Wisdom and Knowledge

Wisdom is defined by the Oxford South African Dictionary (2010:357) as the faculty of making the best use of knowledge, experience, and understanding by exercising good

(evaluation) of increasing an individual’s cognitive skill, it is further than the previous levels by having the ability to make mindful value judgements based on clearly distinct norms (Bierly, Kessler & Christensen, 2000:601). Wisdom is applied in the organisational context during the planning, decision making and execution (or action) stages hence wisdom is considered action-oriented (Sternberg, 2003:49). For that reason, wisdom can also be viewed as the ability to utilize knowledge optimally for setting and accomplishing desired goals and understanding wisdom as the process of making judgments and actions based on knowledge (Malan & Kriger, 1998:242).

Wisdom can also be considered as expert knowledge in the “fundamental pragmatics of life that permits exceptional insight, judgment, and advice about complex and uncertain matters” (Pasupathi, Staudinger & Baltes, and 2001:351) and “... as an expertise in the conduct and meaning of life” (Baltes & Staudinger, 2000:124). The fundamental pragmatics of life refers to questions about life preparation, life management (day to day living) and life assessment (Baltes & Smith, 1990; Baltes, Staudinger, Maercker & Smith, 1995; Dittmann-Kohli & Baltes, 1990; Smith, Staudinger & Baltes, 1994). In order to come up with solutions about the questions about the pragmatics of life, knowledge that is expressive and practical, resourceful, distinguished, incorporated and well organised is vital (Dittmann-Kohli & Baltes, 1990:57).

As recalled by Sternberg (2003:112-138) Aristotle pioneered the difference between theoretical wisdom and practical wisdom. Theoretical wisdom is associated with the uppermost forms of rationality including those presented by the inquisitive systems of high abstraction and logic, while practical wisdom is associated with “the capacity for sound judgement in matters of conduct.”

The definition of knowledge has been addressed in Section 2.4.1 of this chapter. Knowledge encompasses both knowing how, which is generally more tacit knowledge, and knowing

about, which is more explicit knowledge (Grant, 1996:117). Increasing one’s knowledge

represents Bloom's (1956) ``level 4'' (analysis) and ``level 5'' (synthesis) of increasing one's cognitive skill because it goes further than previous levels by understanding the content and structural form of something and formulating new structures based on it (Bierly et al. 2000:608). For example, gaining knowledge is being able to recognize the opportunities and threats in an industry and formulate strategies based on these for competitive strategy (Bierly

et al. 2000:608). As a result, knowledge can be defined as a lucid understanding of

information and the linked patterns and understanding knowledge (our third level of learning) as the process of analysis and amalgamation of information (Bierly et al. 2000:608).

The relevance of this section is not only to highlight the effect of global and environmental changes in transforming the way organisations create value and conduct business, but also to emphasise the point that future managers would need knowledge and wisdom in order to deal with future social, economic, technological and political problems. Knowledge and wisdom are the highest levels of cognitive skill as stressed above by Bloom (1956). HEIs should be pioneering curricula to emphasize the importance of knowledge and wisdom in dealing with future and social problems of managers. Knowledge and wisdom are represented by the ability to apply knowledge to new situations, creative thinking and initiatives, intellectual flexibility and adaptability and social skills and sociability as shown in Table 2.7.

As mentioned previously, for the research in question, management competencies are viewed as a combination of knowledge derived from the body of management knowledge presented in core courses, as well as the skills and traits developed through these courses. The development of appropriate management skills and traits include the acquisition of meta- competencies. As with the body of management knowledge, management skills are important in developing successful managers. One of the research questions posed in Section 1.5 of Chapter One pertains to “which management skills and traits are required for successful job performance in the workplace?” In order to answer this question, management skills and traits were identified and included from seminal research by Louw (1999) and the secondary literature review on skills and traits as discussed in this section. These skills and traits have been categorised and classified according to relevant literature as illustrated in Table 2.7 below.

TABLE 2.7: Classification of management skills and traits

CLASSIFICATION CRITERION SKILLS AND TRAITS

Technical and administrative skills • Computer Literacy • Controlling skills

• Enquiry and research skills • Planning and organising skills • Time management

Interpersonal and communication • Ability to collaborate across cultures • Ability to delegate

• Conflict management • Developing others • Diversity management

• Impact and influence on others • Interpersonal (networking skills) • Leadership

• Motivating skills • Negotiating skills

• Oral presentations and use of visual aids • Organisational awareness

• Teamwork and collaboration Conceptual, diagnostic and critical

thinking (decision making skills)

• Ability to convey a strong sense of vision • Ability to follow and construct logical

argument

• Analytical thinking and problem solving • Conceptual thinking (big picture)

• Decision making skills • Entrepreneurial skills • Holistic (systems) thinking • Pro-activity

• Sensitivity to business environment Cognitive intelligence and mental ability • Ability and willingness to learn

• Interest and studiousness

• Self confidence and decisiveness Emotional intelligence • Ability to act independently

• Accountability

• Business ethics and integrity

• Driving force, motivation and resilience • Emotional stability and self control • Empathy

• Stress management • Trustworthiness

Knowledge and wisdom • Ability to apply knowledge to new situations

• Creative thinking and initiatives • Intellectual flexibility and adaptability • Social skills and sociability