HABILIDADES DIRECTIVAS EN LA GESTIÓN DE UNIVERSIDADES PÚBLICAS COMO EMPRESAS DEL CONOCIMIENTO

El propósito del presente estudio fue analizar desde una perspectiva teórica las habilidades directivas y la gestión del conocimiento en las Universidades Publicas como empresas del conocimiento, basándose en las teorías de Whetten y Cameron (1998) (2011), Bueno (2003), Larrea (2006), González (2006), siendo de tipo documental descriptivo, encontrándose que una de las herramientas tanto básicas como fundamentales de las cuales pueden valerse los directivos de diversas organizaciones, especialmente quienes gerencian en Universidades Públicas, son sin duda alguna las habilidades directivas como conjunto de atributos que les permitirán desempeñar sus funciones de manera tanto eficaz como eficiente en pro del logro de los objetivos institucionales y alcanzar así el éxito que hoy se ha convertido tan difícil de alcanzar debido a los vertiginosos cambios del entorno: tecnológicos, culturales, económicos y sociales. Asimismo, la gestión del conocimiento constituye un proceso que toda organización que desea mantenerse al ritmo de los cambios del entorno debe manejar óptimamente, donde su dinamismo y la conformación de equipos permite crear estrategias creativas planificadas, como coordinadas para generar, mantener e integrar su capital intelectual, favoreciendo el aprovechamiento del conocimiento en beneficio del bien colectivo, creando una cultura para el cambio y la innovación; pero para ello, para lograr una gestión exitosa, eficaz y eficiente, tanto la organización como entidad colectiva como el directivo como ser individual, deben internalizar el hecho de que se requieren un conjunto de habilidades directivas especificas desarrolladas y mejoradas cada día a través de la práctica, mediante la experiencia y la evaluación de los aspectos positivos encontrados en éstas

Palabras clave: gestión del conocimiento, habilidades directivas, universidades públicas.

The purpose of this study was to analyze from a theoretical perspective managerial skills and knowledge management in public universities as companies of knowledge, based on the theories of Whetten and Cameron (1998) (2011), Good (2003), Larrea (2006) González (2006), The study is descriptive documentary, and finds that one of the both basic and fundamental tools which are employed by the directors of various organizations, especially those that work in public universities, are undoubtedly managerial skills, as a set of attributes which will allow them to perform their duties in both an effective and efficient way for the achievement of corporate goals and thus accomplish the success that today has become so elusive due to the rapid changes in the environment: technological, cultural, economic and social. Similarly, knowledge management is a process that every organization that wishes to keep pace with the changing environment must be handled optimally, so that it´s dynamism and team conformation may create planned creative strategies, and be coordinated to generate, maintain and integrate their intellectual capital, favoring the use of knowledge to benefit the common good, creating a culture for change and innovation; to achieve successful, effective and efficient management, both the organization as a collective entity and the manager as an individual, must internalize the fact that a set of specific improved and developed managerial skills are required every day through practice, by means of experience and evaluation of the positive aspects found in them.

Keywords: knowledge, managerial skills, public universities.

Lo scopo di questo era quello di analizzare da un punto di vista teorico le capacità di gestione e di gestione della conoscenza nelle università pubbliche come società della conoscenza, sulla base delle teorie di Whetten e Cameron (1998) (2011), Buono (2003), Larrea (2006), González (2006), essendo documentario descrittiva, trovando che uno degli strumenti di base come fondamentali entrambi i quali possono spiccano i direttori delle varie organizzazioni, in particolare quelle in università pubbliche gestioni sono senza dubbio le competenze manageriali, come un insieme di attributi cui si intende consentire loro di svolgere le loro funzioni, sia efficace ed efficiente modo verso il raggiungimento degli obiettivi aziendali e, quindi, raggiungere il successo che oggi è diventato così sfuggente a causa del mutato contesto di rapida: tecnologico, culturale, economico e sociale. Inoltre, la gestione della conoscenza è un processo che ogni organizzazione che vuole tenere il passo con l'evoluzione del contesto deve essere gestita in modo ottimale, dove il suo dinamismo e le squadre che formano possono creare pianificato strategie creative come coordinato per creare, gestire e integrare il loro capitale intellettuale, favorendo l'uso della conoscenza a vantaggio del bene comune, la creazione di una cultura del cambiamento e dell'innovazione; ma questo, per una gestione di successo, efficace ed efficiente sia per l'organizzazione come entità collettiva, come il manager come un individuo, deve interiorizzare il fatto che una serie di specifiche competenze manageriali necessarie sviluppato e migliorato ogni giorno attraverso pratica, attraverso l'esperienza e la valutazione degli aspetti positivi riscontrati in questi.

