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The purpose of this paper is to present a competency-based curriculum design model based on a set of ten foundational professional competencies (PCs) that prepare college graduates to meet the needs of global businesses now and in the future.

This phenomenological single-case study reviews literature on the foundational principles of competency-based education (CBE) and comparatively analyzes the results of qualitative interviews to create a set of ten PCs linking employee and business success.

This study presents a theoretical competency-based curriculum model (competency-based learning, performance and behavior (CBLPB)) designed for online education programs to enable a twenty-first century workforce to succeed. The curriculum design model is tested as applied by the researchers in various courses taught at an online university.

This is a conceptual model for testing in academic research settings in colleges and universities.

The study suggests that higher education business curriculum should be designed using a CBE model to develop graduates with the foundational PCs that employers need and desire in educated working professionals.

From the faculty perspective, the CBLPB curriculum design model can enhance the design and implementation of CBE in business programs.

This paper compares balanced scorecard and intellectual capital and finds important differences between their theoretical underpinnings, which suggest that the breath of indicators will work differently in organisations.

Analysing texts about balanced scorecard and intellectual capital, the paper discusses not the obvious similarities – that they are both integrated performance management systems – but four more aspects: strategy, organisation, management, and indicators. Comparing these four dimensions the paper discusses the differences arising from the very different theories of strategy that they presuppose: competitive advantage versus competency strategy.

The paper suggests that the very different notions of strategy that underpin the balanced scorecard and the intellectual capital approach make such comprehensive performance management systems behave in very different ways – the difference between a tightly coupled and a loosely coupled system accounts for this.

The main limitation is that the paper is primarily a literature study and therefore it is not certain that in practical situations companies will necessarily adopt the theoretical perspectives mobilised behind balance scorecard and intellectual capital.

The usefulness of that paper is that practitioners may understand the breath of implications of a shift in strategic focus and realise the various organisational conditions that can help mobilise the use of indicators in different ways.

The paper's analysis shows how the two models assume how indicators work in an organisational systems and concludes that the differences are significant and that therefore there are considerable differences in how a system of indicators may work in the context of balanced scorecard compared with the context of intellectual capital.

The purpose of this research was first to determine the competencies mandatory of risk managers, and second, to consider the implications of such competencies in determining modules appropriate for inclusion in any prospective undergraduate qualification with specialisation in risk management.

A qualitative research approach was followed, involving academics teaching risk management in a focus group and making use of interactive qualitative analysis (IQA).

The competencies identified were business management skills, financial knowledge, an understanding of the risk management process, governance and compliance, people management and technical skills. These will be explained in greater detail in the paper.

The implications for teaching are that an undergraduate curriculum in risk management will have to combine majors such as business management, financial management, risk management, industrial psychology and communication. These majors need to be complemented by modules in governance and compliance management, as well as information and communication technology.

The implication for practice is that risk management professionals and members of the Institute of Risk Management of South Africa need to avail themselves to serve on an advisory board of academic departments offering risk management qualifications. Risk management is a developing science and requires inputs about research and the curriculation of qualifications.

The implication for public policy is that the South African Qualifications Authority and the Council for Higher Education should reconsider their requirements for designators (specialised qualifications). The implications for research are that IQA provides clarity on the knowledge and skills required to develop a competency-based qualification in risk management. Further research should benchmark qualifications and propose a curriculum for a bachelor’s degree in risk management.

The use of IQA is a novel way of ensuring rigour and objectivity in arriving at a description of the required knowledge, skills, values and attributes of risk managers. This paper will assist in the compilation of a new curriculum for an undergraduate qualification in risk management; thus, ensuring such qualification will provide a competency-based qualification that will meet the needs of the profession.

The digital economy provides companies with financial stability and highly developed technological tools to run businesses based on their operations’ transparency. Business stability is formed due to the introduction of a competence-based management system in financial organizations in the Russian corporate sector.

In terms of the digital economy as financial and technological companies, we consider large banks and other financial organizations to develop risk-oriented technologies for managing financial stability based on digitization.

The main aim of this chapter is to describe the features, the factors, and the conditions for the competence-based management development system. It highlights the role of the system for the banks and the financial technologies used by companies for sustainable development.

Research in strategic management has provided a wealth of contributions to the study of competition between firms, yet most strategic management theories were developed and refined for large firm contexts. This suggests the assumed theoretical relationships between strategy preference and performance may break down in the small business setting.

The paper uses a data set from the National Federation of Independent Businesses to test hypotheses relating the strategy preferences of 754 small firms with the performance outcomes of survival and expected growth.

Small businesses can focus on both survival and growth when they pursue competency-based strategies, but they risk their very survival when pursuing flexibility-based strategies. Virtually all small firms pursue strategies to compete, but some of the strategies they follow to pursue growth endanger their survival.

Because of life-cycle and resource endowment factors, researchers should carefully parse differences between large and small firms when studying the relationship between strategy preferences and organizational performance.

Small business owners should be aware that their choices of strategies to pursue growth may lead to unintended consequences, such as the demise of their firms.

The paper demonstrates to researchers and practitioners how strategic preferences that presumably allow larger firms both to survive and grow do not have the same effects for smaller firms. The paper establishes boundary conditions for the effectiveness of flexibility strategies on performance in terms of firm size.

The purpose of this paper is first to determine the competencies required of risk managers and second to consider the implications of such competencies in determining modules for inclusion in the curriculum framework of an undergraduate qualification in risk management.

A qualitative research approach was followed, involving risk management professionals in a focus group and making use of interactive qualitative analysis (IQA).

