Development of Competences at Work
Ramioul, Monique / HIVA-KUL
Changes in work organisations and required skills as related to global value chain restructuring - some results from the WORKS project
Abstract and purpose: This presentation will present some results of the WORKS project. The project aimed at a better understanding of changes in work related to the restructuring of global value chains. The key findings related to the use of knowledge and skills in global value chain restructuring will be presented.
Three issues will be covered. First, to what extent knowledge plays a role in the decision which activities will be organised where. Second, the implications of restructuring for the work organisation and for the local management of knowledge. Third, the changes in skills and competences in an organisational context involving collaboration beyond the company's physical boundaries.
The empirical data are derived from workplace level case studies
DECOWE presentation: Changes in work organisations and required skills as related to global value chain restructuring - some results from the WORKS project.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Pinnington, Ashly & Sommerlad, Hilary / The British University In Dubai
Competence Development and Participation in Transient Knowledge Communities
Abstract and purpose: Transient knowledge communities may often exist in contexts where there is an available supply of people for work and a regular turnover of employees engaged in its execution. Such work environments are characterised by unstable employee tenure and changes over time in individual and collective competences. In these transient work environments an individual's competence is dependent upon gaining and maintaining access to the social and technical work activities. This access can be harder to sustain for people whose long-term work tenure is uncertain or whose status is compromised for whatever reasons by negative perceptions and attributions made by others. Consequently, if people want to remain employed in these transient and often competitive work environments, then they have to make a continual effort to sustain adequate levels of cooperative participation in their work activities and the related knowledge communities.
In this paper we consider the findings from several research studies on lawyers examining different orientations and moves in their careers and competence development. We report results from interviews with junior level lawyers endeavouring to establish a foothold in their chosen occupation and associate lawyers anticipating the available opportunities for progression to either higher status salaried professional roles or partnership. Our interpretation of these research studies is that competence development requires successful identification of viable expertise. Moreover, competent performance in current work practices and high performance is likely to include frequent search for comparatively unique occupational or task-based niches. Such niches for competence and development are resource rich environments possessing, for varying periods of time, internal and external labour market value.
We conclude that policy makers, practitioners, and academic researchers all have roles to play in assisting people to reflect on their existing expertise, assess current work practices, and develop and pursue strategies for career and competence development.
Methodological relevance and approach: This paper concentrates on two sets of interviews in two different Australian law firms. At the time of the research both firms employed over 1,000 people and had over 100 partners. A sample of eight lawyers working in the Planning and Environment work group located in the Brisbane office of Corrs Chamber Westgarth were selected in the first case study. One of the participants was a qualified lawyer working part-time for the firm and the other seven participants were full-time including: two articled clerks/trainees, three solicitors and two senior associates. The gender composition was four males and four females. The second case study involved 30 lawyers interviewed on two occasions in Minter Ellison. The sample comprised of ten partners, two special counsel, twelve senior associates, and six junior lawyers. The gender composition was 22 males and eight females.
DECOWE paper: Competence Development and Participation in Transient Knowledge Communities.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Competence Development and Participation in Transient Knowledge Communities.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Grotkowska, Gabriela / University of Warsaw
Graduates' qualifications and quality of jobs
Abstract and purpose: Recent studies on labour market performance in Poland document growing differences in jobs' characteristics between young people (labour market entrants) and elder workers in terms of different job characteristics. The aim of the paper is to assess the impact of graduates' qualifications (in terms of education level, field of education, formal occupation, type of school or in-school work experience) on the quality of the job undertaken. The quality of posts is characterised by the type of contract, the fact of full/part time employment, work conditions, opportunities for career development, wage level etc. The paper shed also some light on the match between school-based qualifications and labour market requirements.
Methodological relevance and approach: The analysis uses methods of statistics and econometrics (probit regressions) and is based on a dedicated survey made in the years 2006/2007 among 20 thousand of Polish graduates. The survey was the largest survey of this type made in Poland in recent years. Some analyses are based on the results of the Polish LFS (1995-2007).