Parole chiave: capacità di gestione, gestione della conoscenza, università pubbliche.

Modern society today is characterized by constant transformation of technology, economics, education and culture, where reality changes at unthinkable speed. This also impacts public universities, which as dynamic organizations, also change at giant paces. In the face of this reality, new approaches are required, related to the ways and manners of perceiving the teaching process but, above all, related to the managerial process, so that the fulfillment of different functions can be guaranteed and thus, the goals of the institution can be achieved.

These dynamics require coordinated and planned actions, considering in the last decades, according to Aristimuño and others (2010), that the need to adapt its processes is developed in the university so to shape new contexts and achieve its mission; in this manner, they are changing according to the requirement of society. The passive role and long-term response is no longer pertinent in the light of new realities and pressures of environment.

Therefore, global environment demands constant revision of administrative processes to conduct the organization in the correct direction and to achieve success. For this, Alles (2005) indicates that competent managers are required, with knowledge, skills and expertise, attitudes, personality traits and values that allow them to achieve a good professional performance. In the case of Public Universities, according to Aristimuño and others (2010) even with knowledge in the professional area and experience in teaching and research, the lack of these abilities difficult the articulation of the different university sub-systems in response to the demands of ambient.

Accoding to Matos and Caridad (2009, p. 2):

“Organizations are required to develop to maximum levels in its individuals, skills that allow them to achieve superior limits of work competence, so that they may determine their place in the corporation world. Educational institutions and particularly public universities cannot escape this reality; furthermore, because they are entities for training human talent, they should, in a superlative degree, be in the vanguard in this process.”

There of a group of abilities (personal, interpersonal and pertinent to the group) exists that should both be developed and applied by directors of Public Universities, but more than an obligated burden, they should be seen as tools that allow the management to perform their duties in an efficient and effective manner as the responsible level of the educational project of their organization, applying for this knowledge, technique and attitudes, but, above all, comprehending that abilities are identifiable groups of actions that are performed in order to obtain positive results.

In addition, it should be understood that the sole application of directive skills does not lead by itself, to the success of the Public University considered as an enterprise of knowledge, because it is also required to have management of knowledge based on a structured process that implicates identification, creation, selection, organization, storage, filtering, sharing and, of course, applying the knowledge.

Likewise, this process should address the analysis, denomination and transference of expertise between the members of the organization, for the purpose of creating a value that can be reflected in the elements as intangible assets, organizational learning and, above all, the human, intellectual and relational capital, because management of knowledge is a work philosophy where, clearly the directorate has a crucial role.

This administration may be associated with organized, planned and continuous management of both processes and activities that potentiate knowledge and thus augments the competiveness of the organization, through creation and better use of the set of experiences, wisdom, values, information, perceptions and ideas that create the certain mental structure needed to so evaluate and incorporate new information, both in the individual and the collective. Hence, the present study analyzes from a theoretical perspective, the directive abilities and knowledge management in Public Universities considered as knowledge corporations.

