La compétence : concept nomade, significations fixes

The “competency” concept is now widely recognized within the business world and the associated scientific disciplines. Organisation behaviour and occupational psychology are no exceptions. What are exactly competencies? Having screened the literature on the subject, this article aims at accounting for diversity in meanings and significations in use in different fields and in different social and cultural contexts. It concludes that, in the case of such a “travelling concept”, it would be useless to search for a universal definition. Each time this “blurred” competency concept is used, it is therefore important to define its meaning and its boundaries.