DECOWE paper: Graduates' qualifications and quality of jobs.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Graduates' qualifications and quality of jobs.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Tijdens, Kea / AIAS, University of Amsterdam
Measuring occupations in worldwide web-surveys
Abstract and purpose: This paper summarizes the design principles underlying the World Database of Occupations for the measurement of occupations in multi-country web-surveys by means of self-identification. It discusses why the Database has been designed, and its source list, search tree and translations. The Database holds almost 1,600 occupational titles. Using a wide variety of sources, the list of occupational titles has been compiled as part of the FP6 funded EurOccupations project (2006-2009, no 028987). The Database can be used in web-surveys for the survey question "What is your occupation?". It allows for standardizing the measurement method across countries and it leads to detailed occupation codes within the ISCO-2008 classification. Compared to the current 1, 2 or 3 digit occupation codes available in multi-country datasets, whereby occupational titles are coded country-specific, this Database is a methodological innovation. The paper is based on Deliverable D01a1 for EurOccupations (Tijdens, 2009).
In contrast to other survey modes, web-surveys allow for using a closed response format for survey questions with a large number of categories, such as car types, camera types, countries, regions, industries, and occupations. In other survey modes, these questions require an open response format, followed by field- or office-coding. Web-surveys allow for the use of drop-downs, for example for an alphabetically sorted list of 200+ countries, or for the use of search trees. A search tree is the most appropriate way for self-identification of occupation...
DECOWE paper: Measuring occupations in worldwide web-surveys.pdf
Links to related projects: www.wageindicator.org; www.euroccupations.org
Hall, Matthew, Higson, Helen & Bullivant, Nicola / Aston Business School, Aston University
The role of the undergraduate work placement in developing employment competencies: Results from a 5 year study of employers
Abstract and purpose: In this age of the 'massification' of education (Gibbons et al, 1994) there is pressure from governments for universities to produce relevant and applicable knowledge which meets the labour-force requirements of the new economy. For the new generation of student consumers, for whom the progression to higher education is becoming an economic decision, there is demand for universities to deliver vocational and marketable skills and to provide a pathway into employment. For individuals there is a greater emphasis for one's own 'employability', where the university and employers are stepping stones in the pursuit of lifelong learning (Moreau and Leathwood, 2006). Graduate positions are increasingly defined by job-specific competencies which employers look to universities to provide.
There is increasing research interest into the nature of competencies sought by employers. This paper draws upon one such research project conducted within Aston Business School which has highlighted the key generic competencies which are perceived to enhance graduate employability (Andrews and Higson, 2007). This EU-funded project, entitled 'Education, Employment and Graduate Employability,' surveyed 900 employers and business graduates in four European countries, and developed a framework of employability competencies. Among the findings of this project, we highlight the role and importance of work-based learning...
Methodological relevance and approach: Both pieces of research draw upon questionnaire-based surveys of employers and graduates. We then map the results of our 5 year survey of placement employers - using the National Council for Work Experience framework - against the framework of graduate employability competencies identified by Andrews and Higson (2007). The comparison of these two sets of competence variables - one a formative diagnostic for competences developed during work-based learning, and the other a summative diagnostic for competencies demonstrated by graduates already in employment - will enable us to examine the role of the undergraduate work placement in developing competencies for graduate employment.
DECOWE paper: The role of the undergraduate work placement in developing employment competencies: Results from a 5 year study of employers.pdf
DECOWE presentation: The role of the undergraduate work placement in developing employment competencies: Results from a 5 year study of employers.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Virolainen, Maarit / Finnish Institute for Educational Research
Employers Building Workplace Learning with Universities of Applied Sciences: Multiple Goals and Cooperation in Enhancing Connectivity
Abstract and purpose: The need for developing guidance in the workplace in order to enhance interns´ learning has been recognized in several empirical studies and audits on internships by Finnish polytechnics (Kantola 2003; Salonen 2007).In this study we wanted to find out how far the socio-cultural learning environment of the workplace accords with the principles of the model of connectivity, which underlines the importance of proactive participation by students in the workplace. The research questions were: 1) how far do the attitudes of the workplaces towards organising guidance accord with the ideas in connective approach proposed by Guile and Griffiths (2001), 2) does workplace supervisors´ view on workplace learning give room for aiming to knowledge expansion and innovativeness.
The data was collected in a survey conducted among employers cooperating with the universities of applied sciences and organising workplace learning periods as part of this cooperation in Finland (n=269). It focuses on bachelor´s programmes in the social services, business administration and engineering. The results were analysed by multivariable statistical analysis.