The existing literature today in physical, digital or electronic means, both in management or administration areas, is full of list of attributes, behaviors, attitudes, orientation and strategies that lead to success in any field of action (educational, commercial, financial, business, among others), as can be observed en the following table:

Table1.
Diverse practices, abilities and attributes of the effective manager

Author	Theoretical-Practical Contribution to Directive Skills
Malone (1993)	His model DESCRIBED is based on essential aspects of directive practice, much of which may be considered today as skills: determination, personal esteem, strategic system (mission, vision, goals), communication, reciprocity, ideals, theoretical bases, enthusiasm and discipline, empathizing the importance of developing each and every one equally, in comprehensive manner.
Pfeffer (1998).	He identified seven fundamental practices associated with administrative and organizational effectiveness: affirm job security, selective recruitment of personnel, promote decentralization and team auto administration, institute higher levels of salary based on performance, extensive capacitation, reduce differences of status and share information.
Rigby (1998).	He centered on the 25 more popular tools and techniques of administration in a study of the association between the tools and techniques of administration and organizational performance.
Whetten and Cameron (1998).	They effected a study in 402 directives, identifying 60 basic characteristics, then grouping them into the 10 most frequently identified, divided into 3 groups: Personal Abilities (development of self-conscience; management of personal stress; analytical and creative problem solving), Interpersonal Abilities (direction, orientation and communication of support; achievement of power and influence; motivation of others; management of conflict) and Group Abilities (empowerment and delegation; team formation and effective teamwork; routing towards positive change). Likewise, they added a group of Specific Abilities of Communication with direct links to each of the above groups.
Quinn (2000).	He identified eight “seeds” for efficient administration and leadership:
	“visualization of the productive community”, “looking first at the inside”,
	“ embracing the hypocrite ego” “transcend fear ”, “personify a vision of common welfare”, “disturb the system”, “surrender to the emergent process” and “attract moral force”.
Brodbeck and others (2000).	They studied 6052 directives in 22 countries concentrating on the differences in administrative attributes and identifying attributes such as inspirational, self-scarifying, integral, diplomatic, malevolent, visionary, administrative, self-centered, status centered, autocratic, modest and autonomous.
Roman (2004).	Based on the theory of Whetten y Cameron (1998), this study re-grouped directive abilities into nine: urgent versus important; effective presentations; communication; stress control; leadership versus management; team versus group; tools for management of problems; creation and negotiation.
González (2006).	This study based the development of directive abilities on the phases of the management process (planning, organizing, directing and control), linking them negotiation abilities, leadership, communication and work motivation.
Puchol (2010).	This study reformulated Whetten and Cameron (1998) in a more didactic way also dwelling on interpersonal directive abilities.
Valls (2010).	Based on Whetten and Cameron´s (1998) theory, this study divided basic managerial abilities into 12 groups: decision making, strategy, time management, stress management, communication, negotiation, assertiveness, boss´s management, leadership, motivation, effectiveness and public presentations.

Source:compilation of the authors of the present study.(2015)

As can be observed in the preceding table, through time, diverse authors have identified which are the characteristics of the most effective directives, most of them have also elaborated very useful lists, but without identifying the managerial abilities themselves or, simply, as Roman (2004), Valls (2010) and Puchol (2010) did, reorganizing, regrouping or subdividing the ten abilities initially proposed by Whetten and Cameron in their “Developing management skills”, first published in 1998 and which are still current in scientific literature on the matter.

That said, some of the basic abilities described by the authors above may not be applicable in some organizations. In the educative environment, for example, it would be ethically unacceptable that the directors develop the interpersonal ability of obtaining power and influence. Nevertheless, the exception made of said ability (obtaining power and influence), of all the theoretical and practical contributions made about directive abilities, undoubtedly the one done by Whetten and Cameron (2011) will me more applicable in the management of Public Universities considered as knowledge enterprises, as will be argued shortly.

