The main issue of this study was to examine the individual competencies foreign government representatives must possess in order to be more effective and efficient when holding their positions is Taiwan, as well as their competency development process. Therefore, this chapter surveyed the related literature on the concept of competency, diplomacy, foreign government representatives and Taiwan’s foreign relations, in order to get a better understanding of each theme in depth.
Competency
In the literature, a competency is a concept that has been utilized in different ways. The main distinction to make is between organizational competencies and individual competencies.
Organizational competencies refer to those elements at the organizational level which characterize collective action (Olson & Bolton, 2002), in order for the organization to gain competitive advantage (Nadler & Tushman, 1999). In the area of Human Resources, individual competencies generally have to do with the characteristics of an individual, which are the individual skills and work manners used to attain a certain work goal (Green, 1999). This study will focus only on those individual competencies.
Definition of Individual Competency
Throughout most of the literature individual competencies have been described as being composed of knowledge, skills and attitudes or KSAs (Ashton, Davies, Felstead, & Green, 1999), an individual possess. This interpretation, while simple, does not cover the whole scope of what a competency really is. A more complete definition for competency is that it is “an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-reference effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation” (Spencer & Spencer, 1993, p. 9). Explaining this concept further, by being an underlying characteristic, a competency is something which is a deep and enduring part of an individual’s personality and can predict behavior in different situations; by having casual relations, a competency causes and foresees behavior; and by having a criterion-referenced, a competency can predicts high or low performance, measuring it on a specific standard (Spencer & Spencer, 1993).
8
Sandberg (1994) defined competency as the required skills, abilities and personal characteristics for a good management figure, which include not only observable behaviors but also intangible qualities of a person. Hartle (1995) distinguished individual competencies as an attribute an individual has which has been proven to enhance that individuals job performance.
Competency was also defined as a cluster of related knowledge attitudes and skills that affect a major part of one’s job, which correlate with job performance, can be measured against well accepted standards, and can be improved by training and development (Parry, 1996). For the purpose of this research, competency refers to knowledge, skills, attributes and other characteristics required for high performance on a job.
Competency Model
While some researches referred to the term competence model to describe the output of analyses that differentiate high performance from average and lower performers (Mirabile, 1997), this study defines competency model as a particular collection of characteristics that establish the qualifications for a specific job position (Cooper, 2000). These characteristics include knowledge, skills, aspects of self-image, social motives, traits, thought patterns, mindsets, and the ways of feeling, acting and thinking an individual posses (Dubois & Rothwell, 2004), and are commonly used as a human resource tool for selection, training, development and appraisal of personnel.
Spencer and Spencer (1993) proposed five types of competency characteristics:
1. Motives: the things a person consistently thinks about or wants that cause action. They are responsible for driving, directing and selecting behavior.
2. Traits: physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations and information.
3. Self-Concept: a person’s attitudes, values or self image.
4. Knowledge: information a person has in specific content areas.
5. Skill: the ability to perform a certain physical or mental task.
Based on these five characteristics Spencer and Specer (1993), as shown in Figure 2.1, elaborated the iceberg model, classifying individual competencies into hidden and visible competencies. Visible competencies consisting of knowledge and skills, and are located at the top of the iceberg model. These competencies are more easy to recognize and to develop. Hidden
9
competencies are located at the base of the model and include self-concept, traits and motives.
These hidden competencies go deep into the core of an individual’s personality, hence they are more difficult to assess and be taught. Therefore, the most cost-effective way to attain the visible competencies is through training, while selecting is the most cost-effective way to acquire certain hidden competencies.
Figure 2.1. The iceberg model of competency. Adapted from “Competency at work: Models for superior performance,” by L.M Spencer & S.M.
Spencer, 1993. Copyright 1993 by John Wiley & Sons Inc.
In this model, Spencer and Spencer (1993) proposed that the intent of an individual is what guides his or her actions, meaning that motives, traits and self concept are the drivers for skill, action and behavior which ultimately relate to job performance.
