People-management competencies: a competitive advantage

Resumen

This study puts forward a model for the analysis of the possible relationships between organisational variables and competences in 8 Portuguese organisations operating in four different sectors: two hospitals, two banks, two public administrations and two industrial companies. The organisational variables were defined as activity sector, organisation type and professional group. The competences were grouped into technical and generic domains. We were able to show that there is a general tendency, particular in the public organisations, to preferentially value technical competences. The most highly valued generic competences were motivation and teamwork, the least valued being language and computer skills. We conclude, in a general manner, that, by not attributing value to the generic competences, the organisations that participated in this study and the public ones in particular, showed low levels of openness, flexibility and adaptation to the wider world, a fact which may negatively affect future performance.