Do you have a Core Competency?

To survive in this competitive environment, as an individual it has become so essential that a person should develop a core competency, the X-factor that would enable the person to differentiate. While I was doing some analysis I came across this amazing model ((Source: Johnson, G, Scholes, K, Whittington, R Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th Edition, FT Prentice Hall, Essex, 2008, ISBN 978-0-273-71192-6)where most of the companies use to build core competencies.

This model presents a methodology of creating that core competency that would enable you to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Put yourself in to this four quadrant model. Do you have resources that no one else has? Resources could be inherited assets from parents, immense network of relationships, Land and buildings in prime locations. An individual could start this analysis by listing down the number of resources that the individual has and prioritize them based on the importance,

then see what are the resources that the individual has better than competition. In the Sri Lankan Context, Otara the entrepreneur who built the ODEL (www.odel.lk) fashion brand had a house at the core center of the main city in Sri Lanka. That was a resource that she had which gave a her distinctive advantage over the competition. When she started the shop at this prime land, the start was perfect as per the 7 Ps model in Marketing concept the place variable gave her a disproportionate advantage. from the rest.

Different people have different types of competencies, some are highly competent in public speaking, some are highly competent in article writing, and some have amazing singing competencies. The challenge is in transforming these competencies to core competencies. Doing better than competition and making it difficult to imitate. Start now in investing on developing a core competency. Core Competency will give you enhance the value of an individual, and once built it should be leveraged.