This article contends that supervisors and managers have been conceptually deskilled, and also extends traditional definitions of skill by adding and developing the concept of social skill. Definitions of social skill are formulated by the administrative and social sciences, often in response to the problems faced by organizational leaders, and usually based upon assumptions concerning the human nature of workers. Thus one facet of the work that managers do—the management process—is shaped by the reigning contemporary managerial ideologies embraced by organizational leaders.
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