First, employers´opinions on the utility of interns were analysed with the help of factor analysis. Employers´ views on the utility of interns varied according to their field. The same data were also cluster-analysed and more variables were used to describe the groups and find out what sorts of combinations of features such as organisational background variables, preferred goal-orientation of the placement with respect to connectivity and general appreciation of developmental measures occur in workplaces...
Methodological relevance and approach: Multivariate statistical analysis, factor analysis, vaiance analysis, cluster analysis (Ward method), chi-square-tests
DECOWE presentation: Employers Building Workplace Learning with Universities of Applied Sciences: Multiple Goals and Cooperation in Enhancing Connectivity.ppt
Links to related projects: http://ktl.jyu.fi/img/portal/9289/G039.pdf;
http://www.springer.com/education/professional+%26+vocational+education/book/978-1-4020-8961-9
Tan, Oon Seng / Nanyang Technological University
Developing Capacity for New Competencies: Use of Problem-based Innovation in Singapore
Abstract and purpose: The onset of a flu pandemic, unprecedented scale of environmental disasters, terrorism and complex political and social-economic problems all point to the need for education and the world of work to prepare citizens for a rapidly changing and sophisticated world. The ability to learn when plunged into an unfamiliar situation and to adapt positively to rapidly changing demands is a reality for every worker today. People not only need to learn to confront problems as a matter of necessity but they also to develop a positive mindset of observation and taking on "problems" as a matter of inquisitiveness to improve and invent processes and products.
New competencies especially those pertaining to problem-solving acumen is developed through experience, immersion and intelligent observation. Problem solving in real world contexts involves multiple perspectives and multiple ways of knowing and multi-disciplinary learning. Knowledge in this new economy is also increasingly characterized by the creative integration of information and learning from diverse disciplines. In recent years psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, scientists, entrepreneurs and researchers from various fields have shed considerable light on the nature of creativity, innovation and enterprise...
DECOWE paper: Developing Capacity for New Competencies: Use of Problem-based Innovation in Singapore.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Developing Capacity for New Competencies: Use of Problem-based Innovation in Singapore.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Yaeda, Jun / University of Tsukuba
Divya Jindal-Snape / University of Dundee
Transition from postsecondary school to work place for students with disabilities in Japan
Abstract and purpose: While more than 95% of Japanese college graduate students obtained employment in 2008, it is not the case for students with disabilities. One of the reasons is that only 3% of them obtained postsecondary education and then 63% went to welfare facilities. Once they transfer themselves to those welfare facilities, 98% stay there and do not get employed.
Japanese government has been struggling to reduce the institutionalization rate and increase the employment rate, using supported employment technique. So far, with the help of job coaches and a recent "exempted subsidiary small company" system, it seems successful in terms of reaching to the mandatory employment rate of 1.8% for private companies hiring more than 56 employees without disabilities. However, their wage is not at all satisfactory. The minimum wage requirement is 703 Japanese yen per hour, which is about U.S. $6, and many workers with disabilities do not work full time. Their monthly wage is not enough to live independently in an apartment. Instead of living independently in the community, they tend to live with their parents. For those with disabilities, obtaining postsecondary education is one of the surest ways to get a decent work and earn well above minimum wage...
Methodological relevance and approach: Literature review and case studies.
DECOWE paper: Transition from postsecondary school to work place for students with disabilities in Japan.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Transition from postsecondary school to work place for students with disabilities in Japan.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Vilma, Tubutiene / Siauliai University
The development of career competencies in the University
Abstract and purpose: The purpose of the presentation is to discuss new demands for University in the developing the possibilities to discuss social and economical transformations of society and their influence the formation of modern approach to the career managing and to present case study how the University could deal with those challenges by implementing Service Learning following the lead of the EU funded project KOOPERIA of Šiauliai University.
The presentation is divided in two parts. The first part contains the discussion on conceptions of career and career competences and their importance in the contemporary labor market, the significance of creating possibilities to develop career competencies in different stages of preparation for the labor market. The emphasis is on the idea, that the social and economical transformations of society influence the formation of modern approach to the career managing. It is stressed that the responsibility of the career success is shared between person and organization or labor market in general and mainly depends from the person's career managing competences. The career managing process manifest as continuing process of developing of career managing competences. From another hand higher education's tendencies towards massiveness, that showed up in post modern knowledge society, set new requirements to higher educational institutions. The increasing market influence that gives universities impetus to render a range of more diverse intellectual services has been recently observed in higher education. So the creating possibilities to develop career management competencies are the way for University to correspond to new challenges...
