An analysis of managerial competency needs in the tourism sector: the case of turkey

14 Tourism Review, Vol 62, No 2/2007

Refereed Section

This paper investigates the concept of com￾petencies is being used widely in the sphere

of management as a means for measuring

the performance of individuals. The compe￾tency approach implies that the type of lists

of knowledge and skills developed is a cor￾rect list which can be applied in different in￾dustries. Therefore, there has been much in￾terest recently in the identification of a

generic list of management competencies.

Even many set of competencies has been

produced recently; a few comparative stud￾ies have been done to test validity of compe￾tencies in different countries. There has also

been an assumption that competence can be

measured. This paper has two aims. First, it

investigates whether there is a set of univer￾sal management competencies in the con￾text of tourism industry. The second reason

for focusing on this topic is to meet the ur￾gent need in the tourism sector for a

methodology for analyzing individual train￾ing and development needs represent a com￾mon and essential part of the performance

management and assessment processes.

In a pioneering study, Agut and Grau

(2002) developed a construct for analyzing

competency needs of managers in hotel in￾dustry. They provided an operative method

to analyze competency needs in terms of

gaps. This article reports the results of a

replication of the Agut and Grau’s study in

Turkey and a comparison of the major

findings. Conclusions are drawn that con￾sider both the implications of the similari￾ties and variations between the findings of

the two studies as well as focusing on an in￾terpretation of the studies from the point

of view of cultural variation and the impli￾cations for hotel management recruitment,

education and training.

2 Literature survey

During the last decade, the term “compe￾tency” was frequently pronounced in the HR

literature, which offers diverse definitions

for it. Literature review by Hoffman (1999)

indicates three main positions taken toward

the definition of the term. Competencies are

either defined as observable performance, or

the standards or quality of the outcome of

the person’s performance, or the underlying

attributes of a person. Concluding about

the concept, Hoffmann suggests that the

purpose of defining competencies is to im￾prove human performance at work.

Wayne and Stringer (1997: cited in Bro￾phy and Kiely, 2002 p.166) define compe￾1st submission: November 23, 2006

Accepted: March 10, 2007

One of the ways of improving organizational performance is to focus on individual performance and to an￾alyze the knowledge and skills needs for effective job performance. Relevant literature suggests that needs

should be studied as gaps in competencies. This study reports findings from data relating to the percep￾tions of middle-level managers about the importance and current state of managerial competencies in the

tourism sector. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey conducted in the hospitality facilities in

Antalya, the so-called capital city of tourism on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Respondents were

asked about the importance and also present level of managerial competencies (technical and generic) re￾quired for effective job performance. Gaps were measured by subtracting the importance value ascribed

to the competency from the value ascribed to the present competency level. The objective of this replica￾tion exercise was to adhere as closely as possible to the methodology and instruments used by Agut and

Grau to facilitate direct comparison.

Key words: Managerial competency, competency gaps, accommodation sector

An Analysis of Managerial Competency Needs in the

Tourism Sector: The Case of Turkey

BEYKAN ÇIZEL, NILGÜN ANAFARTA & FULYA SARVAN

Abstract

1 Introduction

Beykan Çizel, Assistant Professor,

Akdeniz University School of Tourism &

Hotel Management,

Antalya/Turkey

E-Mail: [email protected]

Nilgün Anafarta, Associate Professor,

Akdeniz University Faculty of Economic and

Administrative Sciences,

Antalya/Turkey

E-Mail: [email protected]

Fulya Sarvan, Professor,

Akdeniz University Faculty of Economic and

Administrative Sciences,

Antalya/Turkey

E-Mail: [email protected]

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