"This article examines the relationship between career system and ability development
of candidates for next generation business managers. Two research questions
are set, and they are as follows; 1) Are there abilities unique to business managers
those are irrelevant to any specific function and those are not expected by
Intellectual Skills Theory? If they are, then their contents and development process
should be identified. 2) Do the candidates pursue their specialists' careers with wide
ranging careers or develop their generalists' one through multi-functional jobs experiences
among which there is no complementarity, or both of the two exist? An interview
research on the relationship between the learning contents through the 22
candidates' careers in a large electronic component company and opportunities to
learn is conducted for the purpose of finding the answers to the two research questions.
The results are as follows; The 129 learning contents are found and almost two
thirds of the contents are abilities irrelevant to a specific function such as managerial
one in spite of their wide range careers within one or two functions. Identified managerial
abilities are for coordinating with other departments, understanding situations
of entirety of their firm, judging based on their firm's strength and weakness, and
bearing trust from other employees and networks within their firm. The process of
mastering management abilities identified in this research is analogical learning based
on comparison that is triggered by difference recognition to their work triggered by
a personnel move. And this process is not expected by Intellectual Skills Theory.
Then the concurrent learning hypothesis is proposed that recognition of difference
triggers by a personnel move encourages two types of learning. One of those is
cause-effect learning that develops uncertainty processing ability unique to a specific
job which is supposed by Intellectual Skills Theory, and the other is analogical learning
based on comparison between the two jobs that a personnel move brings in that
is not relevant to any specific function."
