Advances in the implementation of the European Higher Education Area have had a great impact on university environment and the process of design, evaluation, and implementation of new curricula. Identifying competence levels among students can help course organizers to improve both academic content and teaching/learning processes. The present study addresses this issue by examining the implementation of an Internet‐based competency assessment tool. We analyze the status and evolution of soft skills among students on the Official Masters program Creating and Managing Innovative Technology‐Based Companies at the University of Barcelona, using a tool known as Tricuspoid, specifically designed for evaluating entrepreneurial competences. The results show that the tool, first, enables students to identify their strong and weak points and to develop personal strategies for improvement; second, provides teachers with additional information about the effects of their input on student competences; and third, supplies useful information for quality management of the Master's programs, because it can detect trends in the training needs of new students and help to enhance content accordingly, and therefore match the design of the academic program to the requirements of labor market. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

La adaptación cultural de las EMNEs en Europa, es de particular relevancia debido a la considerable distancia cultural entre economías emergentes y desarrolladas y los conflictos isomórficos que pueden surgir a nivel de filial. Aquí, examinamos este problema a través de dos casos de estudio de filiales chinas que operan en España. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la adopción y adaptación de los valores y prácticas culturales chinos al entorno local permite a la filial alinearse con la cultura de la empresa matriz al mismo tiempo que se integra en el entorno de acogida, resolviendo así cualquier conflicto isomórfico.