Developmental Foundations of Organisational Competence: Linking Parenting Styles and Psychosocial Development through the DFOC Framework

The development of competencies relevant to organisational functioning is commonly explained through education, work experience, and organisational factors, while their earlier developmental foundations remain comparatively underexplored. This study examines the associations between perceived parenting styles and psychosocial development and proposes the Developmental Foundations of Organisational Competence Framework (DFOC) as an interdisciplinary conceptual framework linking developmental psychology with organisation and management. A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted on a socio-demographically heterogeneous sample of 502 participants aged 17–83 years. Perceived authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles were examined in relation to twelve positive and negative dimensions of Eriksonian psychosocial development. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses revealed predominantly weak but statistically significant associations. Authoritative parenting showed the most consistent association with a more favourable psychosocial developmental profile, particularly higher levels of trust and identity and lower levels of mistrust, shame and doubt, guilt, role diffusion, and isolation. Authoritarian and permissive parenting were more frequently associated with less favourable developmental dimensions, although some mixed associations were also identified. Building on these empirical findings and existing developmental and organisational literature, DFOC conceptualises psychosocial development as a potential developmental foundation of organisationally relevant competencies and human capital. The findings suggest that competencies relevant to organisational functioning may have developmental antecedents rooted in earlier socialisation and psychosocial processes. As organisational competencies and performance were not directly measured, the extended relationships proposed within DFOC require future empirical validation.