Building Competence and Compassion

Competence-Based Management (CBM) theory and research suggest that a firm’s competence building and leveraging processes are key factors influencing its competitive success. To achieve sustained competitive success, a firm’s competence building processes must continuously renew and extend the competences a firm has and can leverage. However, the ability of a firm to sustain strategically adequate levels of competence building – while also maintaining strategically successful competence leveraging – may be limited by various self-reinforcing managerial and organizational mechanisms that can arise from competence leveraging processes. In this paper we focus on certain managerial behaviors that may create path dependencies that lead an organization to become “locked-in” to its current competence leveraging processes and to neglect essential competence building, resulting in an inability to renew competences at a strategically adequate level and eventually in competitive failure. In order to avoid such consequences, the management literature suggests that organizations must cultivate dynamic capabilities to overcome tendencies toward lock-in and to sustain ongoing competence building. This study investigates ways in which firms can maintain healthy competence building processes by avoiding lock-ins, especially those resulting from self-reinforcing managerial behaviors. A case study of successful competence-renewing processes in a home improvement retailing company helps to amplify the components of dynamic capabilities and to illustrate the insights that emerge from our study.

The present study aims at exploring secondary school language teachers’ ways of learning teaching skills, that is, the learning plots which are constructed through narrating small stories about critical incidents in the classroom. As part of a greater grounded theory study, six teachers have been interviewed to enrich existing findings on teachers’ competence building. In the research process, four alternative teacher responses have been identified through constant comparison and coding procedures. These are the avoidance of competence building, experimenting with competences, delaying competence building and persevering with one’s own beliefs. The analysis intends to complement our understanding of teacher development through classroom experience.

Enhancing students’ competency through team activities has become a social demand. Previous studies in higher education claim that Manufacturing--Project-based Learning (M-PBL) enhances students’ competencies, although empirical studies are limited. Therefore, this study addresses the following questions in M-PBL: 1) how do the input and throughput components of teamwork influence each other, and 2) does “working in a team” per se facilitate competencies? Our purposes are 1) to clarify the teamwork factor structure in the M-PBL by factor analysis, 2) to create a process model that shows how both input and throughput components of teamwork affect competency building, and 3) to empirically verify the model by structural equation modelling (SEM). Our methodology included: 1) the revision of questionnaire items on existing teamwork, scaled for a non-manufacturing industry, and 2) collection of data from fourth-grade students of three polytechnic colleges (N = 157) who had finished 972 hours of industry-academia collaborative M-PBL. The students came from different departments (machinery, electricity, and programming) and were organised into teams. The factor analysis results revealed two “team-orientedness” factors, three “team leadership” factors, three “team process” factors, and two “competency-building” factors. The SEM results showed that input components of teamwork enhanced throughput components and throughput components enhanced competency building. The relationships among teamwork components were clarified, such as “work-norm--orientedness” and “human relation leadership” enhanced “problem coping”. The influence of teamwork on competency building was illustrated by the throughput components of teamwork, which enhanced both technical and attitudinal competency building at the individual level.

This paper highlights the criticality of the ‘End-Users’ factor to the success or failure of the ERP venture. This descriptive case highlights the ineffectiveness of the current approaches to ERP end-users’ “training and competency building”, that are commonly applied in ERP implementations. We propose as an alternative, a new structured approach that redefines the traditional role of “ERP Training” from isolated implementation project activities concerned with introducing end-users to “how to” use ERP applications to an integral part of a comprehensive “knowledge & change management” strategy that advocates a holistic life-cycle approach to managing ERP Critical Success Factors (CSF). The investigation benefits from the “iceberg competency model”, the “training management cycle”, and “Kirk-Patrik’s evaluation model” as the theoretical basis and context for drawing a comparison of the suitability and effectiveness of training approaches adopted in major ERP implementations in UAE. The proposed approach, which is built around ‘end-user characterization’ as the main input into ‘competency building’ is flexible enough to plug into standard ERP methodologies and may be projected throughout the ERP life-cycle. The end-users characterization and competency building approach (EUCCB) is expected to contribute to healthy levels of ERP usage and utilization that leads to positive business gains and return on investment.

