Core Competence Concept
Core competence concept emerged for the first time in 1990, on Harvard Business Review, in an article entitled “The Core Competence of the Corporation”, written by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad. According to its authors, Core Competence designates strategic competences, unique and distinctive of organizations that grant an inherent competitive advantage and for that represent differentiation key factors compared to the competitors.
To be considered as Core Competence, it’s necessary that the competence goes through three types of requirements:
- provide access to a wide variety of markets;
- contribute in a significant way for the final product;
- if of difficult imitation by the competitors.
Thus defined, a core competence can be, for example, a technical knowledge or a specific technology that is liable of offering a unique value for the clients and that distinguishes the company from its rivals.
