Management Development: Using Internal or External Resources in Developing Core Competence

Abstract

This article defines management as a source of organizational competitive advantage and from the view that managers are some of the employees most vital to a firm. According to influential theories in the field of strategic management, such human assets should be protected, governed, and developed internally. In contrast to the traditional view of core competence, this article suggests that firms have to use external as well as internal resources to develop employees with unique and valuable capabilities and skills. The article makes the argument that a mix of internal and external developmental resources might be an important mechanism in the creation of management development as a dynamic capability or as a means to develop human assets that are one of the main sources of competitive advantage.

A Strategic Perspective on Human Resource Development

“…Contextual and Dynamic Framework for SHRDSource: Developed from ideas presented by Jackson andSchuler (2003 a, b),Way and Johnson (2005),Espedal (2005),Gilley and Maycunich-Gilley (2002), andUlrich (1996).…”

Predicting Management Development and Learning Behaviour in New Zealand SMEs

“…Although there is no consensus on the definition of management development (MD) in the current literature, it is commonly viewed as one or a combination of the following: a learning process (Mumford, 1987); management education (Thomson et al, 1998); development of managerial resources (Molander, 1986); and/or a dynamic capability for learning (Espedal, 2005). The common theme amongst these perspectives is the involvement of a manager in some form of learning approach designed to improve managerial effectiveness to meet organizational needs.…”

“People as Technology” Conceptual Model: Toward a New Value Creation Paradigm for Strategic Human Resource Development

“…It is "intellectual material-knowledge, information, intellectual property, experience-that can be used to create wealth" (Stewart, 1999, p. xx). The accelerating rate of change requires that the workforce of a firm be seen as one of the critical factors in creating competitive advantage for the firm; thus, the human and social capital aspects of the workforce could be recognized, similar to technology and protected markets, as very important contributing factors to a firm's competitive advantage (Anand et al, 2002;Espedal, 2005;Pfeffer, 1994). Espedal (2005) suggests that culture and management practice might be a competitive advantage for a firm.…”