School Heads’ Managerial Competencies and Leadership Potential as Predictors of School Resource Management: A Descriptive-Correlational Study in Cotabato, Philippines

Abstract

This study examined the managerial competencies and leadership potential of school heads as predictors of school resource management in selected public schools across the Divisions of Cotabato, Kidapawan City, and South Cotabato, Philippines. Employing a descriptive-correlational design, teacher-respondents evaluated their school heads on five managerial competence domains (interpersonal, social, instructional, educational, and self-management) and seven leadership potential dimensions (innovativeness, communication, adaptability, integrity, transparency, decisiveness, and transformative leadership). Resource management was assessed across human, material, and financial domains. Results revealed an overall managerial competence mean of 3.94 (Competent) and an overall leadership potential mean of 3.84 (Skillful). Resource management was generally strong (M=4.29, Highly Competent), with social competence (M=4.38) and transparency (M=4.43) as the highest-rated dimensions. Critical gaps included parent meeting scheduling (M=2.41, Less Competent), encouraging advanced education (M=2.49, Less Competent), and financial record-keeping (M=3.00, Moderately Competent). Regression analyses confirmed that educational competence negatively predicts human resource management (?=-.238**, p=.000); social competence negatively predicts financial resource management (?=-.322**, p=.000); while communication skills (t=5.608**) and transformative leadership (t=6.025**) are the strongest positive predictors of financial management. These findings underscore the need for competency-targeted leadership development programs and policy reforms anchored in the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH).

Introduction

School heads play a crucial role in the Philippine basic education system as instructional leaders, administrative managers, and community coordinators. Their managerial competencies and leadership potential greatly influence how effectively schools manage human, material, and financial resources, which directly affect school performance and student outcomes. With the implementation of Republic Act 9155, school heads are expected to exercise greater autonomy and accountability in school-based management.

Previous studies have shown that effective school leadership strongly impacts school performance, especially in areas such as financial oversight, staff supervision, disaster preparedness, strategic planning, and resource optimization. Research also highlights the importance of competencies such as strategic vision, communication, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and crisis resilience. However, implementation of leadership frameworks remains inconsistent, particularly in geographically and culturally diverse areas.

The study aimed to assess:

1. The managerial competencies of school heads across five domains.
2. Their leadership potential across seven dimensions.
3. Their effectiveness in managing human, material, and financial resources.
4. The relationships between competencies, leadership potential, and resource management.
5. The predictive influence of these competencies on resource management.

Using a descriptive-correlational research design, the study surveyed teachers from selected public schools in Cotabato, Kidapawan City, and South Cotabato, Philippines. Teachers evaluated school heads through structured questionnaires using Likert scales. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rho correlation, and multiple regression analysis.

Results showed that school heads were generally “Competent” in managerial competencies, with social competence scoring the highest. They demonstrated strong stakeholder relationship management, self-management, instructional competence, and educational competence. However, weaknesses were found in interpersonal competencies, especially in parent meeting scheduling and encouraging teachers’ advanced education.

Leadership potential was rated overall as “Skillful.” Transparency emerged as the strongest dimension, indicating openness and stakeholder inclusion in decision-making. Communication and decisiveness were also relatively strong. However, innovativeness was the weakest area, suggesting difficulties in creating new programs, policies, and services.

In resource management, school heads performed at a “Highly Competent” level overall. Material resource management scored the highest, with strong practices in procurement, school maintenance, and resource allocation. Financial management was also strong, especially in budgeting and accountability, although financial record-keeping remained a significant weakness. Human resource management showed strengths in delegation but only moderate performance in other HR functions.

Correlation analysis revealed mixed relationships between managerial competencies and resource management. Interpersonal competence positively influenced human resource management but negatively affected material resource management. Social competence showed a negative relationship with financial management, suggesting that strong interpersonal skills alone do not guarantee technical financial competence. Instructional and educational competencies showed no significant relationships with resource management domains.

Conclusion

School heads in the Divisions of Cotabato, Kidapawan City, and South Cotabato demonstrate solid overall competence across managerial and leadership domains, with transparency and social competence as consistent strengths. However, critical underdevelopment persists in innovativeness, financial record-keeping, parent engagement scheduling, and encouraging teacher professional advancement. The regression findings reveal that the relationships between leadership competencies and resource management are complex and often counter-directional. Communication skills and transformative leadership are reliable positive predictors of financial resource management, suggesting that leadership development programs should prioritize these dimensions for financial governance improvement. The negative predictive relationships observed across multiple competency dimensions and resource domains underscore the critical need for leadership training that integrates competency development with technical resource management skills. These findings have direct implications for DepEd policy: the PPSSH must be operationalized with specific, measurable competency expectations in financial literacy, stakeholder engagement, and professional growth advocacy, moving beyond generic leadership training toward context-specific, simulation-based development.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Roldan Aguinsatan Mullo, Marieta Doque Cayabas, Ramlah Ampatuan Duge. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.