capitalism-
Research on Competency Model:A Literature Review and
Empirical Studies
Abstract
Western
countries
have
applied
competency
models
to
addressing
problems
existed in their administrative and managerial systems since 1970s
,
and the findings is
positine and promising. However, competency model hasn’t been introduced to China
until 1990s and it is still unknown and mysterious to many Chinese managers. This
paper aims to uncover the mysterious veil of competency model in order to broaden
the horizon of Chinese managers and boost China's human resource development as
well as management.
Keywords:
Competency
,
Competency Models
,
Empirical Studies of Competency
Models
It has been more than 30 years since competency model was utilized to human
resource
western
countries
,
competency
model
first
displayed
its
effectiveness in government administration, meanwhile many multinationals and their
branch companies applied the competency model to their daily business management
and their business was a great success. As the notion of competency is gradually come
to light and accepted by people all around the world
,
more and more enterprises have
been
trying
to
build
their
own
competency
model
under
the
help
of
professional
consultant firms. As a result
,
competency model has gradually been a very fashionable
phrase in the field of management and quite a few enterprises are thus benefited from
it. In recent years, competency model has become a hot spot in the Chinese academia
as well as big-
,
middle- and small-sized enterprises alike
,
many relevant writings and
books
have
also
been
translated
and
published.
However,
competency
and
competency model are still mysterious to many Chinese scholars, business managers
as well as government administrators.
Purpose and Significance of the Study
The
purpose
of
the
study
aims
to
make
a
critical
literature
review
of
the
competency model
,
clarify some confusion related to it and explore its application.
The following questions are employed to guide this study:What is competency? What
is
competency
model?
What
are
the
theoretical
and
empirical
findings
related
to
competency model?
The study illustrates how we could take advantage of competency model in our
harmonious society building. On one hand
,
the study will delineate competency and
competency model in order to clarify confusions related to it since it is still strange
and mysterious to many Chinese managers and administrators;on the other hand
,
the
1
study
would
enrich
Chinese
HRD&HRM
in
the
field
of
government
administration
and business management both theoretically and empirically.
Research Method
The
present
study
has
utilized
qualitative
analysis,
induction
and
deduction.
Since this research is a literature review in some sense, qualitative analysis will be an
indispensable
research
method;
Induction
and
deduction
are
applied
to
both
theoretical and empirical studies.
In
order
to
enhance
the
credibility
of
present
research
,
only
the
authoritative
publications on competency model are reviewed
,
including books and papers written
by
foreign
and
Chinese
scholars
and
HRDHRM
practitioners.
By
searching
for
the
keywords
model
and
model
building
as
well
as
studies
on
competency
models
,
books
and
papers
written
by
well-known foreign scholars such as McClelland D. C.
,
Lyle M. Spencer, Anntoinette
D.
Lucia,
Richard
Lepsinger
etc.
,
are
available;
by
the
same
token
,
books
and
papers
written
by
Chinese
scholars
such
as
Zhi-gong
He
,
Jianfeng
Peng,
Shaohua
Fang, Nengquan Wu
,
etc.
,
could be consulted. All the books and papers are published
between
1950s
and
2007.
In
addition,
many
data
cited
in
this
paper
comes
from
empirical studies at home and abroad.
Findings
In
this
part
,
a
literature
review
of
competency
is
firstly
carried
out;then
competency
model
as
well
as
its
evolution
,
development
and
innovation
is
delineated;finally empirical studies are reviewed. Empirical studies mainly focus on
competency model building and its application to human resource development and
management.
Understanding Competency
In 1973
,
American scholar David C.
McClelland published his paper Testing
for
Competency
Rather
Than
Intelligence
which
cited
a
large
amount
of
research
findings to illustrate
the inappropriateness of assessing personnel qualities by abusing intelligence tests. Dr.
McClelland
further
explained
that
some
factors
(personality,
intelligence,
value
,
etc.)which
people
had
always
taken
for
granted
in
determining
work
performance
hadn't displayed their desired result. As a result
,
he emphasized that people should
ignore those theoretical by pothese and subjective judgements which had been proved
groundless in reality.
He declared that people should tap directly those factors and
behaviors
which
could
really
impact
their
performance
(McClelland,
1973).
These
factors and behaviors were named
The publishing of
this paper symbolized the debut of competency research. From then on
,
many scholars
started
getting
involved
into
the
research
on
competency
and
they
conceptualized
2
competency from different perspectives as shown in the following table:
The above ten concepts of competency have a lot in common:
①
Competency is
motive,
trai t
,
value
,
skill
,
self-image,
social
role
,
knowledge;
②
Competency
is
a
combination;
③
Competency should be measurable, observable, instructional
,
phasic
and hierarchical;
④
Competency is a determinant to outstanding performance.
Thus competency is an underlying combination of individual characteristics such
as motive, inner drive force, quality, attitude
,
sole role
,
self-image, knowledge and
skill
,
it
is
causally
related
to
criterion-referenced
effective
and/or
superior
performance in a job or situation and it is measurable
,
observable and instructional.
