MTF Research Report MTF-RR-2026-08-10-01
Publication date: 10 August 2026
Author: MTF Institute Research Team
Faculty reviewer: Igor Dmitriev
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21877632

Research files: searchable PDF · formula-driven data book · source inventory

Abstract

What do large US employers actually ask managers to do? MTF Institute analysed 100 active United States management vacancies published on employer-controlled career sites by eight companies in the 2026 Fortune 100. Each vacancy was coded against 14 predefined management-capability categories, and the ten most frequently signalled categories form the ranking in this report.

Customer and market orientation appeared in 98% of the sample, execution and operations in 97%, stakeholder collaboration and influence in 93%, and governance, risk and compliance in 90%. Data and analytics appeared in 86%, strategy and planning in 83%, change and transformation in 77%, AI, digital and technology fluency in 75%, communication and presentation in 75%, and people leadership and talent in 65%.

The pattern is more demanding than a simple “lead people and set strategy” model. Large employers describe management as a three-layer system: deliver outcomes for customers, make evidence-led decisions under risk constraints, and mobilise people across organisational boundaries.

Key findings

Rank Management capability Vacancies Share of sample
1 Customer and market orientation 98 98%
2 Execution and operations 97 97%
3 Stakeholder collaboration and influence 93 93%
4 Governance, risk and compliance 90 90%
5 Data and analytics 86 86%
6 Strategy and planning 83 83%
7 Change and transformation 77 77%
8 AI, digital and technology fluency 75 75%
9 Communication and presentation 75 75%
10 People leadership and talent 65 65%

Percentages represent the presence of at least one predefined lexical indicator in a vacancy after navigation, equal-opportunity and other non-role boilerplate was removed. One vacancy can signal several capabilities, so the percentages do not sum to 100%.

Research question

Which management capabilities are most frequently signalled in a current sample of 100 active US management vacancies from Fortune 100 employers?

The question is deliberately about observable vacancy language. It does not claim to measure the full competence of successful managers, the relative importance of each capability after hiring, or every management role in the United States.

Method

Sampling frame

The sample contains 100 unique vacancies captured on 10 August 2026 from employer-controlled career pages. The eight employers were Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, CVS Health, JPMorgan Chase, McKesson, Microsoft and UnitedHealth Group. All are members of the 2026 Fortune 100. The employer distribution was:

Employer Vacancies
Alphabet (Google) 15
Amazon 13
Apple 18
CVS Health 5
JPMorgan Chase 12
McKesson 12
Microsoft 12
UnitedHealth Group 13
Total 100

Included vacancies were active US roles with explicit responsibility for people, a function, a program, a project or a business outcome. Duplicate URLs, non-US roles, expired pages, search-result snippets without a full role description and pages containing only generic career-site text were excluded. The final corpus contains 100 unique source URLs and no incomplete descriptions.

The employer set is purposive rather than probability-based. It combines technology, healthcare, retail, distribution and financial-services employers to test whether common management signals are visible across different operating contexts.

Coding framework

The unit of analysis was one vacancy. Fourteen candidate capability categories were defined before the final frequency ranking: strategy and planning; execution and operations; program and project management; people leadership and talent; stakeholder collaboration and influence; communication and presentation; problem-solving and decision-making; negotiation and vendor management; financial and commercial acumen; data and analytics; AI, digital and technology fluency; change and transformation; customer and market orientation; and governance, risk and compliance.

Each category was coded 1 when at least one of its predefined lexical indicators appeared in the cleaned role text, and 0 otherwise. This produces an auditable measure of explicit signalling, not a subjective rating of importance. The source inventory, binary coding matrix, codebook and formulas are included in the archival Zenodo record.

What the ranking means

1. Customer context and operational delivery are almost universal

Customer and market orientation led the ranking at 98%, closely followed by execution and operations at 97%. “Customer” is broader than a retail buyer in this dataset: vacancy language also referred to clients, patients, members, consumers and users. The common management requirement is to connect internal work to an external beneficiary and a measurable outcome.

Execution language was similarly pervasive. Employers repeatedly framed management around delivery, implementation, operating processes, performance indicators and scale. This matters because strategy without an operating mechanism is not treated as a complete management capability.

2. Influence across boundaries is more common than formal authority

Stakeholder collaboration and influence appeared in 93% of vacancies, while explicit people-leadership and talent language appeared in 65%. The comparison should not be read as evidence that people management is unimportant. It indicates that many management roles depend on cross-functional work, senior stakeholder alignment, partnerships and influence even when direct reports are not the main feature of the role.

