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The note explores the requisite competencies of subsidiary unit general managers in a successful multibusiness group dealing primarily in industrial goods. The authors define a competency model for the particular genre of general manager based on the literature. They then attempt to validate the model by reference to data related to outputs, skills and personality attributes which have been collected over a number of years in the context of a variety of action research projects, i.e. research undertaken for operational, rather than academic, purposes. With minor exceptions, the empirical data support the hypothesised model. The data also provide insight into the distinction between those which are threshold competencies, i.e. differentiating between poor and average performers, and those which distinguish the superior performer, as well as indications as to which competencies correlate most with overall performance indices.