The above is because the majority of the theories shown in Table 1 enumerate organizational strategies, personality orientations or philosophical approaches of administration, where their implementation is not in the control of the individual manager or consist in a group of complicated activities in which a large amount of individuals participate, and the effectiveness of the attributes of this type of list depends on the directive´s ability for its implementation, and that means, at the same time, being competent in the fundamental directive abilities proposed by Whetten and Cameron (2011) under strong leadership together with negotiation abilities already developed, as indicated by Gonzalez (2006).

Based on years of research and personal observation of directives considered efficient, Whetten and Cameron (2011) have identified ten fundamental abilities of administration, organized into three categories, known today as directive abilities, which, depending on their universality in the organizational field and considering the conception of the Public University as an enterprise of knowledge, may be extrapolated to its management.

Based on years of research and personal observation of directives considered efficient, Whetten and Cameron (2011) have identified ten fundamental abilities of administration, organized into three categories, known today as directive abilities, which, depending on their universality in the organizational field and considering the conception of the Public University as an enterprise of knowledge, may be extrapolated to its management.

“Directive abilities form the vehicle by which the strategy and practice of administration, the tools and the techniques, the attributes of personality and style work to produce efficient results in organizations. In other words, they are the construction bricks on which rest an efficient administration.”

To this effect, directive abilities possess an attitudinal component; that is, they should not be the object of a mere theoretical discussion, but put into the practice of management, internalizing the personal changes implicated thereby.

These abilities are the following:

Figure1.
Directive abilities: typology and interaction

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015).

Therefore, directive abilities may be seen as tools that help leaders to exercise management in their institutions applying knowledge, techniques, attitudes, to so increase their efficiency and effectiveness as responsible of the educational project of their organization.

According to Whetten and Cameron (2011, p. 8) directive abilities “consist in identifiable groups of actions made by individuals and that conduce to certain results”, that possess the following characteristics:

Table 2.
Characteristics of directive abilities

Characteristic	Fundament
They are behavioral	They are not son attributes of personality or tendencies of style, because they consist of identifiable groups of actions that are made by individuals and conduce to certain results. The abilities may be observed by others, unlike attributes that are merely mental or personality fixed. While people with diverse styles and personalities may apply abilities in different ways, a central group of observable attributes exists in an effective performance of abilities, that is common to a variety of individual differences.
They are controllable	The performance of these behaviors are under control of the individual. Unlike organizational practices like “selective contracting” o cognitive activities like “transcending fear”, abilities can be demonstrated, practiced, improved or reduced consciously by individuals. Abilities may certainly implicate other people and require cognitive work, but they are behaviors that the person can control by themself.
They can be developed	Performance can be improved. Unlike intellectual quotient (IQ) or certain attributes of personality or temperament that remain relatively constant throughout lifetime, individuals may improve their competence in performance of abilities by practice and feedback. Individuals may progress from minor to major competence in directive abilities. This outcome is the primary objective.
They are interrelated and overlapping	It is difficult to demonstrate a single ability isolated from the others. Abilities are not simplistic or repetitive behaviors; they are an integrated group of complex responses. Efficient directives should depend on combinations of abilities in order to obtain the desired outcomes. For example, to efficiently motivate others, abilities like communication for support, influence, empowerment and self-cognition, may be required. Efficient directives develop a constellation of abilities that overlap and support each other and allow flexibility in management of diverse situations.
They are sometimes contradictory or paradoxical	Central directive abilities are not all of mild orientation and humanist, or all highly impulsive and controlling. They are not orientated exclusively to teamwork and interpersonal relations, or exclusively to individualism and entrepreneurial spirit. Typically more efficient directives possess a variety of abilities, some of them appearing to be incompatible.

Source: Whetten and Cameron (2011).

As may be observed in Table 2, directive abilities, being behavioral, controllable, developable, interrelated, overlapping and, in some cases, contradictory, are linked to success, both personal and organizational, since the benefits and/or applicability go beyond the individual toward the collective plane.

