How did Philips become the leading consumer electronics company in the world post war era?What distinctive competencies did they build? What incompetancies did they build?

Philips became the leading consumer in electronics because it was built upon two foundational competencies. First, they created a culture that revolved around technical innovation. This allowed them to sustain a prominent edge, via products and production innovation, against their competition. They were known as the market leaders in industrial research. Their dedication to their R&D enabled them to expand their product line tremendously for the next 30 years. Second, they developed a strong market commercial bias. This guaranteed that their innovations could be applied in the transforming international marketplace. In the post war era, their ability for rapid national responsiveness allowed them to develop powerful strategies to break through high barriers between national markets. These two strategies were embedded in their organizational model, which in turn became a source of sustainable competitive advantages for the firm.