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An analysis of the core competencies of the Case organisation Group and the importance of dynamic capabilities to manage core competencies

Kamp, Jos (2013) An analysis of the core competencies of the Case organisation Group and the importance of dynamic capabilities to manage core competencies.

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Abstract:The Case organisation group consists out of three business units and over the years the company developed into a first-tier supplier in the semiconductor, medical and defence industry. With the acquisition of DEF and GHI Case organisation gained economies of scale and they grew out to an important link in the supply chain of their customers. With the acquisition of DEF and GHI Case organisation also gains access to a lot more competences than they originally had. This brings Case organisation at an intersection where they have to decide which competences are core and which competences are noncore. This research has been executed in order to give a better insight in the core competence problem and also to provide some recommendations how the competences of Case organisation could be managed. An extensive literature research was performed to get a better understanding of the main concepts of this paper: ‘core competences’ and ‘dynamic capabilities’. The first refers to what the unique strengths of the organisation are and that could help to gain competitive advantage. The latter refers to actions that should be taken by the organisation to respond timely to changes in the business environment and to take decisions to adapt the competences of the organisation towards the changes in the environment. To identify the core competences and dynamic capabilities of the Case organisation Group a structured methodology was created based on the literature review. This research also shows that nothing has done over the years with the competences of Case organisation. There are no managers dedicated to manage the core competences and until today Case organisation has a lot of competences of which some are core but also a few non-core competences. The lack of follow up activities was also visible when the methodology was used to identify dynamic capabilities at Case organisation. This research shows that there are no embedded routines used by Case organisation to respond timely to changes in the business environment and that nothing has been done to adapt the (core) competences to this changing business environment. There are some routines / processes that are used to collect information about the business environment but these are not purposeful actions. Now Case organisation has grew out to a reasonable SME it is needed to perform purposeful actions on a regular basis. Employees should be dedicated in doing this so the competence base of Case organisation is always up to date and Case organisation is capable of sustaining their current competitive advantage over their competitors. At last this research also contributes in various ways to the science. It provides a comprehensive literature review on the subject of core competences and dynamic capabilities. This literature review can serve as a starting point for scholars who want to take future research on these subjects. The proposed structured methodology can also be used by scholars and practitioners to identify core competences and dynamic capabilities inside case organisations. Third this research shows that the possession of core competences will not result in a competitive advantage by itself. Core competences should be managed on a regular basis and adapted if necessary to the changing business environment. Finally this research shows that there is a relation between dynamic capabilities and core competences. Dynamic capabilities are the means by which a company can manage their competence base.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/63153
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