For managers, the practical implication is clear: authority over a team is only one coordination mechanism. The ability to create commitment across finance, operations, technology, legal, product, sales and external partners is a separate capability that employers specify more often.

3. Governance is part of mainstream management

Governance, risk and compliance appeared in 90% of the sample. This category included explicit references to risk, controls, regulatory obligations, audit, privacy, security, legal requirements, safety, quality assurance and policy.

The result reflects the employer mix, but it is not limited to banks or healthcare companies. Digital platforms, product organisations and operational roles also described managers as owners of controls, privacy, security, safety or policy execution. In large organisations, responsible delivery is not a specialist afterthought; it is embedded in the management role.

4. Evidence and technology are now general management languages

Data and analytics appeared in 86% of vacancies. AI, digital and technology fluency appeared in 75%. The technology signal reached 100% of the sampled Alphabet and Microsoft vacancies, but it was not confined to technology employers. The category was also present in financial services, healthcare and distribution roles.

This does not mean every manager must become a software engineer or machine-learning scientist. It does mean managers increasingly need enough fluency to frame a problem, judge evidence, question assumptions, understand operating constraints and govern technology-enabled work. MTF’s related role-based framework for corporate AI training develops this distinction between general awareness, role-specific capability and accountable ownership.

5. Financial language was important, but just outside the top ten

Financial and commercial acumen appeared in 63% of vacancies and ranked eleventh among the 14 candidate categories. Its prevalence varied substantially by employer: 91.7% in the JPMorgan Chase subsample, 75% at both McKesson and Microsoft, and 44.4% at Apple.

The result illustrates why a single “ideal manager” profile can mislead. Financial fluency is widely useful, but vacancy language emphasises it differently according to sector, function and level. A manager should therefore build a common foundation and then deepen the capabilities that constrain performance in the target role.

The MTF three-layer management stack

The ten leading capabilities can be organised into a practical three-layer model.

Layer Capabilities Management question
Outcome system Customer and market orientation; execution and operations; governance, risk and compliance Can we deliver a valuable outcome reliably and responsibly?
Decision system Data and analytics; strategy and planning; change and transformation; AI, digital and technology fluency Can we choose, adapt and allocate resources with evidence?
Social system Stakeholder collaboration and influence; communication and presentation; people leadership and talent Can we mobilise people who have different expertise, incentives and authority?

This stack is an original synthesis of the vacancy evidence. It turns a frequency ranking into a development decision. A strong manager needs coverage across all three layers; a weakness in one layer can neutralise strengths in the others.

A simple capability-gap test

Rate yourself from 0 to 3 on each of the ten capabilities:

  • 0 — no evidence of application;
  • 1 — can contribute with supervision;
  • 2 — can lead in a familiar context;
  • 3 — can lead across functions in an unfamiliar or high-stakes context.

Do not start by averaging all ten scores. First calculate the lowest score in each layer. The lowest layer score identifies the bottleneck most likely to limit broader performance. For example, a manager with strong strategy and analytics but weak stakeholder influence may produce good decisions that the organisation cannot execute. A highly persuasive leader with weak governance may mobilise people toward an unacceptable risk.

Implications for employers, managers and educators

For employers, vacancy design should separate universal management expectations from role-specific depth. Long lists of generic requirements can obscure the few capabilities that will determine success in the first year.

For managers, development plans should be evidence-based. Choose work products that demonstrate capability: a customer-outcome map, an operating review, a risk register, a decision memo, a transformation roadmap, a data dashboard or a stakeholder-alignment plan. Completion certificates have more value when they are connected to such applied evidence.

For educators, the result argues against teaching leadership, strategy, analytics, technology and governance as isolated subjects. Managers experience them as one operating system. Assessment should therefore require integrated decisions under realistic constraints.

Limitations

This study is a dated, purposive snapshot rather than a probability sample of all US management vacancies. Employer counts are unequal, and the sample contains different functions and seniority levels. Sector composition affects the observed prevalence of technology, financial and governance language.

Binary lexical coding records whether a category is explicitly signalled, not how important it is, how advanced the required proficiency may be or whether a listed phrase is used consistently across employers. A vacancy can also understate capabilities that are assumed rather than written. The findings should be used as directional labour-market evidence and a reproducible comparison point for later waves.

Data and references

The archival package redistributes MTF-created analysis, source links and binary coding. It does not redistribute the employers’ full vacancy descriptions.

Build the management system, not a collection of isolated skills

The evidence points to a demanding but useful conclusion: contemporary management is the integration of customer outcomes, execution, governance, data, strategy, technology and human coordination.

The Advanced Executive Program in Management and Business Administration is designed for managers and entrepreneurs who want to strengthen that integrated decision system through applied business learning.