In 1996, the French business publication “Capital” carried an analysis of what it called “the resurrection of the dinosaurs”: the revival of corporations that had been viewed as moribund. Examples abound in every industrialised country: Chrysler, IBM or General Electric in the United States and Usinor‐Sacilor, Siemens or Fiat in Europe. What strategies are behind these cases of revival? This article describes how, starting in 1993, a French company sought to renew itself by implementing one particular strategy which has been widely discussed among managers and academics alike: competence building. It then discusses the general lessons which can be drawn from the case. In particular, the article aims to reveal empirically the relationship between competence building and the corporate renewal process and then to use the case history to help develop the theory of competence‐based competition between firms.

The objectives of this study are to reveal the relationship between strategic options and competence building processes and to investigate the effect of environmental and firm-related factors on competence building. Competence building is defined as the qualitative change in firms' existing assets and capabilities; exercising strategic options may trigger this process. In this study an empirical model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Many researchers have examined the relationship between strategic options and competence building theoretically, and this study aims to support these theoretical efforts with empirical research.

Studies establish that many incurably ill people would prefer to die at home, whether their final home is their own home or a nursing home. Experience shows that the professionals in palliative care at the basis level need to increase their competences. The purpose of this literature review is to examine experiences with interventions regarding the development of competencies within community palliative care services - in other words, at the individual work places. The study has been carried out as a literature review of international databases (PubMed/Medline, CHINAL, PsycInfo) with selected key words. The review of the literature identified 15 publications which dealt with interventions regarding education and competence building. The publications represent individual studies, only two of which were controlled. All conclude that competence building has a positive effect according to the professionals. It is unknown whether or how patients and relatives feel a positive effect from the interventions just as it is unknown how the development of competencies has actually led to a more developed practice. The effect of local competence building in palliative care in the primary sector is lacking. Methods are needed to further examinations of how a competency has actually led to a more developed practice.

This paper develops a research model to integrate supplier's specificity investments and relationship learning, as well as competence building, and, further tests the model using collected data from 148 exporting suppliers in Taiwanese manufacturing industries. The study concludes that while the direct effect of supplier's specificity investments on competence building is not verified, the indirect effect, which is mediated by way of relationship learning, is positive.

The transformation to a software-defined car and the necessary competence building in software pose severe problems and threats for established car manufacturers. This study examines the adaptation of German car manufacturers to new digital technologies with their own competence building in software and with external partnerships. The firm’s resource- and competence-based views are used as the theoretical foundation. The empirical analysis includes an explorative case study of two German automotive firms and their external cooperation partners. Case studies show that automotive firms have chosen different pathways to build digital competencies. They realise a firm-specific mixture of competence building by investing their own resources or by partnering with external cooperation partners. The results showed remarkable differences in competence levels and successes between the two firms. The main theoretical result of the explorative case studies is that the management of dependencies, building or dissolution of relationships with other firms, aspect of time, and aspect of firm organisation must be included as endogenous factors in the theoretical analysis of competence building.

People competencies must be constantly upgraded or revised in organizations, since market conditions are constantly change . The importance of having systems and methods to make all aspects of the organization agile is critical. In knowledge industries, people competency plays a major role in the overall business. Systems and methods used to manage people competencies is a must therefore, enabling a quick change in competencies. This scenario is characterized by rapidly changing competency needs, a short time for building them, short scope of requirements, etc. Current methods focus on knowledge content whereas the change imposes changes in context, constraint peculiarities which do not largely impact the knowledge content. The impact is more visible in the application of knowledge, hence such training methods poorly enable competence to deal with change. Consequently, there is a need for low latency and high agility in people competency development pedagogies.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the factors affecting the rate and direction of the competence-building process in firms. In Chapter 2, we put forward a model of competence building. When a radically new, pervasive technology emerges, some firms are able to seize that opportunity to their advantage. Competence building centres in key areas to enhance the core capabilities of firms. Competence building is affected by factors related to path dependence which have direct links with the firm’s history, such as previous core businesses, long-term top management strategy, the evolution of the R&D organization, and government policies. It is also affected by factors related to the present, such as management of the interlinkages between systems, key components and generic technologies, and economies of scope. In this chapter, we shall concentrate on the path-dependent factors and organizational routines.