In this sense, Casado (2009, p. 71) states that directive abilities “are capacities of influence, communication, leadership, change promotion, solution of conflict, teamwork and establishing connections to achieve performance in others, with effectiveness”.

That said, in the context of Public Universities, both in the internalization and the development of said abilities will allow those who have specific functions of directorship there, to apply in their sphere of action, each and every one of those personal, interpersonal and group attributes that be required to achieve a novel, enriched and, therefore, efficient management, taking into consideration that the dramatic changes and dynamism of the labor, academic and professional world today, merit an integral compendium of abilities, competences and skills to deal with them in both an efficient and effective manner.

In the light of this idea, Harf and Azzerboni (2010) state that directive abilities promote behaviors in others since they target coherence and dynamism, guaranteeing the implementation of democratic and participative processes so to produce and establish organizational values and fulfill the vision and the context of the situation that presents, as a leader, boss or assessor.

But, unfortunately, even though in theory it looks easy, for Whetten and Cameron (2011) the development of highly competent directive abilities is more complicated than developing other types of abilities, like in a craft or profession. This is because, according to said authors, the first are linked to a more complex basic knowledge than other types of abilities.

Likewise, as may be observed in Figure 2, said development is cyclic, progressive and dynamic where, as aforesaid, the different abilities are interrelated and, in many cases, overlapping, and therefore the learning model of the said, proposed by Whetten and Cameron (2011) has almost universal applicability in any organization, regardless of size, type or activity, because they are intrinsic to the directive himself, who must evaluate his current knowledge and behavior, thus learn the best practices and why these work, analyze cases of success and failure, put the competences into practice, obtaining feedback and applying abilities in his work environment.

Figure 2.
Development of directive competences: learning model

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015)

That said, what directive abilities do have in common is their potential to improve through practice; therefore, it may be affirmed that their slow, planned and structured development through time, may conduce in the future to a managerial process by which teamwork, decision making, leadership and management of economic, material and human capital, may be maximized, among many other aspects.

Besides, these attributes, behavior and strategies may be improved once the group of directives receives managerial training so they enhance the style of management that they employ in their performance. In this regard, authors like Casado (2009) concur with Whetten and Cameron (2011) when they underscore the importance of developing and applying on the go the personal, interpersonal and group directive abilities, in a systematic and organized manner. It is worthwhile to go deeper into each one of them.

Figure 3.
Personal directive abilities

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015)

As can be seen in above figure, Whetten and Cameron (2011) state that in the group of personal directive abilities, three specific abilities can be identified: development of self-conscience, management of personal stress and the analytic and creative solution of problems; but, at the same time, they include the specific abilities in communication as a complement of the first three.

According to the quoted authors, in the first place, self-discovery is the key for improving and developing self-knowledge, which leads to the discovery of self-conscience, who’s most important areas are personal values, style of learning, orientation to change and interpersonal orientation.

The development of self-conscience, as a directive ability, thus is the full knowledge of the directive´s ego: what he values, how he feels about things, how he behaves with others, what he wants to achieve and what attracts him; everything is strongly influenced by his values, learning style, interpersonal orientation and to change, as stated by Whetten and Cameron (2011), the above being in the most important construction bricks around which rise other aspects of the internal ego.

The second directive ability observed in Figure 3 is the management of personal stress, which is related to the administration of time and the improvement of the relation stress-time. This is, according to the authors mentioned above, one of the most crucial but, at the same time, less attended abilities that a competent directive must possess; this is because the feelings of stress are the product of certain factors that can be found within and outside the individual.

Thus, the management of stress is conditioned by stressors, the reaction to them which occurs in two stages: alarm and resistance; each individual affronts these stressors in a different and unique way. In Whetten and Cameron´s (20011, p. 106) opinion, the management of stress is the capacity to “eliminate or minimize the factors that produce it by means of implementation strategies”, this creates or establishes a new environment for the individual that does not contain the stressors. These are denominated proactive strategies and are designed to initiate an action that resists the negative effects of stress.