Methodological relevance and approach: The purpose of the presentation is realized by analysing of scientific literature with the aim to reveal modern approach to career and career competences. On the basis of theoretical background the case study of implementing Service Learning following the lead of the project KOOPERIA by Šiauliai University Career centre is presenting.
DECOWE paper: The development of career competencies in the University.pdf
DECOWE presentation: The development of career competencies in the University.ppt
Links to related projects: Link to the project KOOPERIA, www.kooperia.su.lt
Sliwa, Anna
Functions of In-Company Language Courses
Abstract and purpose: In-company language courses are an instrument used by firms for more purposes than simply improving the skills of employees. They can be a component of the social package, administered at the discretion of employees themselves, in preference over season tickets to the gym or a series of spa treatments. They can be a means of retaining good employees, who agree to remain in the company for a specified period of time in return for such investment. They could be an internal marketing tool included in company mission - the company that cares for its employee's lifelong learning will easily be seen a Socially Responsible Corporation. Language courses benefit both parties as they tend to be relatively cheaper than professional training.
Obligatory language education in Poland begins in secondary school where all children learn a language for 3 years. In high school a second language is introduced and children continue learning 2 languages (usually English and German, Spanish, French or Russian) till their final exams, that is for another 3 years. Theoretically, all school leavers should have a good working knowledge of their first language (A2 - B1) and a basic knowledge of their second language (A1-A2) by the time they enter university education...
DECOWE paper: Functions of In-Company Language Courses.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Functions of In-Company Language Courses.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Mano Rita S. & Mesch, Gustavo S. / University of Haifa
A Blessing or a Curse? Raising issues of email Functionality and Work Performance
Abstract and purpose: Email communication studies have both praised and questioned the degree of suitability, appropriateness and effectiveness of electronic messages in information management. Fewer studies are known about the effects of email on work performance. We ask (1) what features of email communication affect work performance; (2) if these features are differentially associated with positive (work effectiveness) or negative (stress and distress) side effects on work performance; (3) how individual- and organizational-level characteristics are associated with positive and negative work outcome performance. It is shown that email extent, email content and email increase are reported more by managers than non-managers, suggesting that information management and overload, when other human capital characteristics, such as age, gender, marital status and education are controlled, may be a critical issue for managers. Also, the number of emails received and sent is positively related to work performance, indicating that email communication in organizations carries important information critical for the completion of a job. Yet the number of individuals with whom email is exchanged is not statistically significant. These findings support our proposal that assessing the costs and benefits of employees' electronic communication should cover individual features (type of employment and skills) as well as email-related features for a full understanding of their impact on work performance; negative effects (stress and distress) can be triggered as well, counteracting the positive influence (effectiveness) of email use on work performance.
DECOWE presentation: A Blessing or a Curse? Raising issues of email Functionality and Work Performance.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Solem, Michael / Association of American Geographers
Developing geographic competencies for careers in higher education, business, government, and non-profit organizations
Abstract and purpose: This presentation will report the results of the AAG's Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education in Geography (EDGE) project, funded by the National Science Foundation. EDGE is a research and action project aimed at improving the professional prepar ation of students in geography and related spatial sciences. Since 2005, EDGE has conducted surveys, interviews, and case studies with employer organizations and professional geographers to identify competencies required for work in a variety of geographical professions in higher education, business, government, and non-profit organizations. To encourage systemic change in the discipline, the project will disseminate book and web publications for improving career planning, sponsor professional development workshops at academic conferences, and assist efforts to change graduate curricula in academic departments.
Methodological relevance and approach: The research design for this project is comparative, and is designed to generate evidence that is descriptive (using case study and observation), and associative/ correlational through the use of factor analysis, cross tabulations, and ANOVA. The project collected original data using survey research, including online self-completion questionnaires, face-to-face structured interviewer-administered questionnaires, both face-to-face and telephone semi-structured/informal interviews, focus groups, and logs. Instruments used are surveys assessing workforce skills, employer needs, and departmental climate; focus groups and interview protocols assessing career interests, professional development strategies, graduate student experiences; evaluation questionnaires gathering feedback on publications. Originally collected data is being shared with a partner on the project, Oxford University, in support of collaborative research. The project is also disseminating findings to other organizations such as the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) and the Council on Graduate Schools.
