Strategic Competency Management within an International Context

Strategic Competency Management aims to have the right people with the right competencies in the right job at the right time. Where Human Resource Management (HRM) and Strategic Management were once thought to be mutually exclusive, it is now clear in this study that the organization requires a more disciplined collaboration between the two. HRM is now being recognized as an essential support for corporate strategies to develop a flexible, productive, and skilled workforce. To focus on this challenge, human resource professionals are being asked to provide planning that anticipates and responds to changes in the environment that have major impacts on business performance. The major findings in this study have shown that an effective Strategic Competency Management approach will require HR managers who are business managers, and that HR must be integrated into an organizations planning process so that it will become a contributing factor to organizational success. HR still needs to demonstrate its value to the organization by establishing commitment from management and to find better ways to communicate its intent in order to create buy-in for Strategic Competency Management integration. This paper examines the alignment of Strategic Competency Management practices in an international context. The proposed model is based on Bolman and Deals’s (1997) theory of lateral coordination by looking at integration of two perspectives, including Human Resource Management and Strategic Management. The model is explored by drawing upon on case study based research that employs qualitative data analysis techniques. Data was collected through survey data, best practices interviews, and review of documentation