Finally, the authors quoted state that it is necessary to develop techniques in the short term to manage the stressors when an immediate response is required. These are reactive strategies, applied as remedies in the moment to reduce the temporary effective of stress. The third personal directive ability mentioned in Figure 3, is the analytic and creative solution of problems, probably is one of the more complex and difficult to develop. According to Whetten and Cameron (2011, p. 160) this is due to: “The majority of individuals, including directives, do not particularly like problems, because they are time-consuming, create stress and never seem to go away. In fact, most of them try to get rid of them as soon as they can”.

In this regard, the above quoted authors indicate that the analytic solving of problems is the applying of a systematic and logic method, which involves at least four stages: definition of the problem, creation of alternatives, evaluation of alternatives and putting into practice of the solution. As may be seen, this method resembles the process of decision making, as has been proposed by Valls (2010).

Finally, with regard to specific abilities of communication, for Whetten and Cameron (2011) the most important barriers of effective communication in organizations are interpersonal; therefore, this needs special care by the directive because it is one of the most difficult abilities to develop, but above all, should be maintained at all times and circumstances, because if the basic principles of effective communication are practiced and executed consciously in daily interactions, they can become important tools for the improvement of the directive´s competence in communication.

Figure 4:
Interpersonal directive abilities

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015)

Now, as may be observed in the figure above, Whetten and Cameron (2011) group into the interpersonal directive abilities, the conduction, orientation and communication of support, the obtainment of power and influence, motivation of others and conflict management. The first consists of knowing how to direct, orient and communicate, in an efficient and effective manner, when support is required applying the fundamental bases of administration and management; therefore, their feasibility goes beyond the fulfilling of the assignments intrinsic to the directive job, since they must be moved towards the other members of the organization through competent abilities of communication.

The second, obtainment of power and influence, with regard to, according to the authors quoted, establishing a base of power in order to get the job don and obtain commitments to important objectives. But this base must be achieved over both controlled and legitimate power, because otherwise, it tends to increment resistance in the subordinates, which at the same time deteriorates the directive´s base of power.

Due to this, the applicability of this ability may not be universal, because in the case of educational organizations, for example, Public Universities, although legitimate and a positive influence power should be exerted by the directive; ethically this may generate conflicts, not by the power itself that is job-related but by what is designed to be achieved under the influence of power, because persuasion tends to forge trust and encourage internal commitment, on the other hand, coercion and intimidation erode trust, produce only superficial acceptance and foment subservience, as affirmed by Whetten and Cameron (2011).

The third ability, motivation of others, evidently is based on the second component of work performance: motivation. For the authors above quoted, even though it is important for directives to attend to training and support of the needs of the subordinates and to involve himself in an active way in the process of contracting and adjustment of the job position in order to insure an adequate attitude, the influence of his actions in the daily motivation of his subordinates is vital. Efficient directives allot sufficient time to animate and strengthen motivation of his subordinates, which reflects on his effort and interest.

The fourth ability described in Figure 4 is another component of work relations: The management of conflict. In regard to this, Whetten and Cameron (2011) indicate that interpersonal conflict is an essential part and is omnipresent in organizational life and, therefore, the directive ability for managing it is that which is composed of three fundamental skills: diagnosis of type of interpersonal conflict (identification of cause and origin), selection of appropriate method of conflict management (elements of selection) and the resolution of interpersonal confrontations by means of the method of collaboration.

Finally, as is indicated in Figure 5, the third assembly of fundamental directive abilities proposed by Whetten and Cameron (2011) corresponds with the group abilities: empowerment and delegation, team formation and efficient teamwork and conduction towards positive change.

