ADVANCES AND CHALLENGES OF CONCEPTUALIZATION AND OPERATIONALIZATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS IN 15 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION

Abstract

Given the heterogeneous theoretical universe orienting the construction of the concept of skills in the field of Administration, we noticed the lack of a unifying source of concepts and ways of implementation of organizational skills. The multiplicity, followed to terminological and conceptual confusion of organizational skills can lead to inadequacies also within its operation. It is precisely this gap that this article aims to start filling, in order to describe and discuss progress and challenges of the implementation of organizational skills concepts in Business Administration field, in the course of 15 years (1997-2012). The research in six databases, considering certain keywords, revealed 31 studies closely related to the interests of this article, surrounded on the following topics: Conceptualization and Organizational Skills Classification; Training and Development of Organizational Skills and Management Models based on Skills. Through the explanations presented in this work, we state that the central matters for the theoretical and empirical body cohesion of the thematic are the recognition of the influence of external variables and the need for alignment between business strategy and skills. Moreover, the alignment of resources, individual skills and collective skills is very important. We must consider that, to make sense, the skills require a holistic perspective that permeates the entire organization. In order to do so, a critical element is communication. The common understanding by the users on the significance of this management model and on its ability to improve current practices with reliable and valid benefits is fundamental. The main contribution of this work is to make an effort to go further in this understanding.