Psychological predictors of managerial performance in the conditions of instability of the Russian economy

The objective of the research was to discuss the psychological predictors of managers’ economic efficiency under 2014-2015 instability of the Russian economy (a case study of the Big Five personality traits, organization and communicative skills). The research engaged 310 managers (directors of clothing and accessories shops) working at the companies for a year or more. For diagnosing the personality factors, NEO FFI Five-factor questionnaire was used as adapted by M.V. Bodunov and S.D. Biryukov while COS questionnaire of V.V. Sinyavsky and B.A. Fedorishin was applied for revealing the communicative and organizational inclinations. In order to determine the managers’ professional efficiency, the performances against sales plans of shops led by them in 2014-2015 were used. Regression analysis results confirm the most important predictor of the managers’ economic efficiency under study is the extent of organizational skills, and this predictor retains its significance both in a relatively calm and in a more unstable economic situation. As for the Big Five factors, the most important one is conscientiousness in a relatively calm time span and openness – in the unstable economic conditions. © 2016 Novikova et al.