Author(s): Yi-Gean Chen and Jao-Nan Cheng
Within a competitive society, an institution with no competitiveness is easy to be knocked out. Especially in a low-birthrate society, private preschools struggle to survive by improving their competitiveness. Teachers are important human resource assets in schools, and schools’ competitiveness is subject to teachers’ competitiveness. Therefore, school teachers that possess advantageous competitiveness are so important to a preschool. However, how is teachers’ degree of competitiveness measured? What competitiveness abilities are the most important? Because there is a lack of relevant studies, this study intends to investigate this theme. This study used Porter’s five forces model as the framework to develop teachers’ competitiveness, integrated relevant studies to develop the components of teachers’ competitiveness, and used teachers’ efficacy as the criterion variable. After OLS and SEM statistical analysis of the data of 1,454 preschool teachers, the results of this study are as follows: (1) teachers’ competitiveness can be analyzed to five dimensions and thirteen sub-dimensions. The five dimensions include ability to fight against incumbent competitors, ability to fight against future competitors, irreplaceable ability, preschool principal’s satisfaction with teacher, and parents’ satisfaction with teacher, and they can significantly predict teachers’ efficacy; (2) to improve teachers’ efficacy, six of the thirteen competitiveness sub-dimensions are important: traits of good teachers, course arrangement and teaching ability, impression management ability, transcendence and leadership abilities, special expertise, and parents’ satisfaction with teachers. It is necessary to pay particular attention to cultivate such six abilities to be a teacher with competitiveness and efficacy in the modern society.