Core Competence Analysis
/The most critical resources in today’s business management are core competencies. This is a sub-system of management that is connected with wide ranging resources and technologies in the production of goods and services. The core competencies of an organisation are those internal capabilities which are strategically important in fulfilling its mission and objectives and more importantly, in providing the organisation with a competitive advantage in the industry it operates in.
The differentiating characteristic of the core competencies of an organisation is that they evolve with time thereby representing the continued achievement of the organisation’s critical success factors over the same period of time. In addition, and as business experts argue, a company’s core competencies are hard to imitate by competitors.
To develop core competencies, an organisation must do the following:
- Define the internal capabilities that are strategically positioned to deliver sustainable value
- Perform a core competency review throughout the organisation and separate its strengths and weaknesses
- Produce a yardstick in comparison with other companies having similar capabilities to make sure the organisation targets the development of key competencies
- Establish a road map for the organisation thereby setting goals for competence building
- Separate these key factors and transform them into organisation-wide strengths
- Promote an all-inclusive participation in the development of core competencies across the organisation
As an example, most of the supermarkets doing business currently offer their customers various unique selling points to maintain customer loyalty. One such way of offering these core competencies is through the provision of loyalty points which are given to shoppers to encourage them to return to the same shop next time. Loyalty points are thus acquired every time a shopper shops and they can be redeemed later by converting them to cash and used for shopping.
The core competencies of any business should be applied to ensure that it can offer a unique experience to customers and make profits in the process. Majority of businesses find themselves with nothing unique to offer their customers and as a result, have to compete on price to remain operational. This is the reason why businesses need to create unique selling points to offer additional value to their customers.
Picture Attribution: “Capabilities Word Means Capacity Adeptness And Competence” by Stuart Miles/Freedigitalphotos.net
User story maps are an interesting and collaborative way of eliciting user requirements. One of the reasons why I find it so powerful is because it provides a unique approach for aligning discussions relating to the user, their goals, the process that supports the accomplishment of their predefined goals; and the requirements that need to be addressed to solve business problems.