Besides
,
many scholars and consultancy firms believe that competency could be
explained under the help of three different models:
Iceberg Model. This model treats competency as an iceberg, the part above the
water
represents
behavior,
knowledge
and
skills
which
are
easy
to
measure
and
observe
,
while
the
part
under
the
water
symbolizes
underlying
qualities
such
as
value
,
attitude
,
social role, self-image
,
traits which are hard to assess
,
and the deepest
part under the water represents the most latent qualities such as inner drive force
,
social motive, etc.
which are most difficult to observe and measure.
Onion
Model.
This
model
treats
competency
as
an
onion,
the
outer
layer
represents skills and knowledge which are liable to acquire
,
the inner layer refers to
qualities
such
as
self-image
,
social
role
,
attitude
and
value
which
are
relatively
difficult to appraise, while the core of the onion symbolizes traits and motives which
are most difficult to cultivate and develop.
Brain
Model.
This
model
stems
from
the
brain
mechanism.
It
presupposes
that
the
brain
could
be
divided
into
four
parts.
Each
part
functions
differently.
The
upper-left
part
is
in
charge
of
competency
such
as
analysing
capacity,
calculation,
strong logic ability; the upper-right part is in charge of competency such as innovation
and intuition;the bottom left part is in charge of competency such as organizing ability,
planning
ability;
and
the
bottom-right
part
is
in
charge
of
competency
such
as
communication
ability
,
perception,
etc.
Different
parts
will
exert
corresponding
influence on competency development.
Conceptualizations of Competency Model
Few
foreign
scholars
have
directly
put
forward
conceptualizations
of
competency model. By contrast
,
many Chinese scholars have expressed their opinions
on
it.
The
present
paper
only
cites
those
concepts
that
have
been
published
by
authoritative publishing houses.
Jianfeng
Peng,
a
professor
in
Ch;na
Renmin
University
,
together
with
his
students, has studied how to build competency models for effective HR management
since
2003.
He
thought
competency
model
was
the
combination
of
different
3
qualities
which
were
necessary
for
people
to
successfully
finish
a
job
or
achieve
superior performance
,
these qualities included different motives
,
traits, self-images
and
social
roles
as
well
as
knowledge
and
skill
(Jianfeng
Peng,
2003).
Prof.
Peng
believed
that
a
competency
model
was
composed
of
4-6
competencies
that
were
closely related to performance.
Competency models could help managers judge and
distinguish
key
factors
that
led
to
superior
performance
or
underperformance.
As
a
result
,
competency model could be treated as a foundation to improve performance.
Professor
Nengquan
Wu
from
Sun
Yat-sen
University
published
his
book
Competency Model:Design and Application in 2005
,
according to his understanding,
competency
model
refers
to
that
people
define
core
competencies
of
different
levels,
delineate
corresponding
behaviors
,
determine
key
competencies
as
well
as
f
inish
certain
work.‖(Nengquan
Wu
,
2005).
Prof.
Wu
conceptualized
competency
model
from
the
perspective
of
methodology.
He
believed
that
competency
model
was
a
unique
HRM
thinking
mode,
method
and
operation
flow.
On
the
basis
of
organizational
strategy,
competency
model
could
be
utilized
to
enhance organizational competitiveness and improve performance.
Shaohua
Fang,
a
senior
HRM
consultant
and
expert
,
provided
us
with
the
following
definition:
model
is
to
conceptualize
and
describe
the
necessary knowledge,skills
,
qualities and abilities which an employee should have in
order
to
finish
work
(Shaohua
Fang,
2007)‖.By
taking
advantage
of
definitions
of
different
levels
and
related
behavioral
descriptions,
people
could
determine
the
combination
of
core
competencies
and
required
proficiency
to
finish
work.
Hc}
pointed out these behaviors and skills must be able to measure
,
observe and instruct
and
they
should
exert
a
great
influence
upon
personal
performance
and
business
success.
International
Human
Resource
Institute(IHRI)
has
also
defined
competency
model:
competencies that could actualize superior performance.‖(·IHRI, 2005)IHRI declared
that a competency model should include 6^-1 2 competencies.
In
summary,
the
first
concept
mentioned
above
attaches
an
importance
to
the
composition of competency model and its function, while all of the rest three concepts
emphasize
cognitive
abilities
as
well
as
criterion-referred
performance.
Thus
competency,
model
is
a
combination
of
different
competencies
which
could
be
observed
,
delineated
,
explained
and
calculated
on
one
hand
,
and
could
facilitate
superior performance on the other hand.
Development and Evolution of Competency Model
In
early
1970,
top
officials
in
U.
S.
Department
of
State
believed
that
their
4
diplomats'
se-
lection
based
on
intelligence
test
was
ineffective.
It
was
an
upset
situation for them to
find that many seemly excellent
people fail to
live up to
their
expectations
regarding
their
work
performance.
Under
such
circumstances,
Dr.