According to Lucia and Lepsinger (1999), a competency model must include both acquired and innate abilities of an individual. This is illustrated in Figure 2.2 in the form of a pyramid which is constructed on the foundation of personal talents, on top of which skills and knowledge acquirable through learning or experience can be incorporated. Again in this model we can see how those innate and fundamental competencies at the bottom of the pyramid model can serve as a launch pad to acquire and enhance an individual’s skills and abilities, as well as ultimately also determining behavior.
Self Concept Trait Motive
Skills
Knowlegde Visible
Hidden
10
Figure 2.2. Competency pyramid. Adapted from “The art and science of competency models :Pinpointing critical success factors in organizations,”
by A. Lucia & R. Lepsinger, 1999. Copyright 1999 by Jossey-Bass.
The two models formerly mentioned, the iceberg model and the competency pyramid, relate to the concept of stable and dynamic individual competencies. Leiba-O'Sullivan (1999) suggested that competencies can be further categorized as dynamic or stable traits. Dynamic competencies like knowledge and skills are those competencies that can be acquired by training.
Stable competencies which include abilities, individual interest, personality and other characteristics, are fixed and have the potential to develop further knowledge and skills. In other words, stable competencies are necessary in order to attain dynamic competencies.
Downes, Varner and Musinski (2007) pointed out that “the ability to pick up those skills that are acquirable, such as language proficiency, computer savvy or negotiating techniques, is dictated by the ascribed characteristics that remain relatively stable throughout a person's lifetime” (p. 5), furthermore they highlight that stable competencies are difficult or almost impossible to acquire.
Behavior
Skills Knowledge
Aptitude Personal Characteristics
11 The ASTD competency model
In addition to the previously covered competency models, Davis, Naughton and Rothwell (2004) developed the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) competency model, originally constructed for the learning and development field, which proposed a collection of skills, knowledge, abilities, and behaviors required for individuals, based on three different levels of consecutive building blocks which are better depicted below:
Figure 2.3. The American Society for Training & Development competency model. Adapted from “New roles and new competencies for the profession,” by P. Davis, J. Naughton & W. Rothwell, 2004, T & D, 58(4), p.29. Copyright 2004 by American Society for Training &
Development, Inc.
To explain each level more in detail, foundational level competencies are those supporting level competencies at the base of the model which correlate to high performance in an area, and are desirable for all professionals in a field. Furthermore, the model divides the foundational competencies into three types: (1) interpersonalrefers to how well an individual can relate, work
12
with, manage, and influence people;(2) business/management refers to how well an individual can resolve situations, evaluate decisions, and execute action plans;(3) personal refers to how well an individual can adjust to change and make choices to improve his or her professional career. Next follows the focus level, or areas of expertise (AOE), which include a set of technical, professional and specialized abilities an individual needs to performeffectively in different positions. Moreover, these AOEs are specialized areas that are constructed from, and depend on the focused application of the previously mentioned foundational competencies. The top execution level are roles, which are groupings of selected competencies. It’s important to make the distinction that roles are not the same as job titles, and can best be defined as the general area of responsibility within a profession that requires a specific set of foundational competencies and specific set of focus level areas of expertise to execute effectively (Davis, Naughton & Rothwell, 2004).
This model provided a significant and handy instrument for guiding individual competency development, helping determine the elements needed for individuals to smoothly cruise their career, as well as a common language to examine what are the individual needs of a particular area or field, by determining the competencies practitioners should possess to thrive in a field, thus presenting a more consolidated picture of individual competency needs (Werner &
DeSimone, 2009). Therefore, to determine the competencies needed for foreign government representatives, this study aimed at incorporating elements of this model and adapting it to the foreign government representative profession, in order to present a complete and integrated competency model for this field.
Developing a competency model
As mentioned by Lawler (1994), the foundation for constructing a competency model is job analysis, which incorporates job descriptions and job specifications. The former is used in most organization as a basis for selection, training, career development and compensation, stating the task, responsibility and obligation needed for a job. The later illustrates and addresses the knowledge and skills in relation to the task and responsibility of a job. As a whole, job analysis is a process for collecting important competency data, which included detailed criteria for superior
13
job performance, and it’s focused on task, responsibilities, duties, accountabilities, knowledge and skill requirements (Brannick & Levine, 2002).
