Search results

This paper reports on a study of the efficacy of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand's (the Institute) Professional Accounting School (PAS) programme in developing a set of competencies in candidates. The study surveyed Institute candidates' perceptions of their competence levels for 16 specified skills at the commencement and conclusion of the 1999 PAS programme. The findings indicate that candidates perceived their levels of competence, for both cognitive and behavioural skills, to have been significantly improved by the PAS programme. Tests of two secondary hypotheses in the study indicate certain gender‐ and firm‐based differences in the perceived level of competence of candidates. The results of the study provide the Institute with feedback on the PAS programme and facilitate the further development of the programme. Other professional accounting bodies may consider replicating this study using data collected on similar programmes. The results of such studies may then be compared to enhance the existing knowledge of competency development in professional accounting education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of professional competency in current digital curation literature through the lens of competency theories in management science and organizational studies. This paper also aims to provide recommendations to articulate and expand professional competencies in future digital curation research and professional education.

The outcomes presented in this paper are based on a multi-disciplinary literature review and a qualitative content analysis. The literature review explores theoretical foundations of professional competency in management science and organizational studies and how the concept of professional competency is used in digital curation literature. The content analysis scrutinizes 16 digital curation publications that have discussed professional competency, with an in-depth examination of seven empirical studies in these publications.

The findings include: the concept of professional competency is inconsistently used in digital curation literature, the digital curation literature exhibits disparate coverage of different types of professional competencies, and the digital curation empirical studies often narrowly operationalize the concept of professional competency but the empirical studies using multiple or in-depth qualitative methods yield more comprehensive findings reflecting a broader scope of the concept.

Although past research focused on the competencies required for digital curation, there is no research scrutinizing the conceptual construct of professional competency in the digital curation literature. This paper will be of value to digital curation researchers and educators to better determine the competencies needed for digital curators as an emerging profession.

The identification and development of appropriate competencies remain very critical and central to performance measures in mainstream human resource management genre towards effective teams. It is posited as a viable means for validating and engendering best practices and developing suitable competencies towards acceptable performance outcome in construction project delivery. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical professional competencies of an architect in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI) towards effective performance in the construction project delivery.

From a mixed method design involving semi-structured qualitative interview and a questionnaire survey of architects in Ghana, 16 professional architectural competencies were identified for respondents to indicate their importance to effective architectural practice and consulting in the GCI on a five-point Likert scale. Factor analysis was used to explore the interrelations among the variables and make possible empirical explanations.

Factor analysis revealed four underlying clusters named in order of their significance as efficient design response to client needs, legal aspects of practice, sustainable design and construction and efficient project management skills. The study provides insight into the contextual practice, characteristics and the critical professional architectural competencies needed by architects in the construction industry in Ghana.

The findings have rigorously revealed and provided clear understanding and insight into the thematic critical professional competencies of architects important to the construction industry in Ghana which should be the focus of architectural training and practice. It is also very important towards developing and stimulating a continuous professional development agenda, developing a body of knowledge of professional practice in architecture and conducting curriculum review to meet current emerging competency profiles necessary for influencing performance levels in the GCI.

This chapter seeks to better understand the skills and competencies that public relations (PR) professionals use in contributing to organisational decision-making processes. The data were collected by interviewing Finnish professionals using thematic semi-structured interviews. Overall, the results highlight a deep understanding of organisation management and decision-making processes. The most important competencies were business understanding and target group oriented thinking. The findings indicate that important skills are related to writing and social media. Regarding personal attributes, interaction and tolerance to criticism were acknowledged as most crucial. The conclusions suggest that if professionals analyse and review their skills, competencies and personal attributes related to decision making, this will support organisational performance and strengthen the added value of PR function. A reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of their own traits helps professionals enact their expected role in organisational problem solving and decision making.

This study examines the competencies delineated by the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) in Canada and explores the gap between what universities provide, represented by the students' confidence in the knowledge acquired—and what the accounting profession in Canada requires and deems necessary.

Using the 44 sub-competencies listed under the main seven competencies set by CPA, a pair of questionnaires were drafted. The first questionnaire asked post-secondary accounting students to rate their perceived confidence in these 44 sub-competencies and received 105 responses. The second questionnaire asked accounting professionals to rate the frequency and degree of use of each sub-competency in their workplace and received 72 responses. The responses to the two questionnaires were used to compare perceived student competencies with industry expectations.

The study suggests an industry-neutral framework that employers and post-secondary institutions (PSIs) can use to determine where knowledge gaps exist between students' qualifications and professionals' requirements. The paper concludes that while there are synergies in many competencies in the accounting field in Canada, there are also areas of discord.

