How do you map internal resources to capabilities to identify core competencies?

How do you map internal resources to capabilities to identify core competencies?

• A. Core competencies are external resources a firm can buy.
• B. Core competencies are easily imitated by competitors.
• C. Core competencies are unique, valuable, hard to imitate, and integrated.
• D. Core competencies are only tangible assets.

Answer: (C)

Core competencies are the unique capabilities that allow a firm to deliver distinctive value to customers. Mapping internal resources to capabilities means listing the company’s people, processes, technologies, routines, and relationships and seeing how theycombine to perform key activities across the business. The goal is to identify capabilities that customers value and that the firm can execute better than rivals, which makes them sustainable sources of advantage. Those capabilities are typically unique, valuable, hard to imitate, and embedded throughout the organization, which is why they stand out as core. The other ideas miss this point: core competencies arise from internal, often intangible, ways of operating—not external resources you can simply buy, not something easy for competitors to copy, and not limited to tangible assets.

Core competencies are the unique capabilities that allow a firm to deliver distinctive value to customers. Mapping internal resources to capabilities means listing the company’s people, processes, technologies, routines, and relationships and seeing how theycombine to perform key activities across the business. The goal is to identify capabilities that customers value and that the firm can execute better than rivals, which makes them sustainable sources of advantage. Those capabilities are typically unique, valuable, hard to imitate, and embedded throughout the organization, which is why they stand out as core. The other ideas miss this point: core competencies arise from internal, often intangible, ways of operating—not external resources you can simply buy, not something easy for competitors to copy, and not limited to tangible assets.