Identifying Technical Competencies: A Delphi Approach

Authors

  • W. Todd Winklbauer

Keywords:

Competency, Delphi, operations research, technical competency

Abstract

Tomorrow's joint operating environment demands U.S. Army FA49s to be ingenious, proactive, and multi-talented; proficient in their core competencies as military leaders as well as being proficient in their technical competencies as problem solvers in the operations research field.

Guided by one primary and three secondary research questions, the purpose of this study was to identify the technical competencies and knowledge, skills, and abilities required for future U.S. Army FA49s to perform their duties within the joint operating environment of the next twenty-five years.  To identify these technical competencies and KSAs, this study employed a qualitative research design with a quantitative component using a conventional, web-assisted Delphi methodology.

The Delphi study engaged 10 experts through a first round of data gathering through a web-based questionnaire.  First round data was synthesized and sent to the experts, seeking consensus, during a subsequent second round.  Expert consensus was achieved on the second round, precluding the need for subsequent rounds to reach consensus.  Based upon the results derived from the two Delphi rounds, the experts’ identified and reached consensus on 5 technical competencies, 21 areas of knowledge, 41 skills, and 22 abilities that are required for future U.S. Army FA49s to perform their duties within the joint operating environment of the next twenty-five years.

Additionally, this research made four contributions to the engineering management discipline.  First, it has added to the existing body of knowledge in engineering management theory and methodology by presenting and substantiating that a Delphi process is capable of identifying future and/or forecasting requirements.  Second, it contributed to the literature by providing a basis for the expansion of the domain of competencies and KSAs for operations research.  Third, this research contributed to the identification of competencies and KSAs that are germane to the practical development of military FA49 educational curricula and may be germane to the practical development of engineering management curricula.  Fourth, this research has suggested directions for future research to enhance understanding of the competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities for the operations research field.

Author Biography

W. Todd Winklbauer

Colonel, United States Army, Ph.D.

References

Adler, M. and Ziglio, E., Gazing into the oracle: The delphi method and its application to social policy and public health. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1996.

Ayyub, B., Elicitation of expert opinions for uncertainty and risks. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001.

Booker, J.M. and McNamara, L.A., "Solving black box computation problems using expert knowledge theory and methods", Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Special Issue: Epistemic Uncertainty Workshop, vol. June, no. pp. 1-25. Los Alamos National Laboratory report, LA-UR-03-3840, 2003.

Brown, B.B., Cochran, S. and Dalkey, N.C., The delphi method, ii: Structure of experiments (memorandum rm-5957-pr). Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corp., 1969.

Charmaz, K., Constructing grounded theory : A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2006.

Clayton, M.J., "Delphi: A technique to harness expert opinion for critical decision-making tasks in education.", Educational Psychology, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 373, 1997.

Dalkey, N.C., The delphi method: An experimental study of group opinion (memorandum rm-5888-pr). Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corp., 1969.

Dalkey, N.C., Brown, B.B. and Cochran, S., The delphi method, iii: Use of self ratings to improve group estimates (rm-6115-pr). Santa Monica, Ca.: Rand corporation, 1969.

Dalkey, N.C. and Helmer, O., "An experimental application of the delphi method to the use of experts", Management Science, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 458-467, 1963.

Delbecq, A.L. and Van De Ven, A.H., "The effectiveness of nominal, delphi, and interacting group decision making processes", The Academy of Management Journal, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 605-621, 1974.

Delbecq, A.L., Van de Ven, A.H. and Gustafson, D.H., Group techniques for program planning : A guide to nominal group and delphi processes. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, 1975.

English, J.M. and Kernan, G.L., "The prediction of air travel and aircraft technology to the year 2000 using the delphi method", Transportation Research, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-8, 1976.

FA49 Proponent Office, Who We Are, 2011.

Goodman, C.M., "The delphi technique: A critique", Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 729-734, 1987.

Helmer-Hirschberg, O. and Quinton, H., Gathering expert opinion. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1976.

Hoge, M.A., Tondora, J. and Marrelli, A.F., "The fundamentals of workforce competency: Implications for behavioral health", Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 509-531, 2005.

Hsu, C.C. and Sandford, B.A., "The delphi technique: Making sense of consensus.", Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, vol. 12, no. 10, pp. 1-8, 2007.

Jackson, P., Introduction to expert systems. 3rd Edn., Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley, 1999.

Keeney, S., Hasson, F. and McKenna, H.P., "A critical review of the delphi technique as a research methodology for nursing", International Journal of Nursing Studies, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 195-200, 2001.

Lahti, R.K., "Identifying and integrating individual level and organizational level core competencies", Journal of Business and Psychology, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 59-75, 1999.

Linstone, H.A. and Turoff, M., The delphi method: Techniques and applications., H. A. Linstone and M. Turoff (Eds.). Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., Advanced Book Program, Reading, MA, 2002.

Lucia, A. and Lepsinger, R., The art and science of competency models: Pinpointing critical success factors in organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 1999.

Martino, J.P., Technological forecasting for decisionmaking., R. W. Hauserman (Ed.). McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1972.

Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M., An expanded sourcebook - qualitative data analysis. Second Edn., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1994.

Mirabile, R.J., "A model for competency-based career development", Personnel, vol. 62, no. 4, pp. 30-38, 1985.

Murry, J.W., Jr. and Hammons, J.O., "Delphi: A versatile methodology for conducting qualitative research", Review of Higher Education, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 423-436, 1995.

Okoli, C. and Pawlowski, S.D., "The delphi method as a research tool: An example, design considerations and applications", Information & Management, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 15-29, 2004.

Powell, C., "The delphi technique: Myths and realities", Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 376-382, 2003.

Rowe, G. and Wright, G., "The delphi technique as a forecasting tool: Issues and analysis", International Journal of Forecasting, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 353-375, 1999.

Sackman, H., Delphi critique: Expert opinion, forecasting, and group process. Lexington, Ma: Lexington Books, 1975.

Saldaña, J., The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2011.

Shanteau, J., Weiss, D.J., Thomas, R.P. and Pounds, J.C., "Performance-based assessment of expertise: How to decide if someone is an expert or not", European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 136, no. 2, pp. 253-263, 2002.

Skulmoski, G.J., Hartman, F.T. and Krahn, J., "The delphi method for graduate research", Journal of Information Technology Education, vol. 6, no. pp. 1-21, 2007.

Spencer, L.M. and Spencer, S.M., Competence at work : Models for superior performance. New York: Wiley, 1993.

Stitt-Gohdes, W.L. and Crews, T.B., "The delphi technique: A research strategy for career and technical education", Journal of Career and Technical Education, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 55-67, 2004.

Ulrich, D., Brockbank, W., Yeung, A.K. and Lake, D.C., "Human resource competencies: An empirical assessment", Human Resource Management, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 473-495, 1995.

United States Department of the Army, Commissioned officer professional development and career management. Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, DC, 2010.

United States Office of Personnel Management, Personnel assessment and selection resource center, 2011.

Wilhelm, W.J., "Alchemy of the oracle: The delphi technique", Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 6-26, 2001.

Williams, P.L. and Webb, C., "The delphi technique: A methodological discussion", Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 180-186, 1994.

Ziglio, E., The delphi method and its contribution to decision-making. In: Gazing into the oracle : The delphi method and its application to social policy and public health, M. Adler and E. Ziglio, (Eds.). Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, England: pp: 3-33, 1996.

Downloads

Published

2014-04-14

How to Cite

Winklbauer, W. T. (2014). Identifying Technical Competencies: A Delphi Approach. Asian Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2(2). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJET/article/view/986

Issue

Section

Articles