The study relies on one accredited PSI. Relying on one case study limits the ability to generalize the findings. Nevertheless, the in-depth nature of the study allows it to shed light on many key issues related to accounting education and the profession in Alberta, Canada.

This paper adds to the existing literature by exploring the gap between what students learn and what the profession needs in the accounting field in Canada. Studying Canada adds to the accounting knowledge and draws attention to gaps that could exist in other countries. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to focus on Canada from this perspective. The paper also proposes a curriculum development model that is based on market needs and applicable to all fields of knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to expand the competence-led structuring and understanding of sustainability education by analysing the practices of professional individuals who have completed university education geared to the development of sustainability change-makers.

The research scope was initially on examining professional practices following the boundary work theory. Social practice theory was used as a methodological approach in conducting and analysing thematic interviews with 19 sustainability-focused master’s programme alumni. The interviews were analysed against the theoretical framework while also noting findings that fell outside of this framework.

A framework for understanding materials, competences and meanings of practices connected to the professional field of sustainability was introduced. The framework suggests that in the practices of sustainability-educated professionals, meanings emerge as a top priority and are conveyed using position-based materials and various complexes of competency.

The authors suggest that boundary theory informs well the emergence of the professional field of sustainability, and the utilisation of a practice theory furthers the understanding of sustainability professionalism and its education.

The authors’ suggest that practice theory could thus provide deeper insights on how sustainability science alumni use their education after graduation, how they practice their profession and in return offer applicable reflections to sustainability education.

Research using practice theory in reflection on sustainability education and the professional practice of sustainability has not been widely conducted and in the authors’ opinion brings value to the education and practice of sustainability and to the research of sustainability education.

This study investigates the competencies required for quality management professionals to meet the needs of industry 4.0. The authors use a case study strategy at an electronics manufacturer in southern Malaysia, to adapt their role to be relevant in the industry 4.0 environment. In doing so, this study answers the following four questions: (1) How are the changing technological trends expected to impact the future role of quality in industry 4.0? (2) What are the competencies gap between current and future roles of quality professionals? (3) What are the views and practices related to quality roles? (4) How can the gaps identified be closed to meet the quality challenges of industry 4.0?

The research methods consist of a comprehensive review of literature on the technological trends towards industry 4.0 and the impact on the role of quality and competence that may be required in the future, as well as internal document review on the current roles of quality professionals in an electronics manufacturer in southern Malaysia, to identify the competence gap. Empirical data was collected based on surveys conducted on 64 quality professionals with a response rate of 96.88%. Interviews were conducted on three decision-makers from critical areas in the electronics manufacturer for viewpoints from three different perspectives: finance, operations and talent development.

Quality professionals will require technical competencies to interpret large amounts of data from processes to make strategic decisions, the use of new AR tools and be aware of data security risks. Methodological competencies will be required to use data to identify the source of problems, to access reliable sources of learning and the ability to use new tools for solving complex problems efficiently. Social competencies will be required in communications across multi-sites, suppliers and customers in new collaborative virtual platforms, with the ability to retain tacit and explicit knowledge, in a decentralized environment that will require leadership ability to make decisions. Personal competencies required will be the ability to work in a flexible workplace and time and more frequent work-related changes.

The limitation of the study is based on what the authors currently know of the future, which may not be much for the quality professionals in the electronics manufacturer, who have not been exposed much to the technology yet. The potential for the future landscape to change dramatically with rapid technology changes may also result in a different set of skills for future quality professionals. The quality professionals who were involved in this study were the quality executives, engineers and managers, irrespective of their gender, age, length of service and experience in the field of quality. Therefore, these variables were not taken into consideration for this research.

This research helped to identify the role of quality in industry 4.0 and key competencies that the quality professionals in the electronics manufacturer will require to adapt to their role in industry 4.0. However, based on the questionnaire and the interview comments of key personnel, it can be concluded that quality professionals lack awareness of their new roles in industry 4.0. This could be due to the fact that the new technology is not implemented by quality professionals but by the innovation team based in Singapore headquarters, as was also advised by the operations head.