DECOWE paper: Developing geographic competencies for careers in higher education, business, government, and non-profit organizations.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Developing geographic competencies for careers in higher education, business, government, and non-profit organizations.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Netteland, Grete / Sogn og Fjordane University College
E-Learning for Change: Competence Development in Work Organizations
The literature on workplace e-learning (e.g Clark & Mayer, 2003; Collis & Moonen, 2001; Munkvold et al., 2003, Rosenberg, 2001) recommends in general a standardized implementation process, where the same type of implementation approach is used in all parts of the company.
My findings contradict the previous research. This presentation suggests that large, multilevel organizations with different types of work and learning traditions need to adopt a differentiated implementation process that takes the unique characteristics of organizational units into account. Based on a case study of a large-scale, enterprise-wide and standardized implementation of e-learning in a large telecommunications company that was carried out as part of my doctoral research (Netteland, 2008), I explore the bottlenecks associated with different work contexts.
By addressing how the standardized implementation model was adjusted in the different parts of the company and aligned with various work types, external challenges and internal learning traditions, the paper focuses on how e-learning should be introduced to support necessary competence development and organizational change...
DECOWE paper: E-Learning for Change: Competence Development in Work Organizations.pdf
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Leoni, Riccardo / University of Bergamo
Informal Learning and Development of Key Competencies in Workplaces
Abstract and purpose: Nobel Prize-winning economist J. J. Heckman has tackled repeatedly the economics of learning and training over the past few years (Heckman, 2000; Heckman, Lochner and Taber, 1998; Heckman, Lochner and Todd, 2003). In reviewing the international literature, both theoretical and empirical, he came to the conclusion that: (i) training is a dynamic process; (ii) skill begets skill, which is tantamount to recognizing a form of path dependence in the construction of competencies, and most of all, (iii) 'much learning takes places outside of schools: post-school learning is an important source of skill formation that accounts for as much as one third to one half of all skill formation in a modern economy (this estimate is made in Heckman, Lochner e Taber, 1998)' (Heckman, 2000, p.5).
The objective of this paper is to investigate the role played by the organizational design of workplaces in improving (out of school) the level of the skills acted out or expressed by workers. Special attention will be paid to the so-called «transversal» (or key) skills, which are considered in the debate on life-long learning as applicable to all workplaces, regardless of industry and company size...
DECOWE paper: Education, Informal Learning and Development of Key Competencies in Workplaces.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Education, Informal Learning and Development of Key Competencies in Workplaces.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Pečjak, Vanda / HR Association of Slovenia
HRM developement from the perspective of HRM Associations in CSEE
Abstract and purpose: The role of HR associations in all countries is to anlyse the situation in HR field from the perspective of HR function in the companies and to show gaps, where the role and the processes have to be improved. Showing structural changes in the society and effects on working population with the proposals for new role and approaches are the main topics of all conferrences organised by all HR associations. The european level is covered by EAPM, some activities are covered by regional groups and many of them by country organisations.
The key issues in HR now is: how to move the role of HR function from operational level to strategic level and how to become a real strategic partner in the business. Teh research on this subject was recently published by EAPM, prepared by BSG.
In Slovenia HR Association is organised in 14 local association. The central association organises 2 central events for HR specialists, to help HR managers and specialists with sharing good practice from all sectors and presenting new theoretic findings and methodologies in HR field. Slovenian association is also member of Alpe Adria group, where we exchange the good practice among Austria, Italy and Slovenia. We have started to invite on these meeting also the HR associations from other countries in CSEE. Slovenia also plays an active role in mentoring candidate HR associations from EX Yugo countries, applying for full membership in EAPM.
Survey: Creating People Advantage, June 2009, prepared by BCG.
