The Identification of Strategic Management Counseling Competencies Essential for the Small Business and Technology Development Center: A Modified Delphi Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify competency items (knowledge, skills and attitudes) essential for business counselors of the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) program to provide strategic management counseling to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). SBTDC business counselors' roles have changed as the organization developed and implemented strategies for serving existing business clients, or more specifically SMEs. Competency models may provide a framework for linking strategies to people and performance.

A 'modified' Delphi technique was used with the initial round one questionnaire modified to solicit opinions of expert panelists on strategic management counseling competencies. The sample (N = 17) represented 32% of the available SBTDC counselor population at the time of the study. The sample or expert panel consisted of counselors who provided strategic management counseling to SMEs, received counseling evaluations of very good to excellent from those SMEs, completed professional development related to strategic management, and received performance evaluations of very good to outstanding from their supervisors.

The study featured a 5-point Likert scale used to rate competency items in terms of importance. A review panel employed statistical criteria (mean and median) in order to accept 34 (9 knowledge, 16 skills, and 9 attitudes) identified by the expert panel as competency items.

As a matter of interest, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient was employed in Round III to determine the association, if any between the Round III final rankings and Round II mean rankings. The study results indicated an association for the knowledge category and skills category respectively, but not for the attitudes category. Furthermore, the three highest rated and ranked competency items were 1) strategic management knowledge of the model, phases and process, 2) communication skills in listening, questioning and interviewing, and 3) integrity attitude toward establishing trust and credibility.