Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractCorporate entrepreneurship, the discovery and pursuit of new opportunities through innovation and venturing, is an important source of competitive advantage. Corporate entrepreneurship involves a diverse set of activities such as innovation in products and processes; the development of internal and external corporate ventures; and the development of new business models, which require an array of roles, behaviors, and individual competencies. In this article, we define individual competencies and distinguish them from other individual difference constructs. We argue that given the unique requirements of corporate entrepreneurship, a competency‐based approach to assessing organizational human capital needs is superior to more traditional job‐analytic methods. Drawing on existing literature, we outline a competency framework for supporting corporate entrepreneurship and infer the underlying, measurable knowledge, skills, and abilities that contribute to these competencies. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this framework for the staffing, training and development, and performance‐appraisal practices of firms seeking to promote corporate entrepreneurship. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractEmployability is a critical requirement for enabling both sustained competitive advantage at the firm level and career success at the individual level. We propose a competence‐based approach to employability derived from an expansion of the resource‐based view of the firm. In this contribution, we present a reliable and valid instrument for measuring employability. This measure is based on a five‐dimensional conceptualization of employability, in which occupational expertise is complemented with generic competences. Two sources of raters (employees and their immediate supervisors) are involved in developing and testing the measure. Since the five dimensions of employability explain a significant amount of variance in both objective and subjective career success, the predictive validity of the tool is promising. This instrument facilitates further scientific HRM research and is of practical value in light of job and career assessments, recruitment, staffing, career mobility, and development practices. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.