According to Dubois (1993), nowadays most organizations use different techniques for successfully developing competency models, which fall under one of the following five types:
1. Job Competence Assessment Method: this method utilizes a rigorous, empirical research procedure to identify job competencies which differentiate average from superior job performance. Average and superior workers are interviewed about the aspects of their job performance. Following the competency identification, they and other job elements are used to build the job competency model.
2. Modified Job Competence Assessment Method: This method adopts the job competence assessment research procedure, however rather than interviewing average and superior performers, these individuals are asked to write and record their own critical behavior indicators.
3. Generic Model Overlay Method: This method selects or attains a prepared competency model and then overlays or superimposes it on a job within a given organization.
4. Customized Generic Model: This method identifies all the likely generic competencies that fully characterize the attribute of average and superior performers of a job within an organization. These competencies are then researched and interpreted within the job and the organizational context, to select the specific competencies that determine a successful employee. Other attributes for the desired competency model are also researched.
5. Flexible Job Competence Model Overlay Method: This method utilizes many different comprehensive information sources, both external and internal, to be included in the research base. It determines and uses future assumptions about the job and the organization. The use of this methods results in the availability of behavioral indicators for each job competency.
In addition, after defining a performance effectiveness criteria and identifying a criterion sample, Spencer and Spencer (1993) identified several methods of data collecting in order to develop accurate competency models which are listed below:
14
1. Behavioral events interviews: This interview method is derived from the critical incident technique. In these interviews average and superior performers share real life situations in which they have handled the most difficult and important aspects of their job, thus revealing the competencies needed for their profession.
2. Expert panels: A group of experts – supervisors, high performers or human resource professionals, is in charge of brainstorming the personal attributes employees’ must possess to perform the job at a superior level. Later, such attributes are prioritized according to their relation with job success.
3. Surveys: Experts and other members of an organization give rates to competency items according to the significance to effective job performance and how often it is used. This can also be done utilizing the Delphi technique, which is a tool for collecting opinions of a group of expert, in order to achieve consensus in areas lacking empirical evidence; in this technique, one experts provide opinions to revise the list of competencies, following, another expert revises items based on the version of the previous expert revision (Polit & Beck, 2004).
4. Computer based expert systems: This system asks questions to experts, which are keyed into a large knowledge base of competencies that have been identified in previous research.
Finally, it processes and provides a description of the competencies needed for exemplary job performance.
5. Job task/function analyses: Either employees or observers list every task, function or action an employee performs in a period of time. This method can collects data through questionnaires, time logs, individual o panel interview or observation.
6. Direct observation: Jobholders are observed directly performing job task, while their behaviors are being coded for competencies.
This research used a combination and adaptation of the methods of behavioral event job interviews, job task/function analyses and direct observation for data collection proposed by Spencer and Spencer (1993). Furthermore, the technique used in this study fall in the category of Job Competence Assessment Method, by using interviews as a main tool for data collection. As
15
part of the research questions, this study also addressed the individual competency development stage of foreign government representatives. Thus, the next section gave an overview of the literature regarding this topic.
Competency Development
Throughout the literature, research supports that competencies can in fact be developed in mature adults (Boyatzis, 2006). It’s also likely that certain competencies are more easily acquirable than others and that not all are develop at the same time (Rhee, 2007). According to Rhee (2007) “an ideal development environment is where a learner is exposed to a balanced mixture of situations where both learning and performance take place” (p.158)
Aside from training, evidence suggested that individuals learn fundamental competencies also through real life on the job experiences (McCall, Lombardo, & Morrison, 1988). Day (2007) pointed out how many organizations today use job assignments to develop individuals which have been determined to have the capacity of undertaking leadership roles. Some suggested that certain assignments present individuals with the challenges needed to cultivate learning on the job (McCauley, Ruderman, Ohlott & Morrow, 1994). Such developmental assignments require individuals to think and act in new ways, facilitating the acquirement of underdeveloped skills (Ohlott, 2004). These assignments can also enhance competencies through motivational and emotional mechanisms, revealing the discrepancies between their present abilities and those needed for success; in doing so individuals will be even more motivated to develop their knowledge and skills (Dragoni et al., 2009).
