Lots of businesses disregard things that if given due consideration will enable them to achieve an unprecedented fate. This cannot be ignore that Industry and market leaders adopt various forms of policies and strategies which saw them providing world class goods and services.
The term competency is a special quality that makes a business withstands pressures of activities of its competitors. Terms like unique resources, core capabilities, invisible assets, embedded knowledge and skills are synonymous with business competencies. Core competencies provide access to variety of markets, contribute to perceived customers’ benefits, and difficult for rivals to imitate.
Prahaled and Hamel adopts the analogy of the tree in describing core competency by stressing that a diversified corporation is just like a large tree where its trunk and major branches are its core products. The smaller branches are the business units. Other parts of the tree like the leaves, flowers and the fruits are its end products, while the root system which provides nourishment, sustenance and stability can be view as its core competency.
For a business to identify its core competencies and maintain a leadership position there is need to keep track of its core competencies and competitors’ performance by looking for the unexpected successes and unexpected poor performance. The success may demonstrate market value as well as where a business enjoys a competitive advantage, while the non-success may indicates how the market is changing or the business competencies are weakening.
The idea of core competence seems to be a brilliant way to focus upon the strength of an organisation. If given the due attention and implementation may lead a business to have competitive advantage in the market place. This can relate to how:
• NEC builds its core competencies in computing, communications and components to support the production of laptop computers, television receivers, and hand held telephones to invent new markets, exploit emerging ones, delight customers with products they hadn’t even imagine.
• Honda for designing and building of small but powerful and highly reliable internal combustion engines which have given it a distinctive advantage in motor vehicle, motorcycle, lawn mower, and generator business.
• Cannon’s core competence in optics, imaging, and microprocessor controls have enable it to enter even a dominant market as seemingly diverse as copiers, laser printers, cameras, and image scanners.
• Amazon provides the largest selection of items online with superior IT systems and customer service.
• Nike for nurturing its superiority in shoe design and merchandising as its core competence.
• IKEA designs modern functional home furnishings at low prices offered in a unique retail experience.
For a business to progress and succeed in its environment it has to develop its competencies over a period of time and harness such into a fine art of competing with its rivals so that it can be able to possess a distinctive competency and possess an advantage in any situation.
Shaksg Business Blog 