Competencies: Alternative frameworks for competitive advantage

Competencies in organizations can be broadly classified as employee-level and organizational-level. Since organizational-level competencies are embedded in employee-level competencies, the identification of the latter is important for organizations interested in using competencies to achieve competitive advantage. In this paper, we present a model of employee competencies as a means to organizational competitiveness and discuss various frameworks for identifying employee competencies. In addition to the traditional frameworks, which are more suitable for organizations functioning in a static environment, we offer two alternative frameworks that can be useful in identifying competencies in a dynamic organizational environment. Once appropriate employee-level competencies are identified, a competency-based human resource system can be implemented to ensure that employees actually do possess the identified competencies.