McClelland
was
invited
to
help
Department
of
State
design
an
effective
personnel
selection system which could appraise the actual performance of employees.
In that
program
,
McClelland
and
his
colleague
Charles
Dailey
adopted
the
method
of
Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) to collect information in older to study factors that
influenced the diplomats' performance. Through a series of summaries and analyses,
McClelland and Dailey found out the differences between an excellent diplomat and a
mediocre diplomat as far as their behaviors and modes of thinking were concerned. In
this
way,
competencies
that
a
diplomat
should
possess
were
found
out.
This
program is the earliest empirical application of competency model.
And the research
findings
were
two
papers:
Improving
Officer
Selection
for
the
Foreign
Service (McClelland&Dailey
,
1972) as well as Evaluating New Methods of
Measuring
the
Qualities
Needed
in
Superior
Foreign
Service
Information
Officers(McClelland& Dailey
,
1973).
Mcber
and
American
Management
Association
(A'MA)
also
started
their
research
on
competency
model
in
the
same
year.
They
focused
on
providing
the
answer to the question:what kind of competencies should be displayed by successful
managers
rather
than
unsuccessful
ones?
AMA
spent
5
years
observing
1
800
managers.
By comparing the performance of excellent managers and mediocre ones,
AMA defined their competencies based on their traits.
The research results showed
that
all
the
successful
managers
shared
the
following
5
competencies:professional
knowledge
,
maturity of mentality, maturity of .entrepreneurship
,
people relations and
maturity of the profession.
Of which
,
only professional knowledge were shared by
excellent and mediocre managers (Mcber&.AMA, 1970).
Then
Prof.
Bray
carried
out
8
years
research
at
AT&T
based
on
technique
of
assessment center.
From the aspectives of abilities, attitudes and traits, etc.
,
he built
a
competency
model
composed
of
25
competencies
such
as
interpersonal
relations,
expression
ability,
social
sensitivity,
creat ivity
,
flexibility
,
organizational
ability
,
planning ability, decision- making ability, etc(Bray and Grant
,
1978).
In China
,
however, researches on competency model are relatively much late.
Chinese scholars Chongming Wang and Minke Chen published their paper about
competency
model
in
Psychological
Science
in
1992.
They
studied
220
senior
and
middle-level managers of 51 enterprises in 5 cities.
After examining and testing the
competency model for senior managers on the basis of factor analysis and structural
equation
modelling,
they
compiled
Managerial
Behavior
Assessment
Scale
(Chongming Wang&Minke Chen
,
2002).
5
Scholars
such
as
Kan
Shi,
Jicheng
Wang
and
Chaoping
Li
took
advantage
of
Behaviocal Event
Interview to assess the competency model for senior managers in
the
industry
of
telecommunication
(Kan
Shi
,
Jicheng
Wang&Chaoping
Li
,
2002).
Jicheng Wang designed 5 universal competency models for technical personnel
,
sales
people, community service personnel
,
managers as well as entrepreneurs respectively.
Jianfeng
Peng
and
his
postgraduate
student
Xiaojuan
built
4
universal
competency models for business managers
,
business technical personnel
,
marketing
personnel as well as HR managers (Jianfeng Peng
,
2003 ).
The
above
domestic
studies
illustrate
that
competency
models
for
middle-level
and senior managers have been built based on in-depth interview and questionnairing.
Most
publications
only
focus
on
conceptualizing
competency
model
,
its
development
,
behavioral event interview as well as competency model building
,
most
of the findings are theoretical rather than empirical.
By contrast
,
foreign studies are
much maturer both theoretically and empirically.
Empirical Studies
Empirical studies highlight the application of competency model to enterprises,
governments and other institutions.
Nowadays
,
empirical
studies
on
competency
models
mainly
focus
on
the
following 4 aspects:
Staffing
and
Selection.
Besides
job
standards
and
skills
prescription,
more
and
more businesses have carried out their personnel staffing and selection in light of the
candidates'
competencies
which
are
crucial
to
their
future
performance.
This
competency-based personnel staffing and selection has connected business strategies
and targets to business employees themselves. As a result
,
the quality of staffing and
selection is greatly improved.
Performance
Management.
Businesses
which
have
built
their
competency
models
are
more
interested
in
the
competency
rather
than
the
result
itself
in
their
performance management. As a result, their performance management style has been
competency-driven
rather
than
result-
driven.
Managers
haven’t
attached
an
importance to short-term performance, but current and long-term performances.
In
such
a
managerial
system
,
outstanding
performance
has
been
easily
actualized.
Each
employee
has
made
most
of
their
core
competencies
and
expertise
to
make
a
contribution to their business.
Compensation
the
competency- based
compensation
management system is set up, businesses have concentrated on their employees’future
development and potential value, which has stimulated employees and managers of all
ranks
to
improve
themselves
both
menetuacy
and
teconologcal.
Competency
oases
compense
lion
management
system
has
helped
enterprises
attract
and
retain
more
6
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