Creating Competitive Advantage
Organizational capabilities and Core Competencies
This article was written by Dave Ulrich from the University of Michigan and provides a framework that illustrates to the reader that an organization can create competitive advantage, but they must have the capability. Ulrich states in the article, form his prospective, that there are the traditional means of competitive advantage; financially, strategically and technologically. Organizational capability is illustrated in the article as the ability for management to understand organizational principles connected to organizational capability, the application of those principles through processes and the management of people. The article continues with illustrating a model that an organization can use to help understand what questions need to be asked and can the organization answer those questions that can determine competitive advantage. The model can be used not just from a high-level perspective, but also from the individual product or feature perspective; utilize the model to determine if a specific product or feature will provide the organization with a competitive advantage. Lastly, the article discusses what is needed from leadership, does the organization can change and are the business conditions right. All these points can be utilized in our teams next project as we create a proposal and whitepaper based on consulting with our client to meet their needs. Gaining or maintaining competitive advantage is the reason why organizations execute as specific path or project. The whitepaper will need to address these points to help our client understand what steps or activities will need to be accomplished to have competitive advantage within their market. The process and procedures created for the customer need will inform the principles of the organization that managers will use to measure success.
References:
Organizational capability: Creating competitive advantage. (1991). The Executive, 5(1), 77. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/ame.1991.4274728.
