Convergence of service and technical skills: the case of ERP implementation in Israel

This empirical study points to the rise of the techno-service sector of the economy, and questions the analytical distinction between technical and social skills, a distinction which underpins governments' and economic institutions' attempts to measure and quantify types of skills and the complexity of different lines of work. By focusing on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementers, this study points to the growing interdependency and to the convergence of service and technical skills in the techno-service sector. The paper also provides empirical indication of the growing penetration of professional work into the heart of the industrial enterprise.