Corporate People Development Planning Process for Freight Forwarding Industry - Dissertation Example

Market competition persists with an increase in demand for services provided by freight forwarders in Hong Kong and this, coupled with a shortage of key account managers that are at home in Hong Kong and the region around it, presents a necessity for the development of relevant competencies among aspiring key account managers. Hong Kong must compete to ensure that its logistics and freight-forwarding industry remain at the leading edge, and all organizations are likely to benefit from efforts directed towards trying to develop their human resources.

This dissertation presents a competency development plan for those joining key account teams in the Hong Kong freight-forwarding industry based on themes from a review of relevant literature, expert opinion elicited during interviews and a review of available professional development courses for key account managers.Any business can only succeed and grow if it has the right competencies and employees are often more critical than business plans because it is employees with the right skills and competencies that make things happen (Sanghi, 2009, Pp.

14 – 15). Thus, a sales organization can only win if it has talented salespeople or those with the right competencies who can emerge as the new champions after training. However, although many managers in organizations recognize that competencies are an important source of competitive advantage, the identification, assessment and development of competencies often present problems (King, 2001, Pp. 95 – 96). Competencies refer to a combination of knowledge and skills that are essential for high performance and unless individuals within an organization possess the right competencies, they are unlikely to deliver excellence, something that is necessary for those organizations that must maintain leadership positions (Derven, 2008, Pp.

70 – 71).Hong Kong has retained its position as a logistics hub of global significance by providing excellent logistics services even after its handover to China and the departure of the British.