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Qualification is the competence that is required for tasks related to wage work. Competence is all the forms of knowledge possessed by the staff as well as their personal abilities. When qualification is related to competence, possible competence deficiencies become apparent. This can be done in our model for controlling the improvement of competence. The first step in the process of describing competence deficiency is to operationalize the concept of qualification. This is achieved by means of social tests, which can be considered as relevant data. Empirical data are used to develop social tests relating to qualification for two staff categories, Front staff and Departmental managers. Finally, we take a further step and suggest how the empirical content of the concept can be used in a model for controlling the improvement of competence.

The present paper aims to explore what type of information is useful for managers and employees in understanding the company and the requirements for particular jobs within the company.

A longitudinal study was undertaken in a Swedish company. A number of narratives were collected with the help of asking for stories in the context of an interview, critical‐incident technique and recording of spontaneous storytelling.

The finding in present paper is that narrative accounting is a new way of looking at management accounting. Narrative accounting consists of visualisations and narratives emanating from within an organisation.

The present paper explores an area were few studies have been conducted.

The usefulness of present paper is that practitioners may understand that there is a need for complements to traditional accounting in the context competence creation.

The research shows that narrative accounting is a new way of looking at management accounting.

The aim of this paper is to suggest a new competence‐based framework for describing and analysing the initiation of the transition of goods‐dominant companies to service providers. The paper seeks to illustrate the relevance of the new framework in an empirical study of a knowledge‐intensive mechanical engineering company.

A single‐case study of the world's leading maker of tool steel forms the empirical basis for the paper. A study based on a qualitative research methodology, involving inductive inquiry and a field study over six years focusing on “narratives from the field” was conducted.

New competencies are needed to initiate the transition from products to service and to manage service‐based offerings. The findings are summarised in two categories. The first, “customer value socialisation”, refers to the sharing of experiences and knowledge among employees. The second, “customer value management”, refers to management's ability to encourage employees to create value‐in‐use for the customers.

The study contributes to the literature by: focusing on issues related to competence (rather than organisational structures and strategy); identifying “customer value socialisation” and “customer value management” as the important dimensions for engendering competence in employees; and introducing the concepts of “unfreezing”, “movement”, and “refreezing,” into the management of the necessary cultural change that must accompany the transition.