Figure 5.
Directive group abilities

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015)

The first group ability proposed by Whetten and Cameron (2011) empowerment is based on a conjunct of suppositions that oppose those normally performed by directives: empowerment means giving freedom to people to perform successfully what they want, more than obligate them to do what the directive wants. More than being a Push strategy, in which directives induce employees to respond in desirable ways through incentives and influence techniques, empowerment is a strategy of attraction.

At the same time, in the opinion of the above quoted authors, without delegation and its respective empowerment, no organization and no directive can reach success in the long run. Delegation includes other people in the job activity and is an action inherent to all directive positions.the directive.

Regarding the second group ability, team formation and efficient teamwork, it is based on the strategic vision of the directive, with which he, knowing fully his subordinates abilities, can form dynamic teams that can reach efficiently and effectively, the objectives, assignments or goals that have been allocated to them, in pro of common benefit of the organization and its consequent success.

Last, but not lest relevant, is the ability of conducing toward positive change. This is, without doubt, one of the abilities that every directive from any sphere or organization must attend imperatively, considering each and every one, personal, as well as interpersonal and group abilities analyzed above, as each one of them contributes to generate this vision of positive change in the directive, this future visualization of the ideal organization, adaptable and in synchrony with changes of the environment in which it is immersed. According to Whetten and Cameron (2011) the directive must be capable of generating a positive change both in a universal and an expanding manner, considering the need of structures and tendencies to stabilize the organization.

The development of the directive abilities before described (personal, interpersonal, and group) is not the only thing required to carry out the transformation that Public Universities need, their applicability is also necessary in pro of the optimization of the processes involved in the so called management of knowledge in order to achieve organizational goals, because it is, according to Larrea (2006 p. 21) “the factor that permits the rupture of schemes in traditional education, mainly university education, considering the generation of new skills and knowledge ” (See Figure 6).

Figure 6.
Directive abilities and management of knowledge

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015)

Thus in the XXI century, the management of knowledge has become a starting point to orient the changes to be made prospectively in the diverse systems of global higher or university education, in order to strengthen the knowledge of those who work in universities to improve and optimize the social environment, where according to Larrea (2006), universities must impulse creativity with non-bureaucratic structures that network to support the creation of new knowledge in the organization.

According to Bueno (2003) knowledge management organizes human talent for planning, coordinating and controlling the flow of knowledge that is produced in educational organizations, relating with its activities and environment, in order to create competences en directives, teachers, students, parents and the general community.

When speaking of the creation of competences in directives, the postulates of Whetten and Cameron (2011, p. 11) can be revisited: (-) any focus for development of directive abilities, must implicate a high dosage of practical application. At the same time, practice without the conceptual knowledge needed, is sterile and ignores the necessity of flexibility and adaptation to different situations. Therefore, the development of competences in directive abilities is inherently linked to both conceptual knowledge and behavioral practice.

Notwithstanding the above, authors like Manes (2005) emphasize the need for professionalization for directives in educational institutes, insisting on conduction and leadership as destined institutional functions, where the people responsible for these assignments, in this case, the directives, must know new techniques that allow them to conduct, direct or manage better educational projects, effective from the pedagogical, efficient from the administrative, effective from the communal and transcendent from the cultural approach.

Even though there is general consensus about this last affirmation in the specialized literature, this traditional approach, insufficient in educative organizational reality, and of course, contrary to the assumptions of the management of knowledge that involves transference of experiences and personal occurrences, it opposes not only the assumptions of Whetten and Cameron (2011) related to the theory-practice balance, but also those of Del Regno (2013, p. 125) when he indicates that the eternal diatribe of practice versus theory, is based on the following assumption: “The object of theory is the universal and necessary, while the object of practice is the particular and contingent. A good theory is one that reflects reality truly. Practice, on the other hand, seeks to introduce change, modify reality.”

