Even though the literature on competence in
organizations recognizes the need to align organization
level core competence with individual level
job competence, it does not consider the role of
information technology in managing competence
across the macro and micro levels. To address
this shortcoming, we embarked on an action
research study that develops and tests design
principles for competence management systems.
This research develops an integrative model of
competence that not only outlines the interaction
between organizational and individual level competence
and the role of technology in this process,
but also incorporates a typology of competence
(competence-in-stock, competence-in-use, and
competence-in-the-making). Six Swedish organizations
participated in our research project, which
took 30 months and consisted of two action
research cycles involving numerous data collection
strategies and interventions such as prototypes.
In addition to developing a set of design principles
and considering their implications for both
research and practice, this article includes a selfassessment
of the study by evaluating it according
to the criteria for canonical action research.