A Context-aware Model Oriented to Competences Management

Abstract

Nowadays there is a growing interest of organizations in competence based human resources management. Moreover, the mobile computing allied to location technologies and embedded systems has allowed the context-aware computing. This article proposes a context-aware model to support competences management, called DeCom. The model considers the employees´ profiles in organizations and the contexts where they are involved, looking for opportunities to develop their competences. A case study involving an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendor allowed the data collection based on a realistic scenario. A prototype was implemented based on multiplatform programming to mobile devices. The case study and the prototype were used in an evaluation involving two experiments. The first involved a specialized evaluator that indicated the viability of DeCom application in eight scenarios. The second involved twenty one volunteers in an acceptance evaluation using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), showing that DeCom would be easy to use and that it would also be useful to support the development of competences. The experiments stimulated the DeCom application as an instrument to competences management.