Competence and Competitive Advantage: Towards a Dynamic Model

Abstract

Over the last ten years the concept of ‘competence’ has emerged as a central concept for competitive strategy. Several rich theoretical streams have contributed an extensive array of frameworks, definitions and papers using the concept. There is now a need to integrate these many contributions. Indeed, some of the frustration expressed recently by academics may be due to the large volume of conversation and the low level of integration. A concept that is considered so useful that many writers have incorporated it in their work will be of little value if it takes on different meanings for every use. If competence is to be used to explain relationships among variables and to build richer understandings of the roots of competitive advantage, then the field needs to engage in a serious conversation that attempts to focus this concept. Competence needs to be understood in a way that is faithful to its theoretical roots, allows the multiple dimensions that underpin competitive advantage to be meaningfully integrated and is specific enough that meaningful differences can emerge when used as a variable in empirical research. This paper seeks to begin a conversation toward that end by presenting a conceptualization that meets all of these requirements. The paper builds its conceptualization around satisfying the elements of a dynamic model of the relationship between competence and competitive advantage.

Key Determinants of Success to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA)

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Competency Framework for Non-Profit Organizations: An Exploratory Study based on Indian Organizations

“…Competency based HRM retains only those employees who possess flexibility and initiative (Lawler 1994). Competence that gives competitive advantage doesn't exist in isolation; rather it is relative and depends on the collective learning in an organization (Bogner, Thomas and John 1999). In addition, organizations should be superior in mix of traits and minimally sufficient in each trait to have competitive advantage.…”

Change of entrepreneurial agenda in a core competence context: exploring the transformation from technology focus to market focus

“…The definition's notion is fairly clear. Still, for practical issues, such as operationalisations, it is not clear enough (Bogner et al, 1999), especially with regard to issues of identification (Collis and Montgomery, 2005;Ljungquist, 2008). In this paper, we use the more straightforward definition previously mentioned and initiated by Prahalad and Hamel (1990).…”