The benefit of industry 4.0 technology is clearly shown by Philips's new Dutch factory with robotized technology that was able to produce the same output with one-tenth of the workers of its China factory (Rifkin, 2014, chapter 8). Rojko (2017, p. 80) also shared a similar view that industry 4.0 is expected to reduce production costs by 10–30%, logistics costs by 10–30% and quality management costs by 10–20%. The importance of this research can be seen from the findings of “The Future of Jobs” (2018, p. 22), which suggests that the window of opportunity for organizations to leverage the new technology to re-skill is within the period of 2018–2022, in order to enable employees to reach full potential in the high value-added tasks. The electronics manufacturer may need to keep to this timeline to maintain its competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper was to determine the competence gap of current quality professionals in the electronics manufacturer with the competencies required in industry 4.0. This led to the third objective, to identify the views of stakeholders based on the propositions derived from the gaps identified, to triangulate the findings, to conclude the competency gaps of the current quality professionals in the electronics manufacturer. Finally, the objective of this paper was to make a recommendation on how to prepare the quality professionals in the electronics manufacturer for their role in industry 4.0. The research identified the technical, methodological, social and personal competencies gap of the quality professionals in the electronics manufacturer by looking at the changes expected in industry 4.0 from four aspects, factory (people and process), business, product and customers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent the professional identity of accountants, as manifested in a set of advanced cognitive, emotional and social intelligence competencies relevant to their professional activities, varies with the respective accounting position.

The systematically developed, formally clearly structured job advertisements for accounting positions provide content-rich representations of those holding the advertised position and thus contribute to revealing the professional identity. This study conducts a content analysis of 600 profiles of accountants presented in job advertisements of German organizations to identify the characteristic set of advanced cognitive, emotional and social intelligence competencies, juxtaposing different accounting positions at various stages of professional life. German organizations were targeted because they traditionally clearly differentiate between financial accounting and management accounting.

The job advertisements suggest that accountants develop a multifaceted professional identity reflecting their area of specialization and their level of entry. Financial accountants are more likely to be team-oriented than management accountants, and non-executive accountants are more likely than executive accountants. Analytical thinking seems to characterize management accountants rather than financial accountants. An independent way of working appears to be more pronounced among financial accountants than among management accountants.

This study refines the understanding of the professional identity of accountants by exploring the recruitment of accountants, the initial step of professional socialization. It identifies the most relevant advanced cognitive, emotional and social intelligence competencies based on a broad sample of job advertisements for accounting positions in organizations of different sizes and industries. By contrasting the competencies relevant to different positions and at different stages of their professional lives, it becomes evident that distinct professional identities of accountants coexist. The relevant competencies may be developed during higher education and continuing professional education. They may also be incorporated into individual performance evaluations and used as the basis for promotion decisions.

Legal information work has expanded with the growth in knowledge management and emergence of a new type of knowledge/information manager, the professional support lawyer. This study aims to investigate competency requirements for library‐based information work in UK law firms, including the specialist subject knowledge required, methods of development and the impact on information professionals of professional support lawyers.

The investigation used a pragmatic mixed‐methods approach, including a mainly quantitative questionnaire, administered online to 64 legal information professionals, followed by eight semi‐structured interviews and a focus group with four participants. A literature review informed the questionnaire design and contextualised the findings.

The survey confirmed a broad range of competency requirements and clarified the specific subject knowledge needed. Participants favoured a varied combination of formal, and informal learning. Most participants also wanted specialised professional education for the sector.

The nature of the sample and use of categorised questions were limiting factors, partly compensated by inviting open‐ended comments and follow‐up interviews. A larger study using qualitative methods with professional support lawyers and fee‐earners would provide a fuller more rounded picture.

The findings indicate that the subject knowledge needed for legal information work in law firms is more extensive than for other sectors and suggest that information science departments should strengthen and extend curriculum content to reflect this need.

The study has advanced the understanding of the competency, education and training needs of UK legal information professionals, challenging assumptions about academic/professional qualifications and illuminating the blend of competencies needed.

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the conceptualization and discussion of professional competencies needed for supporting the development of the whole-school approach in school health promotion (SHP).

The paper is based on a conceptual synthesis of literature, guided by a theoretical perspective on health promotion agency and professional competencies to identify core competency domains and elements. This is followed by a discussion of focus, gaps and links in conceptualizations of competency domains and elements.

The synthesis identifies five core competency domains: policy-development; organizational development; professional development; development of students’ learning; and development of health promotion activities. Three critical gaps in the conceptualizations of competency domains and elements are identified and discussed: the downplay of the development of learning domain and the narrow focus on cognitive elements within it; the narrow focus on cognitive elements and technical-organizational elements in the development of HP activities domain; and the downplay of affective competency elements across domains.

The five competency domains may provide an overall guiding tool for professionals tasked with practice and competency development in SHP, and a point of departure for the development of conceptualizations of professional competencies in concrete practice contexts.

The paper delineates an overall professional competency model for SHP, discusses the specific demands on professional competencies within this field in relation to this model, and addresses three critical gaps in the conceptualizations of competency.