La produzione scientifica, professionale e divulgativa sul tema delle competenze è ricca. Diventa addirittura sterminata quando si considerano non solo le produzioni in volume ma anche gli articoli. Oltre che quantitativamente abbondante è anche caratterizzata da notevoli differenze metodologiche, spesso determinate dal luogo di origine della riflessione: le aziende piuttosto che le istituzioni formative (scuole, università, centri di orientamento).
Ecco allora una serie di possibili letture, soggettivamente scelte tra quanto prodotto negli ultimi anni, cercando di equilibrare contributi generalisti con quelli più operativi.
Per non dimenticare gli aspetti di differenza culturale sono state inserite alcune delle opere principali prodotte in inglese (UK e USA), francese e italiano.

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