The competencies identified are managerial and risk management knowledge, attributes such as assertiveness and steadfastness and ethical values, as well as people and technical skills. These are explained in greater detail in this paper.

The unique contribution of the current research was the innovative use of IQA for data collection, the removal of subjectivity and the rigour in analysing and presenting the results. The results provide a starting point for designing a curriculum that will both meet the requirements of the professional body and will equip graduates with the best possible combination of knowledge, attributes, values and skills needed by the risk management profession. The implications for further research include that a comparative IQA study of the competencies of risk managers using academics from the field could be undertaken, as well as a study of the design, benchmarking and validation of a proposed curriculum for an undergraduate degree in risk management. The purpose of this study was not to compile a curriculum for a new BCom (risk management). However, this was beyond the scope of the current study. IQA uses rigour and eliminates the bias of the researcher, and the one limitation of this research lies in the use of a focus group, which resulted in the findings not being generalizable as the case would have been with a representative sample used in the positivist paradigm and using appropriate statistical analysis. However, this study was exploratory and could serve as a valuable starting point for further research in this area to perform a comprehensive curriculum development.

This study found that constituents of the focus group perceived that the following competencies are required of risk managers, namely, knowledge, skills, attributes and values. These competencies correspond closely with the competencies indicated in the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Professional Core Competency Model, except that RIMS subdivides knowledge into three categories, namely, business, organisational and risk management knowledge. Similarly, RIMS distinguishes between management skills and technical skills. The attributes identified by the focus group of this study were similar to those identified by RIMS. However, the focus group emphasised values such as integrity, ethical conduct, respect and accountability. However, unlike RIMS, these were not perceived as one of the five core competencies, but rather as a stand-alone competency in its own right, which risk managers need to be successful. RIMS could consider reviewing its core competencies by allocating three closely related aspects, namely communication, collaboration and consultation to technical skills. Core competencies may be replaced by core values, which are literally at the centre of all the competencies required. Such core values are enhanced by the RIMS Code of Ethics (2019) and significantly contribute to the professionalization of risk management. RIMS could also consider providing guidelines to universities for those competencies that could be taught or learnt, to be included in their curricula and to accredit universities who meet such requirements.

The findings of this study also serve as a starting point for the reintroduction of a BCom (risk management) degree by Unisa. Despite the requirements of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the Council for Higher Education (CHE), this study demonstrated that a specialised degree in risk management needs to be offered to meet the need expressed by IRMSA for professional risk managers in Southern Africa, and such a degree should ideally be curriculated based on the competencies identified in this article. The implication for public policy is that SAQA and the CHE need to reconsider their rigid stance about the composition of specialised qualifications, and rather set a range of 33-50% for subjects from the field of specialisation that must be included in the curricula of specialised degrees. As indicated by this research, a combination of subjects from different disciplines is required to enhance the competencies and employability of risk management graduates.

The use of IQA is a novel way of ensuring rigour and objectivity in arriving at the required knowledge, attributes, values and skills of risk managers, and aids in the compilation of a new curriculum for an undergraduate qualification in risk management, thus ensuring the qualification will provide a competency-based qualification that will meet the needs of the profession.

This introduction seeks to locate the origins of the competency management in American and British management concerns with declining international competitiveness and the need for more efficient and effective managers. It examines the distinctive American and British approaches and identifies and defines the ideas, concepts and techniques associated with competency in each country. The transfer of these ideas and practices into the public sector accompanied the spread of new public management, which has increased throughout the 1990s. The movement is now an international one prompted by both the OECD and the management consultancy industry. The process of adoption and implementation has tended to be pragmatic and ad hoc but evidence suggests it is now becoming an important vehicle for organisational cultural change. This introduction provides the backdrop for the remaining five articles in this special issue of the journal, which illustrate both developments in theory and practice of competency‐based management within public services.

Aims to review the key concepts of competency management (CM) and to propose method for developing competency method.

Examines the CM features of 22 CM systems and 18 learning management systems.

Finds that the areas of open standard (XML, web services, RDF), semantic technologies (ontologies and the semantic web) and portals with self‐service technologies are going to play a significant part in the evolution of CM systems.

Emphasizes the beneficial attributes of CM for private and public organizations.

Reports on how Holiday Inn Worldwide has successfully implemented competency‐based HR strategies which directly link compensation and individual performance to business objectives. The core competencies deemed to be of value to the organization were customer service orientation; flexibility; commitment to organizational values; achievement orientation; initiative and proactivity; organizational influence; creative problem solving; enablement and developing others.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a framework for enhancing organizational productivity and capacity building at the national, industry-wide level that is based on an active collaboration between elements of the industry that the authors will refer to as the organization and the educational system that trains/educates the human resources that play a vital role in enabling the organization to acquire and then maintain the competitive advantage needed to be successful.

This framework is based on the concept of competencies of the human resource and a competence-based model for recruiting and developing these human resources. This framework has been successfully applied by the Kemt Enterprise Training Partnership (ETP)/Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET-Egypt) project in the Egyptian papermaking industry to solidify an understanding of the required competencies in this sector. For the purposes, the term competency will be defined as a set of skills, knowledge and behavior that allows employees to do their jobs effectively and efficiently without interfering with either other tasks or tasks they will encounter in the future.

Organizational productivity will be assumed to be related to having a workforce that is both competent and of the appropriate size, and can be determined using an organizational function map coupled to the development of a set of related occupational standards.

The paper proposed a national framework competence-based model which collaborates all the national efforts to enhance the national competitiveness.