Management competencies anno 2025: consequences for higher education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a business-university collaborative research project that looked to define lower management competencies in the year 2025, specifically for complex, knowledge-intensive organizations. Design/methodology/approach – The research was done together with a large local airport. Data were gathered by a team of five researchers using focus groups and interviews with 47 employees from 15 different business units. Data were analyzed using thematic and summative content analysis. Findings – The author found that in order for employees to be effective in a learning organization, they will need to be able to switch between roles. Roles are a combination of fundamental and functional competencies. The former are relational in nature and needed to function throughout the broader organization. The latter are knowledge-related and needed to perform-specific functions. Research limitations/implications – Limitations are linked to the generalizability of the results and the fact that the research was organization centric, meaning broad societal changes that might affect individuals’ attitudes and in turn their attitude toward work were not considered. This research does, however, raise some important issues about working effectively in complex organizations and the role higher education has in preparing students. Practical implications – Curricula designers in higher education can use the findings to help adapt their current approach to teaching and learning. Originality/value – Most work on defining competencies for curricula development fails to delineate between fundamental and functional competencies. There is also little empirical work on how roles can be developed.