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Core Competencies

Important Definitions

Core Competencies — An organization’s greatest areas of expertise. Those strategically important capabilities that are central to fulfilling an organization’s Mission. They provide a competitive advantage and are difficult for competitors to imitate. They may involve technology expertise, unique service offerings, a marketplace niche or particular business acumen.

Key Work Processes — Processes that relate to an organization’s core competencies. They produce value for Customers and other Stake-holders, determine organizational success and are important for growth. They are always accomplished by an organization’s workforce.

Strategic Advantages — Marketplace benefits that exert a decisive influence on an organization’s likelihood of future success. They create considerable consternation for and organization’s competitors and primarily arise from Core Competencies.

Strategies — Short statements that guide decision-making.

Work Systems — How an organization’s work is accomplished. They comprise the work processes and resources required to deliver an or-ganization’s product or service to its Customers. An organization should develop and maintain Core Competencies in each of its Key Work Systems.

ISO 9001:2008 Registered Since 2008 2009 Recipient of Baldrige National Quality Award

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, Criteria for Performance Excellence Item 2.1 Strategy Development and Items 5.1 & 5.2 Workforce Environment & Workforce Engagement

What are Core Competencies? All great organizations have key things they are really, really good at that make them great. These things delight their Customers, Students, Patients, Fans, etc. (and other important Stakeholders) and confound their competitors. These things are called core competencies. They are your organization’s areas of greatest expertise. Those things you do extremely well, that are central to fulfilling your Mission, achieving your goals and setting you apart from your competitors. They provide you with strategic advantages. Why are Core Competencies important? To be a great organization, you must be great at something important to your success and to someone important to your success. These things should be your core competencies; they make you great. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is 51 pages. Core competencies are mentioned on 19 of those pages, 32 different times; including being referred to in the fifth question of the Organizational Profile. So, right away, Baldrige wants to know what your core competencies are and how they relate to your Mission. You have to focus on the right things. Developing, utilizing and maintaining core competencies is necessary for organizational success and sustainability.

How do you determine and utilize Core Competencies? So, what makes your organization great? Figure out what you are really good at and make sure those are the things you should be really good at. If not, set your sights on what you should be really good at and develop core competencies in those areas. Your Mission and your Stakeholders will tell you what you should be good at; just pay attention and have the discipline to stay focused. Then, relentlessly pursue the development of core competencies in those areas by aligning your strategic plan, innovation, workforce plan and work environment to achieve your desired results. Core competencies should align with your Mission and your key work processes. Core competencies are also central to your work systems. To have a core competency in a work system, you have to have core competencies in the key work processes within that work system. The aggregate of the capabilities provided by your key work processes and the strategies within your key work processes should make you special to your Key Stakeholders and provide a competitive, strategic advantage. Decisions about your work systems are strategic and should involve building, protecting and capitalizing on your core competencies. There are some core competencies that should be inherent to all great organizations such as business administration (specifically, having a core competency in each of the 7 Baldrige categories). MidwayUSA has a strategy to develop and maintain core competencies in each of our key work systems (Merchandising, Marketing, Customer Support, and Logistics), in addition to our overall business administration capabilities. Core competencies are ultimately evidenced by your results. There is no better, more impartial judge.

7.8

.14

1972 Miami Dolphins’ Perfect Season (17-0) - M iami Dolphin’s coach

Don Shula being carried off the field after Miami’s 14-7 victory over the

Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII - Washington Post.

Work System—Offense, Key Work Process—Rushing, Strategy—Run First

These three things together gave Miami a Core Competency in

Offense which gave them a Strategic Advantage.

Result—#1 in Offense, #1 in Rushing, Super Bowl Champions (Undefeated)

Core Competency

Core Competencies

Mission Stakeholders Key

Requirements

Key Work

Systems

Key Work

Processes Strategies

Internet Retailing

Our mission as

defined by our

Mission Statement

Customers

Our #1 Stakeholder

Product Selection

One of our Customer’s key re-

quirements is product selection.

Our key work systems have to

include processes that deliver

this key requirement for us to

meet our Operational Goal,

Customer Satisfaction

Product Offering

Management

A key work process

within the Merchan-

dising key work sys-

tem

“Just About

Everything”

Our Product Offering

Management key work

process is executed in

alignment with our “Just

About Everything” strat-

egy to meet our Custom-

er’s key requirements

A strategic advantage arises out of our

core competency in Merchandising.

Within our Merchandising key work

system, we have a Product Offering

Management key work process with a

“Just About Everything strategy. This

strategy provides a competitive, stra-

tegic advantage over our competitors

by better providing our Customers

with a one-stop shop for shooting,

hunting and outdoor products.

Merchandising

A collection of key

work processes de-

signed to meet our Cus-

tomer’s key require-

ments