Managerial competencies are a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that managers need to function effectively. Strategic action competency is the manager's ability to grasp the overall strategy of the company and make sure employees efforts are in line with the strategy. Strategic action competency requires a visionary leadership to bring together industry knowledge, organizational skills and strategic action aptitude. Small business managers with strategic action competency can steer their companies through hurdles and help them grow.

Visionary Leadership

Visionary leadership and strategic leadership are complementary processes. Visionary leadership is the commitment to a long-term distant dream that can fundamentally change the current state of the organization for the better. In contrast, strategic leadership focuses on the short-term actions necessary to attain the long-term vision. Visionary leadership creates a common vision in the organization that involves employees in the transformation process. This improves employee commitment and reduces uncertainty and resistance to change.

Industry Knowledge

Competing in today's dynamic markets requires anticipating and responding to a range of strategic variables. Small businesses have limited slack resources, and any strategic mismatch between decisions and external requirements can be disastrous. Several forces shape industry competition: rivalry from excising and new competitors, availability of alternative products and services, customer needs and suppliers. In addition, managers should factor into their decisions changing government regulations and technological advancements.

Organizational Skills

Successful managers have a clear understanding of the direction the company should take. Moreover, they know how to marshal the company's resources to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Human capital may be the most important differentiator of the company in the market. Competitors can imitate products and processes; however, employee talent that is the source of the ideas, remains in the firm. As a result, managers need to capitalize on the human capital of the company.

Strategic Actions

On a daily basis, managers take actions that are steps toward the long-term vision of the company. Given time and resource limits, they need to prioritize tasks. An action that seems workable for the short-term may harm the achievement of long-term organizational goals. The ability to foresee long-term implications of actions and develop operational goals cap the strategic action competency.