Although receiving significant attention in management research, the organizational competence concept still remains difficult to apply, due to the vagueness of the theoretical construct, and due to the lack of pragmatic procedures to make it actionable. According to recent research, knowledge visualization may mitigate the elusiveness of the competence concept by assisting the identification, management, and communication of competences. In this paper, we thus review the academic literature in search for conceptual representations designed to support organizational competence mapping at the intra-, and inter-organizational level. By taking a synoptic overview of the collected representations, we single out the building blocks of competence visualization, and develop a corresponding classification. Drawing on this classification, we position twelve existing competence representation methods in an integrative framework to assist practitioners in selecting the right representation method and to inform scholars about future research and development needs.
This paper introduces the LIR-Schema, a framework to model knowledge flows within a company based on model-theory. Competence management is integrated in this framework as a tool for modelling the contexts of sender and receiver of expertise. The main target of this framework is to reduce the knowledge gap between experts and laymen within the company.
This research aims at innovative IT support for competence management (CM) integrating organizational, group and individual perspectives. Our method is action case research resulting in a design model. This paper addresses our overall approach towards an integrative CM system, which is usage-oriented. Based on in-depth analysis of seven business companies’ CM activities, we present a new interactive visualization model for CM. The model is suitable for explorative analysis and for communicating competence situations at individual, group or organizational levels. It provides support for constructing competence information incrementally. We view competence descriptions as negotiable estimations with varying verification levels, and use a competence representation which deals with uncertainties of estimations. Our view on competence is novel, and has far reaching consequences. Future work includes a running prototype and planned pilot studies.
With the increased pressure towards economic efficiency, hospitals and other healthcare institutions need to reengineer their internal organization and processes. This challenges human resources development with increased efficiency of training in general. We have developed a competence management concept for training planning at a big German hospital with a special focus on critically analyzing the suitability of state-of-the-art ontologybased approaches and their operationalization into management processes for the area of nursery. Experiences from the case study show the general feasibility, but also crucial issues summarized in this paper.
The paper at hand presents a new competence focused management approach which is called competence based business development (CbBD). CbBD should support organizations of all kinds in the effective identification, measurement, combination and integration of organizational competences, which can be seen as a bundle of human competencies, tools and material. The creation of new business fields, products and services or the competence based organizational development can be named as fields of application. The theoretical background and the general framework for this methodology are presented in this paper as a first contribution to the scientific community, which manages the matching of human competence with organizational resources to build organizational competencies.
In order to survive organisations are in need of more efficient utilization of human resources and intellectual capital. As the nature of organisations has become more knowledgeintensive, the importance of competencies, i.e. knowledge and skills, is emphasised. Intellectual capital management is one of the growing functions in Finnish companies. For example, competence management and knowledge management are considered to be an important part of it.
The focus of this study is on intellectual capital management in the Finnish TOP 50 companies. The role of competencies and knowledge in contemporary business is significant. In intellectual capital management competence management and knowledge management play an important role. Therefore, this study focused especially on competence and knowledge management in the Finnish TOP 50 companies.
The study was based on a survey conducted during autumn 2002. The target group was the TOP 50 Finnish companies and the informants were from HRM-functions. The survey was conducted by telephone and a questionnaire was e-mailed to the respondents beforehand. The aim of the study is to illustrate the use of intellectual capital management, especially competence and knowledge management in the Finnish TOP 50 companies, from HRM perspective. It was assumed that every Finnish TOP 50 company uses intellectual capital
management to some extent. As there have previously been only case studies, there is a need for this study. Almost every company from the Finnish TOP 50 companies had systematic activities for managing intellectual capital management. The most common terms for intellectual capital management functions were competence management and competence development. The most common reason for beginning intellectual capital management activities had been the need for knowledge on personnel competencies and their development in operative functions. All respondents emphasised the importance of the role of intellectual capital management in gaining knowledge on personnel competencies. The aim of intellectual capital management in most of the companies was the development of personnel competencies and knowledge. According to the respondents, changes related to intellectual capital management are expected within the next five years. Many of the informants said that the relationship of intellectual capital management and strategy would intensify in the next five years. It was also expected that centralized information and knowledge management would increase, when at the same time it was expected that in practice it would disperse into different functions within the organization.
The present state of research on competence management does not provide any suitable model that can be used in practice. This article presents a model for integrated competence management, which gives approaches from both cognitive science and organizational science a practical framework of action.
An Example of a Group Memory System for the Management of Group Competencies
Knowledge Intensive Organisations (KIOs), that is organisations built on their use intellectual capital, need to create an environment that facilitates the effective deployment and reuse of existing organisational knowledge. As people transform data, information and experiences into shared knowledge, the management of individual competencies has become increasingly important to these organisations. Knowledge gained during the normal execution of daily tasks is easily lost in the dynamic environment of modern business. The ability to find versatile employees and to be able to leverage their knowledge to meet differing corporate needs, is a matter of vital importance for KIOs. This paper describes an ontological framework focused on competence elements that are modelled as knowledge assets in a group memory. A group memory is taken to be a specific example of an organisational memory. The dynamics of group competencies as a key organisational resource is emphasised and a model for a group memory system to manage corporate competencies in a KIO is presented.
- A Pilot Project in the Putzmeister, Inc./ Germany
The knowledge and the competence of the firm members are substantial success factors in the world-wide competition. For a “Hidden Champion” like the middle-sized manufacturer of Top-Class Concrete Pumps and Plastering Machines, Putzmeister, Inc./Germany, a systematic and anticipating Competence Development System is essential. The article describes a pilot project started in spring 2002 to gain more specific knowledge about the implementation of a strategic computer aided, employee orientated Skill Management System in the Company. The main success factors found are first, an acceptance strategy, which includes the participation of motivated groups of pilots, the integration of the workers council, the support of the management as well as much information and transparency about the objectives and the purpose of the system. Especially a good co-operation with the workers council is from great importance. Finally enough personnel and organizational resources must be given to the project.