DECOWE presentation: HRM developement from the perspective of HRM Associations in CSEE.ppt
Links to related projects: will be added shortly
Cernigoj-Sadar, Nevenka / University of Ljubljana
Societal and Organisational Contexts of Womens' Careers
Globalisation, demographic and labour market changes and the development of new technologies have completely changed the structure and functioning of organizations as well as the workforce expectations. New career conceptualisation is based on continuous organizational changes and changes in private life that means also multiple commitments related to various roles and as a consequence creation of multiple careers. Careers unfold in multilayered context and over the life course (Moen & Sweet, 2004). In spite of growing intensification of work, for young generations the endeavours for balancing work and private life are as important as meaningful work and development of employability. The role of individual and the organisation in managing professional careers are of equal importance.
In the paper we shall explore the impact of child birth upon work careers of women and the role of organisations in developing women's career regarding the options for balancing work and family life. The analysis is based on recent comparative qualitative and quantitative studies about young parents in Slovenia (Černigoj Sadar & Kersnik, 2004; Kanjuo Mrčela & Černigoj Sadar, 2007). Special attention is paid to family friendly measures introduced in 32 organisations in Slovenia to ease work and out of work life balancing. These measures are evaluated in terms of their long - term impacts upon the women's positions in organizations and the work conditions for developing parents'/women's careers.
DECOWE paper: Societal and Organisational Contexts of Womens' Careers.pdf
DECOWE presentation: Societal and Organisational Contexts of Womens' Careers.ppt
Gabriella Di Francesco, Fabio Roma / ISFOL - Institute for the Development of Vocational Training for Workers
Giuseppe Della Rocca & Giovanni Passarelli / University of Calabria
Work Organisation and Development of Competencies. Organisation, Learning and Competencies (OLC) project
Abstract & purpose: This paper intend to offer an overview of the diffusion of employee skills in the Italian manufacturing and services sectors and the relationship between their level and the organisational context.
The work follows on from the project carried out by ISFOL, in collaboration with ISTAT: 'Organisation, Learning and Competencies' (OLC). In 2003, ISFOL set up the OLC project, with the goal of improving our knowledge of the competences expressed and required in industry and the factors influencing their development. The project was divided into two major areas of survey, both independent of each other but strictly correlated in their content:
1. The survey on workers. This was based on interviews using the CAPI method on a sample of over 3,600 subjects, stratified so as to represent a universe of around 9 million workers in Italian firms (excluding those in the extracting and building industries), aged between 15 and 64. The questions, on work perception and overall work conditions, were in ten sections: work position; general aspects of work; features of the organisation; skills, commitment and expended effort in carrying out the job; the exercise of discretion; skills training; 'required' competencies; pay, working hours and industrial relations; the situation in previous years and recent changes, and personal details of the worker.
2. The survey on firms. This involved a stratified sample of around 1,800 'local units' from firms with at least eleven employees from the census of the Statistical Archive of Active Firms of ISTAT, the Italian National institute of Statistics. The subjects of the survey, also carried out with the CAPI method, were managers in charge of a local unit, in the case of a firm with several production units, and entrepreneurs in the case of smaller single-premises firms...
Decowe Paper: Work Organisation and Development of Competencies. Organisation, Learning and Competencies (OLC) project.pdf
Lans, Thomas & Mulder, Martin / Wageningen University, Education- and Competence Studies
Competence, empirical insights from a small-business perspective
Abstract and purpose: During the last decade the issue of competence has been received with enthusiasm as well critical stance among researchers and practitioners. The ongoing debate has resulted in new notions of competence which can be seen as the continuous search for more comprehensive conceptualizations of competence in order to contrast them clearly with the disintegrative and reductionist models of competence popular in the nineteen eighties. One strategy in this regard is to adopt a multi-method orientation to competence. Multi-method approaches are differentiated from classical competence approaches in the sense that they not only incorporate generic worker attributes but also deploy a more fine-grained analysis of actual work activities, work context and related organizational goals and strategies. This paper summarizes the findings of three empirical studies in which a multi-method approach to competence was used to study entrepreneurial competence in small firms. The results show that even though competencies are partly idiosyncratic, situated, constructs, it is possible to formulate steppingstones for competence (i.e. competence domains). Furthermore, a more fine-grained analysis of a specific task and associated situations can assist researchers as well as practitioners with disentangling the complex relationships between competence and (small-business) performance.
DECOWE Paper: Competence, empirical insights from a small-business perspective.pdf