Social Learning Theory
It would be incomplete to talk about competency development without going through the overall learning process. Learning can be seen of as a process by which an individual’s experience results in an alteration of behavior (Merriam & Caffarella 1998). Some learning experts argument that it’s the elements in the environment that are responsible for shaping ones behavior by giving stimuli to which individuals react (Fulham & Taylor, 2005). Following this
16
orientation to learning Hartley (1998) highlighted how skills can’t be develop without constant interaction with the environment and without practice.
Social or situational learning theory proposed that people learn from observing other people, this process happens when individuals interact in different social settings, therefore learning is viewed as a process of social participation, not as the acquisition of knowledge by individuals (Merriam & Caffarella 1998). In the social learning perspective the development of skills and other abilities requires beginners in an area to have high interaction in the field’s socio-cultural practices, allowing newcomer and veterans to socialize (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This orientation suggests that the act of learning is part of a day to day routine, making a stretch relation between knowledge and activity (Merriam & Caffarella 1998). This learning theory seem more relevant to the situation faced by foreign government representatives, since as they are public figures their work rely highly on well develop social skills, and must learn to change and adapt according to their environments.
Intentional Change Theory
Intentional Change Theory provides a discontinuous non-linear process for how an individuals’ self-direction and discovery can lead to successive improvements in behavior and competency development; this happens as self-awareness rise and an individual develops a personal vision or ideal self; then they evaluate their actual behavior or real self, and positive physiological forces driven by the ideal self creates motivation to grow (Boyatzis, 2006). This emphasizes the idea that setting learning goals is important to the development of competencies.
According to Leonard (2008) goal setting is constructive for developing complex, social, emotional and cognitive intelligence competencies, as well as simple skill development and behavior change, since by setting goals “we move our efforts and decisions toward it more efficiently and effectively, giving our functioning purpose and focus” (p. 109). Still an individual’s ability to learn may vary. Those individuals with a high level of learning orientation view challenges as opportunities to enhance their skills and highly value these opportunities (Klein & Zeigert, 2004).
17
Furthermore, as this study focuses on foreign government representatives, which by nature are expatriate workers, the next section of the literature will provide an over-look on those competencies required by individual chosen to carry out international assignments.
Diplomacy
The field of diplomacy can be broadly defined as the management of the day-by-day interactions between countries (Henderson, 1995). As noticed by Lee & Hudson (2004), it involves “a process of communication, negotiation and sharing information between sovereign states… is also a foreign policy instrument that belongs (almost exclusively) to states in an international system of anarchy” (p. 353); they point out as well how the increase of states in the international system and the development of global and regional organizations have incremented today’s diplomatic activities.
There is of course a long history of diplomatic activity going back thousands of years.
According to Siracusa (2010) one of the earliest diplomatic records dated back to 2,500 BC found in present day northern Iran, this was a letter between two distant kingdoms which was carried out by an emissary. As Kissinger (1994) explained, sovereigns sent envoys to other sovereigns to prevent war, cease hostilities, conclude treaties, continue peaceful terms and further trade.
The modern era of diplomacy established the independence of states and the notion of religious freedom (Anderson, 1993). Siracusa (2010) pinpointed how “as divine-right kings gave way to constitutional monarchies and republics, embassies and legislations became more institutionalized over Europe” (p.2). Several contributions to the diplomatic practice have been made throughout history, like it was the case in the age of the city-states of Italy, also in France during the 1789 French Revolution, and in the beginnings of the expansions and industrialization of the British empire (Saner et al., 2000). By the end of the 19th century European-style diplomacy had been adopted throughout the world. Other significant contributions to the diplomatic field were proposed by the U.S. in the years following World War Two, time during which different areas f academia and social science began to study in more detail the aptitudes and behaviors of international negotiators (Saner et al., 2000).
18
Roles of Foreign Government Representatives
The ancient Greek word for a diplomat was the word for an old man, and in later times was
The ancient Greek word for a diplomat was the word for an old man, and in later times was