This paper explores the definitions and usage of competence, especially in the context of training and development initiatives in the USA, UK, France and Germany, seeking to clarify the concept by incorporating knowledge, skills and competences within a holistic competence typology. One-dimensional frameworks of competence are inadequate and are giving way to multi-dimensional frameworks. Functional and cognitive competences are increasingly being added to behavioural competencies in the USA, while in the UK cognitive and behavioural competences are being added to the occupational functional competence model. France, Germany, and Austria entering the arena more recently, adopted from the outset more holistic, but different, approaches. After comparing these approaches, we argue that a holistic framework is useful in identifying the combination of competences that are necessary for particular occupations and to promote labour mobility.

What Is Competence

Employability is a critical requirement for enabling both sustained competitive advantage at the firm level and career success at the individual level. We propose a competence-based approach to employability derived from an expansion of the resource-based view of the firm. In this contribution, we present a reliable and valid instrument for measuring employability. This measure is based on a five-dimensional conceptualization of employability, in which occupational expertise is complemented with generic competences. Two sources of raters (employees and their immediate supervisors) are involved in developing and testing the measure. Since the five dimensions of employability explain a significant amount of variance in both objective and subjective career success, the predictive validity of the tool is promising. This instrument facilitates further scientific HRM research and is of practical value in light of job and career assessments, recruitment, staffing, career mobility, and development practices

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A competence‐based and multidimensional operationalization and measurement of employability

Purpose – The purpose of this study is twofold. The first is to provide a structured review of the vast amount of outsourcing literature that has accumulated in the past two decades using a decision support framework. The second purpose is to statistically analyze the contents of the studies to identify commonalities as well as gaps, in order to suggest directions for future research.Design/methodology/approach – The contents of more than 200 publications are analyzed using a variety of approaches. A decision support framework is used to first classify whether the studies address outsourcing benefits, risks, motivations or factors. Next, each classification is further described by the type of benefits, risks, etc. Additional relevant contents such as type of organization, and the location of the outsourcing practice are also considered. Multivariate analyses consisting of cross tabulations, chi‐square testing and cluster analysis are used for categorizing the studies with the aim of identifying relationsh...

Outsourcing decision support: a survey of benefits, risks, and decision factors

There is an increasing concern that management theories are not relevant to practice. In this article we contend that the overall problem is that most management theories are unable to capture the logic of practice because they are developed within the framework of scientific rationality. We elaborate practical rationality as an alternative framework and show how it enables development of theories that grasp the logic of practice and, thus, are more relevant to management practice.

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Grasping the logic of practice: Theorizing through practical rationality

Even though the literature on competence in organizations recognizes the need to align organization level core competence with individual level job competence, it does not consider the role of information technology in managing competence across the macro and micro levels. To address this shortcoming, we embarked on an action research study that develops and tests design principles for competence management systems. This research develops an integrative model of competence that not only outlines the interaction between organizational and individual level competence and the role of technology in this process, but also incorporates a typology of competence (competence-in-stock, competence-in-use, and competence-in-the-making). Six Swedish organizations participated in our research project, which took 30 months and consisted of two action research cycles involving numerous data collection strategies and interventions such as prototypes. In addition to developing a set of design principles and considering their implications for both research and practice, this article includes a self-assessment of the study by evaluating it according to the criteria for canonical action research.

Design principles for competence management systems: a synthesis of an action research study

Competency efforts in the USA programmes have evolved from an early focus on distinctions between best-in-class (exemplary) and fully-successful performers to become a link between organisational strategy and organisational and individual performance. Interest in competency-based approaches is growing. Training and development professionals are using competency models to clarify organisation-specific competencies to improve human performance and unify individual capabilities with organisational core competencies. Educators and government policymakers are using competency models as one means to clarify and link workplace requirements to educational programmes and curricula.

John E. Lindholm

Papers

Competency Identification, Modelling and Assessment in the USA.