01234pab a2200157 454500 180718b2005 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Lodge, Martin Competency and higher civil servants: Symposium introduction 2005 p.779-87. `Competency' is a word that seems to have crept into the language of public administration and policy relatively recently, although largely under the radar of academic scholarship in Europe. This article introduces a symposium of papers that address key questions about competency management: how and why has it become popular and what are the implications of the spread of `competency' approaches? As the introductory paper, it outlines the intellectual background to competency approaches and outlines three interpretations of their development. One interpretation sees them as a passing fad; a `difference' interpretation sees them as a common label for widely varying patterns and practices; and a `sameness' interpretation treats competency management as a symptom of broader politico-administrative developments. - Reproduced. Civil service Hood, Christopher Public Administration 70299 70299 70299 0 0 0 0 IIPA IIPA 2018-07-19 Volume no: 83, Issue no: 4 AR70759 2018-07-19 2018-07-19 AR