T heobjective of this research was to find out the implementation of e-Goverment in increasing public service at comunication and information official of central Sulawesi province. The Main theory employed was e-goverment theory covers (1) content development , (2) competency building, (3) Connectivity, (4) Cyber Laws, (5) citizen Interfaces, and (6) Capital. It was also supported by President Instruction No. 3 year 2003. The research method employed was qualitative research setting. The research setting was at communication and information official of central Sulawesi province with 5 informants who chosen purposively as the sample. The tehnique of data collection were interview, observation and documentation. The technique of data analysis was descriptive model by Robson With case study approach. The research results showed that the implementation of e-government in Increasing Public Service at Comunication and Information Official of Central Sulawesi Province have run well enough such as Capital and Content Development and Connectivity even tough still need improvement. Competency Building and Citizen interfaces were less cinsidered where as Cyber Laws was not judged because it was nationally so it needed to be improved by Central Government. Primarily, there was two issues encountered in conducting the main duty and function of e-Government section. The first was infrastructure availability, supporting facility such as server, computer, and website from Communication and Information Official were lack. The second was human resources availability particulary those had IT background and technical officers to solve administration and digital information issues. To solve the issues, e-Government had already done some efforts at Communication and Information Official of Central of Sulawesi Province. The first efforts was providing and requesting infrastructure availability, supporting facility of e-Government. The second was asking to the secretariat which would be forwarded by Regional Officery Board to provide technical and IT officers to proceed electronic information and administration.

In the paper, a post-project review is performed on the microsatellite projects managed by Taiwan's University Labs. A two phase of development can be identified through the post-project review, which are the formative phase and the accumulative phase. By post-reviewing the two phases of project development, competence building in the development of microsatellite are described, which will benefit for further microsatellite projects managed by university labs.

Product Development (PD) carried out in subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) located in countries with emerging markets provides advances in factors of production, creates high-quality jobs, increases specialisation of the workforce, and it is favourable to a strategic insertion of the host country in the international division of labour. Most importantly, it enhances the overall productivity and competitiveness of the MNC as a whole, because it shrinks the time-to-market, dropping development costs and releasing the pipeline pressure from traditional designing centres of the company. This paper analyses the overall conditions of Product Development competence building at subsidiaries of automotive companies located in Brazil, and puts forward an explanatory model of this competence building process. The study was held at two Brazilian subsidiaries that had effectively developed new products – General Motors do Brasil and Volkswagen do Brasil – with the use of Grounded Theory methodology. The model shows that competence building is caused by objective and subjective factors. Among the former are the specific conditions of the Brazilian market, competitive factors of the automotive industry in the country, and government tax policies; among the latter are specific training promoted by the parent company, standardisation of engineering procedures with the use of high tech development resources, and expatriation of executives. Implications for theory and management practices are discussed.

The paper presents the work in progress within the on-going Erasmus+ “Competence Building in Higher Education project” EU-Mong for development and implementation of innovative curricula in electrical engineering. The last years Mongolia is at the stage of expanded industrialization and the areas of electrical engineering, communication and energy efficiency will drive innovation and economic growth. The most fundamental driver is modernization of education in these areas. The presented project aims at transferring knowledge between European higher engineering education institutions and the higher education institutions in Mongolia to modernize their university curricula in electrical engineering. Its objective is to adapt, innovate and modernize existing curricula in the three universities; to develop new e-learning courses, to test innovated curricula and to disseminate the results.