A Managerial Competency Model That Ensures Competitiveness In Vocational Education

Abstract

This article develops and justifies a managerial competency model tailored to vocational education and training (VET) organizations with the explicit purpose of strengthening institutional and system-level competitiveness. While VET institutions confront accelerating technological change, volatile labor markets, and high expectations for equitable outcomes, many governance failures result not from the absence of strategies but from gaps in managerial competencies that translate strategy into sustained performance. Building on competence-based management theory, contemporary quality standards for educational organizations, and labor-market responsiveness literature, the paper proposes a model that integrates five competency clusters: strategic and policy competence; partnership and market intelligence competence; pedagogy-technology alignment competence; data and quality assurance competence; and people-centered leadership competence. Methodologically, the study applies a design-oriented conceptual synthesis supported by document analysis and theory-informed reasoning. The model is elaborated through mechanisms, capabilities, and outcome indicators that link managerial behavior to competitiveness proxies such as program relevance, completion and employment rates, industry partnership density, and innovation throughput. Results indicate that institutions which systematically cultivate these competencies can more reliably renew curricula, orchestrate dual training and work-based learning, deploy interoperable learning technologies, and maintain a culture of continuous improvement. The discussion highlights implementation challenges, including workload pressures, fragmented data ecosystems, and risks of performativity and credential inflation. The article concludes with implications for policy and institutional practice, affirming that competitiveness in VET is less a function of one-off reforms than of compound managerial capabilities exercised consistently across planning, operations, and evaluation cycles.