However, another link between directive abilities and knowledge management has been observed by Berrío and others (2013) who considered the importance of said management for the achievement of the objectives of the organization, besides the importance of the directives in this process; it is valid to say that to create and maintain a competitive advantage, specialized knowledge must be applied, aided by the abilities of directives and personnel in charge of such activities in the institution, as can be observed in the following Figure:

Figure 7.
Directive abilities and the process of knowledge management

Source: elaborated by the authors. (2015)

As can be observed, Berrío and others (2013) relegate success of knowledge management to the abilities of the directives with functions inherent to that aspect. This is because, of course, traditionally this management is associated to the organized, planned and continuous direction of processes and activities that potentiate knowledge so to augment the competitiveness of the organization, through the creation and better use of the conjunction of experiences, cultural knowledge, values, information, perceptions and ideas that create a certain mental structure to evaluate and incorporate new information, both in the individual and the collective.

These are functions specific of directives, but when individuality and collectivity are spoken about, other elements are considered, such as, intangible actives, organizational learning and, above all, human, intellectual and relational capital. Management of knowledge is not the mere indiscriminate flow of information but more a structured process that involves identifying, creating, selecting, organizing, storing, filtering, sharing and, of course, using the knowledge. Thus, this process directs the analysis, denomination, transference of experiences between members of the organization for the purpose of creating a value that will be reflected in the afore elements; thus, management of knowledge is a philosophy of work.

Finally, the management of knowledge in educational organizations, especially in Public Universities, should be founded both on a dialogic action and a shared vision, that is, from transference towards transformation. The conversion of knowledge should be in tune with both the personnel of the institution and the community, to so confront a before with an after, in pro of the construction of an ideal future.

Some of the basic and fundamental tools at the disposal of directives of diverse organizations, especially those that manage Public Universities, are, undoubtedly, the abilities of directives as a conjunction of attributes that allow them to perform their functions in both an efficient and an effective way, in pro of achievement of institutional goals and reaching the success that has become so hard to obtain due to the vertiginous changes in the environment: technological, cultural, economic and social.

These abilities are classified into three major groups: personal (development of self-conscience; management of personal stress; analytic and creative problem solving), interpersonal (direction, orientation and communication of support; obtainment of power and influence; motivation of others; management of conflict) and group (empowerment and delegation; team forming efficient teamwork), and all of these have, contrary to other elements that are purely cognitive, a high behavioral component: their importance must be internalized so they may be developed and applied.

A fundamental element of these directive abilities that differentiate them from other managerial tools is their practical application. Although they need more research and theorization about thet are, what they represent, how to implement them and what they produce, really their major component is practical: they should be implemented to guarantee that they will be perfected with time. The only way in which these abilities may fail is when no positive results are obtained because they stayed in theory and were never put into directive practice.

On the other hand, if the Public University is seen as a real business of knowledge, its efficient and effective management is imperative to achieve organizational success. Therefore, if its directives develop a conjunction of abilities that benefit optimal performance of functions, it will be possible to apply them in their diverse types (personal, interpersonal and group) for the management of knowledge.

Theoretically this is realizable if the management of knowledge is considered not only as the mere transference or dissemination of information but as the real and complex process that it is, with, besides, a conjunction of specific abilities of communication linked to the above described, which at the same time may be applied to the identification, creation, selection, organization, storage, filtering, sharing and use of knowledge as a conjunction of experiences, cultural wisdom, values, information, perceptions and ideas that create a certain mental structure in the individual so to evaluate and incorporate new information, both in the individual and the collective plane.

Finally, the management of knowledge is a process that all organizations that wish to stay in the rhythm of change in the environment should dominate optimally, so their dynamism and team conformation may permit the forming of planned creative strategies, coordinated to generate, maintain and integrate their intellectual capital, favoring using knowledge for the benefit of the common good, creating culture favorable to change and innovation; for this to be feasible, to be able to achieve successful, efficient and effective management, for the organization and the collective entity, the directive as an individual must internalize the fact that a conjunction of specific directive abilities is required, developed and improved through practice, by experience and evaluation of the positive aspects encountered therein.

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