C ompetency management can provide crucial leverage in the current competitive scenario where organizational performance increasingly depends on their assets of knowledge and skills (Yeung, 1996). In such an in-creasingly changing environment, it makes more sense to consider human resources as owners of skills and situated individual knowledge, rather than trying to constrain their behavior within roles characterized by predefined expectations and responsibilities. Consequently, the adoption of a competency-based approach seems an appropriate way to overcome the lack of flexi-The dominant view in managerial practice assumes that competencies are "universal" constructs whose meaning is independent from any specific context. The "universalist" approach ensures a high degree of efficiency through standardization of competency codebooks. However, the effectiveness of this approach has often been questioned. Overgeneralization makes the description of competencies ambiguous and does not provide HR managers with adequate practical information. An alternative, "situationalist" approach defines competencies as situated, idiosyncratic constructs whose meaning is deeply influenced by organizational culture and by the unique way people make sense of their jobs. We propose a methodological approach to competency management based on a situationalist perspective. Through a field study carried out in a large Italian organization, we discuss the issues relevant to consider when developing competency-management systems though a situationalist approach. In particular, we show that the situationalist approach, by ensuring higher attention to the meaning and to the situated nature of competencies, is more capable of dealing with some of the critical management challenges outlined in the recent literature, such as the demand for more participative approaches and the increasing emphasis on emerging competencies.

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Proposes a comprehensive approach to support the activities of companies that provide public services. This approach consists of several steps. Defines an appropriate set of performance indicators, and the choice of an appropriate evaluation technique and its application to the services involved. Enables managers of organisations operating in public services to derive operational frameworks based on: an analysis of the information flows among different stakeholders involved in service processes; and the identification of a set of indicators allowing evaluation of the performance level in order to develop quality control systems. Presents an application of the approach to the case of the water supply service in Italy.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate factors and weaknesses influencing university–industry interactions diffusion and success by focusing on the research services initiatives because there are limited studies in literature focusing on this specific form of interaction between the two actors. Design/methodology/approach The authors carried an explorative research based on multiple case studies referring to research services experienced between two big Italian universities and small and medium-sized enterprises located in the same area. Findings By conducting a cross-case analysis, the authors highlight categories of data in terms of factors influencing interactions’ diffusion and success, as perceived by researchers and by firms; and weaknesses in the interactions process to identify suggestions for improving interactions’ diffusion and success, from researchers and firms. Practical implications The outcomes provide managerial implications useful for agencies supporting the diffusion of innovation among firms and firms’ systems for defining new policies and action plans aimed at making the university–industry interactions faster and more effective, improving the innovation processes within firms. Originality/value This paper gives new insight in the analysis of factors enhancing university–industry relationships with a focus on research services collaborations and focusing both on university and industry, where large contributions focus predominantly on both groups.