Zoltan Buzady

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Sustainable leadership has become one of the widely addressed topics over the last decade, both in business and academia. This paper examines how personal, organizational, and industry characteristics influence sustainable leadership competencies across Turkic nations and how the country variable moderates these relationships. The study utilized the results of a comprehensive leadership assessment based on managers’ involvement in a business simulation, operated by artificial intelligence and rooted in scientific management. Assessment results of 1,756 managers from Hungary (N = 695), Kazakhstan (N = 647), and Türkiye (N = 414), employed in manufacturing and construction, education and research, finance, production and trade, information technologies, public relations and services, were analyzed. The two-step approach to structural equation modeling was implemented using Python software. The results showed that strategic and normative competences were partially dependent on managers’ gender (β = 1.450, p = 0.022), age (β = 5.678, p < 0.001; β = –3.587, p < 0.001), tenure (β = 3.767, p < 0.001; β = –1.898; p = 0.020) and industry (β = 1.194, p = 0.031; β = 3.092, p = 0.001), whereas interpersonal and anticipatory competencies remained unaffected. The country demonstrated a significant positive moderation in the relationships associated with normative competence (β = 3.260, p = 0.039) and interpersonal competence (β = 5.667, p = 0.041). In contrast, it exhibits a noteworthy negative moderation in strategic competence (β = –3.665, p = 0.043) and systems thinking competence (β = –3.853, p = 0.006). The moderation effect between the managers’ age, tenure, industry, and sustainable competencies was most pronounced in Kazakhstan, followed by Hungary, and least in Türkiye. This nuanced understanding highlights the diverse impact the country has on different aspects of competence, underscoring the importance of context in these relationships.

Acknowledgment
This research has been funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP22687001) within the project titled “Designing a Conceptual Model of Managers’ Leadership Competencies in Kazakhstan through the Gender Potential Prism”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Strategic planning is a driver of leaders’ performance in today’s turbulent and demanding environment, yet the relative importance of soft versus hard skills within it remains insufficiently researched. This study aims to test how gender, age, and cultural context influence the distribution of soft and hard skills in strategic planning and managers’ goal attainment. Utilizing a behavioral outcome measure (high performance), we analyzed a sample of 1,468 managers from Kazakhstan (n = 694) and Hungary (n = 774), who participated in the scientifically grounded AI business simulation. A two-step analytical approach, involving PLS-SEM and logistic regression, was implemented in Python. The results demonstrate that soft skills are the dominant driver of high performance, with an Odds Ratio (OR) of 3.44, indicating they are 2.5 times more effective than hard skills. Leaders’ age exerted a negligible effect on their performance (OR = 1.02, p = 0.728). The overall sample showed no gender differences, but the country-specific analysis revealed a moderated mediation pattern where the link between gender and soft skills varies by country (p = 0.018). Managers in Kazakhstan exhibited slightly higher average softskill scores than their counterparts in Hungary (p = 0.014). Despite cultural differences, the model demonstrated consistent predictive utility in both settings, with an overall accuracy of 72.9% in Kazakhstan and 72.4% in Hungary. The designed competency model is highly stable and cross-culturally valid for predicting managerial performance. Thus, managerial excellence is driven by competencies that are largely independent of demographic characteristics across different cultural settings.

Acknowledgment
This research has been funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP22687001) within the project titled “Designing a Conceptual Model of Managers’ Leadership Competencies in Kazakhstan through the Gender Potential Prism”.