International perspectives on competence in the workplace: implications for research, policy and practice

As the world's economy develops into a more dynamic, fast-moving, and unpredictable entity, it is crucial that the workers who create wealth have the ability to assess and respond to new and unforeseen challenges. In other words, the future will require a more competent workforce. What, though, does this mean in practice? In this fully revised second edition, a variety of researchers from around the world provide an international perspective on the issue. Helping to redefine the term competence, they present competence as having the ability to assess new situations and then adapt one's response accordingly, particularly in collaboration with others. The book explores the concept of competence in industry and vocational education, in schools and colleges, in small businesses and companies, and in universities.

Excerpts from publication.

Theme one, 'Competence in the workplace: a focus on industry and vocational education', contains the following chapters: Understanding of work: the basis for competence development / Jorgen Sandberg; Exploring opportunities for collaborative linkages in the vocational education and training (VET) sector / Christine Velde; Workplace competence: integrating social and personal perspectives / Stephen Billett. Theme two, 'Competence in the workplace: a focus on schools and colleges', contains: The changing context of business education: competency requirements for the new paradigm / Christina Wai-Mui Yu and Christine Velde; Professional competencies: perspectives and challenges for the tertiary sector / Shirley M. Yates; Employers' perceptions of graduate outcomes: a case study of a private college in Shanghai / Christine Velde. Theme three, 'Competence in the workplace: a focus on small business and companies', contains: Workplace trainers in enterprises: merging and emerging areas of practice / Michele Simons and Roger Harris; Developing entrepreneurial competencies through dilemma reconciliation / Pi-Shen Seet and Noor Hazlina Ahmad; Learning environments of employees in knowledge-intensive company units / Lennart Svensson. Theme four, 'Competence in the workplace: a focus on university and global contexts', contains: Intercultural knowledge management: a competency model for the repatriation of expatriates in the Asia-Pacific / Christine Velde; Local needs, global contexts: innovation and excellence in teaching in the modern university / Penny Boumelha; Demands for intercultural communicative competence in working life / Eva Ericsson; Conclusion / Christine Velde.

As the world's economy develops into a more dynamic, fast-moving, and unpredictable entity, it is crucial that the workers who create wealth have the ability to assess and respond to new and unforeseen challenges. In other words, the future will require a more competent workforce. What, though, does this mean in practice? In this fully revised second edition, a variety of researchers from around the world provide an international perspective on the issue. Helping to redefine the term competence, they present competence as having the ability to assess new situations and then adapt ...  [+] Show more