Commitment, control and the use of competency management

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the commitment- and control-approaches on the use of competency management, and to investigate whether attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control mediate these effects. Design/methodology/approach - In Study 1, using a survey, employees indicated whether their organization adopted a commitment- or a control-approach towards competency management. Moreover, they rated their own attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and behaviour. In Study 2 a scenario experiment was conducted in which the authors manipulated the commitment- and control-approaches towards competency management in order to establish causal relations. Findings - Results consistently showed that the use of competency management is higher within a commitment- than within a control-approach. Furthermore, attitude and perceived behavioural control were found to mediate the relationship between the commitment-approach and the use of competency management. Research limitations/implications - Future research should include other organizational members, for example (line) managers, to create future insight in the effects of commitment- and control-approaches on the use of competency management. Practical implications - The results of the studies highlight that a commitment-oriented approach increases the use of competency management by employees and that a positive employee attitude and perceived behavioural control are of considerable importance when increasing the use of competency management is an organization’s primary goal. Originality/value - The paper gives insight in how to persuade and stimulate employees to use competency management more frequently

Competenties en effectiviteit: Het perspectief van verschillende beoordelaars.

The competency based approach to human resource management has gained popularity. Despite this popularity, there is still no unequivocal answer to the question whether and, if so, which competencies are actually related to effectiveness when different rater sources are considered. Therefore, this study examines relationships between managerial competencies and perceived managerial effectiveness focusing on the perspectives of subordinates, peers, and supervisors using a 360-degree feedback inventory. Results revealed that different rater sources assess competencies and managerial effectiveness differently. That is, comparing ratings of different sources showed little to no similarity. Furthermore, within source competency ratings were found to be more similar than between source competency ratings. Overall, competencies appeared to be related to perceived managerial effectiveness. In addition, results showed that in the eyes of subordinates, peers, and supervisors, different competencies are considered predictors of perceived managerial effectiveness. The results are discussed and several potentially fruitful avenues for future research on the link between competencies and effectiveness are presented

Challenging medical students with an interim assessment: a positive effect on formal examination score in a randomized controlled study

Until now, positive effects of assessment at a medical curriculum level have not been demonstrated. This study was performed to determine whether an interim assessment, taken during a small group work session of an ongoing biomedical course, results in students’ increased performance at the formal course examination. A randomized controlled trial was set up, with an interim assessment without explicit feedback as intervention. It was performed during a regular biomedical Bachelor course of 4 weeks on General Pathology at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre. Participants were 326 medical and 91 biomedical science students divided into three study arms: arm Intervention-1 (I-1) receiving one interim assessment; arm I-2 receiving two interim assessments, and control arm C, receiving no interim assessment. The study arms were stratified for gender and study discipline. The interim assessment consisted of seven multiple-choice questions on tumour pathology. Main outcome measures were overall score of the formal examination (scale 1–10), and the subscore of the questions on tumour pathology (scale 1–10). We found that students who underwent an interim assessment (arm I) had a 0.29-point (scale 1–10) higher score on the formal examination than the control group (p = 0.037). For the questions in the formal examination on tumour pathology the score amounted to 0.47 points higher (p = 0.007), whereas it was 0.17 points higher for the questions on topics related to the previous 3 weeks. No differences in formal examination score were found between arms I-1 and I-2 (p = 0.817). These findings suggest that an interim assessment during a small group work session in a randomized study setting stimulates students to increase their formal examination score

Influencia de la oposición en la velocidad de lanzamiento en jugadores de balonmano de élite, amateur y formación

El éxito del lanzamiento a portería en balonmano depende en gran medida de la velocidad del balón. Existen escasas evidencias sobre cómo afecta la toma de decisión y oposición en la velocidad del lanzamiento, sin embargo estas hacen presagiar cierta influencia. El presente estudio pretende analizar las diferencias en la velocidad de lanzamiento sin y con oposición. Para ello, ciento seis jugadores de élite internacional (E), amateur (A) y edades formativas (F) fueron evaluados en dos situaciones de velocidad de lanzamiento: sin oposición (VSO) y con oposición (VCO). El análisis de diferencias entre medias constató que la VCO fue inferior (5%; p menor que 0,01) a la VSO mientras que el análisis de la relación reveló valores de correlación medios entre la VSO y la VCO en E (r=0,597; p menor que 0,05) y A (r=0,598; p menor que 0,01) y bajos en F (r=0,378, p=0,01) Se confirma una influencia de la oposición y toma de decisión en la velocidad de lanzamiento, haciendo disminuir la misma. Existe una relación entre la velocidad de lanzamiento sin y con oposición positiva y significativa en los tres grupos analizados

Organizational culture, internal marketing, and perceived organizational support in portuguese higher education institutions

Changes imposed on public higher education institutions try to adopt some management practices in public organizations. In this study, we intend to understand how organizational culture (support, innovation, goals, rules) and internal marketing can contribute to the organizational support of employees of higher education institutions. The study was developed with a sample of 635 employees. The results show that organizational culture and internal marketing contribute to the explanation of perceived organizational support (POS). Then, through a structural equation model, it was possible to confirm the contribution of support culture and internal marketing to the explanation of POS. More studies are necessary taking students' point of view into account. These results reveal the importance of the fact that organizations need to implement a culture of support and appropriate internal communication networks that allow employees to perceive social support.FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/SOC/04020/2013

The time-dependent expression of keratins 5 and 13 during the reepithelialization of human skin wounds

The time-dependent reepithelialization of 55 human surgical skin wounds with a wound age between 8h and more than 2 months was investigated by the immunohistochemical localization of cytokeratins 5 and 13. A complete, rebuilt epidermal layer over the wound area was first detectable in a 5-day-old wound, while all wounds of more than 18 days duration contained a completely reepithelialized wound area. Between 5 and 18 days the basal layer of keratinocytes showed — in contrast to normal skin — only some cells positive for cytokeratin 5. In some, but not all lesions with a wound age of 13 days or more, a basal cell layer completely staining for cytokeratin 5 was demonstrable. This staining pattern was found in all skin wounds with a wound age of more than 23 days. The immunohistochemical detection of cytokeratin 13 which can be observed regularly in non-cornifying squamous epithelia provides no information for the time-estimation of human skin wounds, since no significant temporary expression of this polypeptide seems to occur during the healing of human skin wounds