A Competency-based Approach to Assessing Managerial Performance in the Australian Context

Abstract

There is substantial evidence to suggest that the competency movement is still in its infancy in Australia in 1997, despite federal government initiatives dating back to 1990 to promote the establishment of competency-based stan dards in the professions. There remains a lack of clarity as to what is meant by the term 'competence', originating from the lack of consensus surrounding efforts to define effective management. There is also an underlying uncer tainty about the viability of establishing generic managerial competencies in Australia. This paper examines the merits and de-merits of the competency- based approach to management, focusing on the need to develop an accepted framework within which to define competence. Following this, a review of the literature reveals a number of influential factors to be considered in deter mining managerial competence. This leads to the development of a proposed synthesizing framework of managerial competencies.