we know is that if we’re going to continue and prosper in our region, we’ve got to look and compare ourselves to those markets that we’re operating in, India, China, throughout Asia, we are part of the global community and we need to stack up our management capability against those.”
The Index, based on a leader’s self-assessment of ten key aspects of management capability, was completed by 461 CEOs and senior executives in November.
Managers in India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore also participated in the survey, with India rating up to nine points higher than the rest.
Australian managers, achieving a score of 70.3, assessed their organisations as being most capable in the areas of integrity and corporate governance and financial management, and least capable in terms of organization capability and people leadership.
